MIT course builds 3D‑printed turbopumps
MIT’s new course 16.811 has students 3D‑printing and testing lab‑scale electric turbopumps — covering impeller design, rotor dynamics, tolerancing, and real test‑level issues like leaks and vibration, mirroring industry lab work. The thread frames this as a direct portfolio play for propulsion and SpaceX/defense roles. (x.com)
MIT’s catalog lists 16.811 as “Propulsion System Prototyping and Testing for Aerospace Engineers” (CI‑M) in the Course 16 degree requirements. (catalog.mit.edu) The class was developed and taught by Zachary Cordero, Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Associate Professor, together with Zoltán Spakovszky, the T. Wilson Professor in Aeronautics. (news.mit.edu) The offering first ran in fall 2024, is delivered over a 13‑week term, and organizes students into teams of two to three to drive full project cycles. (news.mit.edu) Concepts NREC partnered with MIT to integrate its Agile Engineering Design System (AEDS) and Advanced Rotating Machine Dynamics (ARMD) tools into the course workflow for turbomachinery design. (turbomachinerymag.com) Concepts NREC’s recent CAE updates cited for the class include a new cavitation model in PUMPAL and optimizations to the AXIAL solver for real‑fluid thermodynamics, additions the company says support turbopump and multi‑stage radial designs. (turbomachinerymag.com) The course is framed as a communication‑intensive, concurrent‑engineering lab that emphasizes cross‑discipline integration of requirements, materials, manufacturing, and documentation within set time and budget constraints. (news.mit.edu)
