Engineering for Extreme Challenges

What happens when a major storm floods a neighborhood, a heat wave pushes temperatures to dangerous levels, or a power outage leaves a community in the dark? In this course, you'll think like an engineer and tackle real-world challenges that affect people every day.

You'll explore how roads, buildings, power systems, water supplies, and communities are connected, and discover how one small problem can trigger a chain reaction of bigger issues. Through real disaster case studies, you'll investigate what happened, why it happened, and how engineers can design smarter solutions to keep people safe.

Then it's your turn to invent. Working in teams, you'll imagine, build, and test your own creative solutions, from flood protection systems and low-cost cooling technologies to emergency water filters and portable power devices. Using the engineering design process, you'll brainstorm ideas, build prototypes, learn from failures, and improve your designs. Along the way, you'll see how creativity, innovation, and problem-solving can help engineers make communities stronger, safer, and more resilient when disaster strikes.