University of Michigan Helps Students Acquire Model-Based Systems Engineering Experience

Model-based systems engineering (MBSE) is rapidly being adopted in industries that develop complex systems. As a result, students aspiring to work in fields such as aerospace engineering need to develop crucial skills in this area. Professor George Halow’s MBSE Leadership Lab at the University of Michigan (U-M) aims to equip undergraduate students with these skills by combining textbook knowledge with hands-on engineering applications of industry practices. MathWorks supports the MBSE course series at U-M by providing students with MATLAB^® and Simulink^® tools to help prepare them for engineering careers. 

Sophia Papp, a graduate student instructor in MBSE, is currently completing a master’s degree in aerospace engineering. “MATLAB is one of the first programming languages I learned at Michigan,” she says. “It helps me visualize information, and it’s been essential to how I learn aerospace engineering and computer science.” As a graduate student, Sophia shares her knowledge of MATLAB and Simulink to help MBSE students verify their systems when conducting experiments and analyze resulting data with statistical tools.

Hunter Sagerer received a master’s in aerospace engineering at U-M while supporting the MBSE lab and is currently a flight operations engineer with Blue Origin. He also served as an instructional aide in MBSE while earning his bachelor’s degree. “The skills I developed with MATLAB through the courses and instructional work in MBSE were invaluable and helped me excel at the job I’m doing now,” he says.

Experience with MATLAB and Simulink tools as part of the MBSE course series gives students the real-world skills they need to succeed in their aerospace engineering careers—and a distinct advantage when seeking internships and jobs.