Play Games: Become an Engineer

If you have an interest in becoming an engineer or know someone who does. Or if you just like designing vehicles, bridges, buildings, consumer electronics, then there are a lot of really great games for you to check out. Here are a few.

Coconut Run

Edheads’: Design a Cell Phone

I always love Edheads’s stuff and here is another great example. Design a cell phone. In the game you have to consider design parameters like cost, target market and functionality. You then design the phone by selecting different functions which each have a cost associated with them. You have to pick correctly or you end up over budget or with features your target audience doesn’t want. Once you design it, you can conduct a focus group meeting and even view sales results. This is a great game for thinking about design parameters, trade offs and designing for a specific audience.

West Point Bridge Design Contest

This software can be used in a national contest sponsored by West Point (yes, THE West Point.) The downloadable software introduce the player to engineering through an authentic, hands-on design experience. The software provides the tools to model, test, and optimize a steel highway bridge, based on realistic specifications, constraints, and performance criteria. Once you have your bridge built, you can drive a truck across and see how it holds up.

The Brain Strainer

So you think you can be a rocket scientist? This game lets you build a machine (like mousetrap) that helps you launch a rocket. You need to consider simple machine parts and how different materials react to different surfaces. Give The Brain Strainer a shot and launch to the moon.

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