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When people consider JMP's impact, they usually think of business results, research achievements, or improved operations; yet some of the most significant effects occur long before students start their careers.
The Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory (ASDL), which is based at Georgia Tech, is one example. JMP has been involved in the lab's activities since it began in 1992, and Professor Dimitri Mavris, ASDL's director, says this long-standing partnership has helped make ASDL what it is today.
ASDL was set up to address a problem industry leaders had identified: although universities were producing capable specialists, employers wanted engineers who could see how the various parts of a whole system fit together. Today, ASDL continues to bring together students, researchers, government, and industry to tackle difficult problems in aerospace, energy, infrastructure, digital engineering, and sustainability.
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Key Takeaways
- From specialists to systems architects: ASDL started because industry leaders felt universities were turning out scientists, not engineers. The lab’s main goal is to help students become system thinkers who see how technical, operational, and economic choices affect the whole system.
- Real-world complexity, not classroom simplifications: Students work on real government and industry projects. These include challenges like exploring the Moon and Mars (such as habitats, logistics, transportation, communications, and infrastructure), using alternative fuels like hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuel, and building campus-scale digital twins. They do this instead of just working on simple case studies.
- Critical thinking over chart production: At ASDL, making a chart is just one step. Students are taught to question their assumptions, examine their results closely, and connect their findings to the main research question. As Dr. Balchanos says, "Making a plot and just showing it to an audience doesn't answer the question."
- JMP as a trusted, transparent analytical environment: JMP has been central to ASDL since 1992. It does more than just make charts. JMP gives students one place to design experiments, build models, run analyses, and create interactive visuals. It also lets them clearly connect their work to the theory behind it.
- Understanding trade-offs, not chasing a single answer: The goal is not to find just one "correct" answer. Instead, students learn to look at different possible outcomes, see where limits show up, and make smart choices even when things are uncertain. These are the same skills they will need in their future careers.
The more interrelated engineering challenges become, the more clearly ASDL's efforts demonstrate the importance of systems thinking than ever before. Whether it's concerned with lunar exploration and sustainable aviation, or with digital engineering and digital twins on a campus scale, the account provides a fascinating insight into the way future engineers are learning to link data, decisions, and real-world impact, and into the fact that JMP has supported this process for over three decades.
Explore the full story here: jmp.com/asdl
