We find that students usually need some direct instruction in one or more of the systems that goes into designing an electric-propelled boat. We provide this instruction through our asynchronous "PEP Talks", and we encourage teams to watch these videos together so they can pause the video and talk through challenging concepts and apply these concepts to their initial designs. 

In related industries, there are program management structures that help students engage in the design process while gaining job skills. For example, an Analysis of Alternatives process is fairly common in comparing designs and we suggest teams use this structure to think through aspects of their designs and weigh 2-5 designs against a metrics that are derived from their objectives. 

As far as measuring impacts, we are using survey data to see how students feel the program for aspects of their job hunt and future employment. We also are working closely with participants to gather placement data so we can document success upon graduation. We hope these students will respond to future surveys that share their perspective after gaining the perspective of being in the workforce for a number of years. The other key type of data we collect centers around program improvement; we are checking in with all our stakeholders twice a year to ensure they feel PEP is fully delivering on these objectives.

Thanks so much for the thoughtful questions!

Mike

One easy lever is leveraging social media, especially LinkedIn, so students are continually aware of job openings and industry professionals see the successes of these students. As a professional society, we are also uniquely positioned to invite students to our symposia for free and then we escort them into the exhibit hall where they can meet and better understand dozens of active companies. For example, our next conference in San Diego, MegaRust, has 88 companies onsite and undergraduates are free to attend and make these connections.

There are also team-level successes that we are observing and trying to find ways to replicate across the program more broadly. Since our teams are spread out geographically, some teams find unique industry partners that give them tours of their facility, work closely with students to ensure they develop well-rounded CVs, and help them use industrial processes to fabricate components (an authentic on-the-job training). We are very excited about these local connections which often lead to job placement, and we are considering how we can ensure all teams have this experience with their communities. 

From an industry perspective, you're exactly right. Electric propulsion and devices are growing more common across the industry. In particular, unmanned craft are a big driver for improving the electric propulsion designs. Our teams have a wide variety of unmanned designs that would be useful for various objectives.

While some of our participants go on to work at naval engineering companies, others are working at Tesla, aeronautical design, regional power companies, etc.  These students can help solve these problems because they have experience going from objectives to designs to prototype and final design. Thanks for the great question!