Build-a-Radar Self-Paced Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for Students of All Backgrounds

Engineering education can be greatly enhanced by providing students with a practical hands-on project to help illustrate the various theoretical concepts discussed. This talk introduces a unique build-a-radar course for this purpose and is offered online for free in a self-paced massively open online format. The site provides students with an understanding of radar through the use of pre-recorded video lectures, review questions and associated reference materials. This course also contains a detailed set of instructions to guide students through the radar construction using a hardware kit that is also available online. The resulting radar is capable of Doppler and range processing as well as synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image formation. Overall, these combined offerings present a novel teaching tool for students of all backgrounds and can help propel their careers in related areas.