8/13/2026 Debra Levey Larson
Aerospace engineering teaching professor Elle Wroblewski encourages their students to keep human needs at the center of their engineering designs. Those efforts were recognized when Wroblewski was named one of the 2026 Campus KEEN Rising Stars in The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign – an award given to just 19 faculty members nationwide this year.
Written by Debra Levey Larson
Aerospace engineering teaching professor Elle Wroblewski encourages their students to keep human needs at the center of their engineering designs. Those efforts were recognized when Wroblewski was named one of the 2026 Campus KEEN Rising Stars in The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign – an award given to just 19 faculty members nationwide this year.
“It's important to teach human-centered engineering design because the world we live in should prioritize human needs and human experiences,” Wroblewski said. “Teaching engineering this way allows students to bring their own human experiences into their toolkit for design, which promotes innovation and creates a culture where diversity of experience and diversity of thought is valued.”
One of the courses Wroblewski regularly teaches is AE 202 – Aerospace Flight Mechanics. Wroblewski worked with Taylor Parks and the Siebel Center for Design’s Assessment and Research team to lead the collaborative design and implementation of a new design-for-requirements mini project in the required design course.
For what became known as the glider-catapult project, Wroblewski assigns teams of students with designing and fabricating glider-and-launcher systems to compete in a final class competition.
A key consideration of the designs is the experience of a fictional stakeholder in the form of a small cat keychain charm. It is introduced to students at the start as the catpilot and subsequently flies on every glider test.
Wroblewski, who is also a Siebel Center for Design affiliate, said they have seen significant growth in students’ development of human-centered design-related competencies since the addition of the catpilot. For example, during the fall 2024 semester, 48 students in the class self-reported their confidence levels in their understanding of aerospace safety as significantly higher at the end of the course as compared with their initial report at the beginning.
“The most fascinating thing about the catpilots’ impact on students to me is how they affect the iteration process when building the gliders,” they said. “Before I implemented catpilots, students would build a glider and be satisfied with whatever initial performance it exhibited. With the cat pilots integrated, students contend with stakeholder needs every time they fly and adjust their design to meet stakeholder-informed performance requirements.”
Wroblewski presented a practical paper on how others might implement the glider-catapult project at the 2026 American Society for Engineering Education annual conference in June. They have also published a classroom tool about the project and its catpilots in KEEN’s engineering unleashed network which other instructors can use for student assessments.
The glider-catapult project and other course-based efforts have been supported by the Academy for Excellence in Engineering Education Strategic Instructional Innovations Program at the University of Illinois.
“The biggest benefit of working with the SIIP team is having the accountability and knowledge from others in order to make this project work,” they said of the collaborative team comprised of Academy for Excellence in Engineering Education members, graduate students, and fellow SCD affiliate and aerospace professor Tim Bretl. “Working on my own presents many challenges and self-doubt. With the SIIP team, it is easier for me to stay on track, and the team gives me advice and feedback which is invaluable in making the work happen and go well.”
Wroblewski will continue to work with the team on a new SIIP grant starting this academic year focused on developing and implementing aerospace technical writing requirements.
Wroblewski earned all three of their degrees at U of I, including a Ph.D. in 2022. In addition to teaching Aerospace Flight Mechanics, they have taught courses on applied aerodynamics, compressible flow and a special topics course that introduces research skills to first- and second-year undergraduate aerospace students.