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Activity (Hands-On)Grades 9 - 12

Creative Engineering Design: Creative Crash Testing Design Challenge

A photograph shows a silver sedan after a vehicle crash test, with a good view of the front and passenger sides of the vehicle. The hood, bumper, grill, and engine are smashed and crumpled. The front passenger air bag and window air bag have been deployed. The trunk is open.Frontal full-width crash test of a 2017 Cadillac ATS-V

Students utilize the full Engineering Design Process (EDP) as they become next-generation engineers working on the safety features for passenger vehicles. They are challenged to design or improve an existing passenger compartment design/feature so cars better withstand front-end collisions, protecting riders from injury and resulting in minimal vehicle structural damage.

Engineers are essential to our health and safety. Engineers are constantly innovating and designing ways to enhance passenger safety for motor vehicles. Engineers are guided by the steps of the engineering design process to improve all aspects of vehicle design, including materials durability, biodegradability, strength, rigidity, etc.

After this activity, students should be able to:

  • List the seven engineering design process (EDP) steps in the correct primary sequence.
  • Describe the seven EDP steps and why each is important to engineering.
  • Describe existing passenger safety measures.

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