| George Heilmeier, director of DARPA, asked a series of succinct questions when evaluating new scientific projects: What are you trying to do? How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice? What is your new approach, and why do you think it will be successful? If you are successful, what difference will it make? This course teaches cadets how to define and communicate new ideas to solve scientific problems in the context of challenging, modern technological problems facing the Army, Department of Defense, and society. Through participation in a speaker series, students engage with leaders from the DoD, academia, and industry to define their passions in STEM and select a cutting-edge problem for further study. Lessons on technical communication are interwoven to develop technical communication skills, focusing on writing detailed literature reviews, developing compelling technical proposals, and giving engaging presentations. Throughout the semester, assignments will construct a project proposal and presentation to argue an innovative solution to the student's chosen problem. **This is a pilot course and must undergo review of the Curriculum Committee NLT AY25-2 to continue.** |