In the class exercise, the Year 1 Design Tripos students used what they had learned about vectors and linear algebra in Dr. Ramit Debnath's Math and Programming class to create and build paper planes.
The goal was to see whose design could get the plane the farthest, considering four main forces: lift, drag, gravity, and power, as well as how they are decomposed into their vector components along their flight path. Then, they used peer-learning methods to go over their plan and flight path again.
This activity is a great example of how the new Design Tripos course promotes hands-on learning by connecting the design and engineering.