Do-It-Yourself Engineering

Course Overview

Transform your home workshop into an engineering lab with 24 hands-on projects! From catapults to helicopters, Professor Stephen Ressler guides you through designing, building, and testing impressive creations using common tools and materials. Learn real engineering principles while constructing working models.

Video Lessons

Structural Engineering

1. Why DIY Engineering? (36 min)
   Build a target-hitting golf ball launcher while learning the 7-step engineering process
2. Exploring the Science of Structure (34 min)
   Analyze forces for a cardboard tower project using vector math
3. Design and Build a Cardboard Tower (36 min)
   Construct a tower supporting 100lbs using strength experiments

Bridge Building

4. Bridging with Beams (34 min)
   Design/build an 8-foot pedestrian beam bridge with 3 wood configurations
5. Make a Suspension Bridge (34 min)
   Create cable-suspended span with 5-foot towers using 3D modeling

Marine & Aerial Projects

6. Design a Concrete Sailboat (33 min)
   Hydrostatics meets aerodynamics in this floating concrete challenge
7. Set Sail! (29 min)
   Build and test your concrete vessel with different sailing angles
8. Make a Radio-Controlled Blimp (32 min)
   Calculate helium lift and construct a house-flyable airship

Aviation Series

9. Exploring Aerodynamics (33 min)
   Build a Wright brothers-style wind tunnel to test wing designs
10. Build a Model Airplane (32 min)
    Design wings, fuselage, and stabilizers for rubber-band flight
11. Take Flight! (33 min)
    Balance and fine-tune your aircraft for maximum performance

Advanced Projects

12. Build a Model Helicopter (32 min)
    Adapt the classic Penni design with 16-inch indoor rotor
13. This Is Rocket Science (31 min)
    Plan a camera-carrying 500ft rocket using impulse-momentum
14. Build a Rocket (31 min)
    Construct fins, parachute system and check stability

Mechanical Systems

15. Make an Electric Launch Controller (35 min)
    Design/solder a safe ignition circuit using Ohm’s law
16. Let’s Do Launch! (32 min)
    Build theodolite, launch pad and conduct countdown
17. A Tale of Three Catapults (36 min)
    Compare ballista, onager and trebuchet mechanics

Hydraulics & Power

19. Design a Hydraulic Arm (35 min)
    Build a syringe-controlled block-lifting arm with 3D printed parts
20. Make a Water Turbine (31 min)
    Harness Bernoulli’s principle to lift weights
21. Design a Gear Train (31 min)
    Increase lifting power 3x with optimized spur gears

Timekeeping & Finale

22. Make a Mechanical Clock (33 min)
    Calculate pendulum length and design escapement mechanism
23. Design a Motor-Powered Crane (33 min)
    Build a 100lb lifter using gear/pulley mechanical advantage
24. Creative Design: Rube Goldberg Tribute (38 min)
    Combine 20 elements to create a mouse-clicking machine