Back in high school, I spent four years in NASA HUNCH, designing and building hardware for NASA. Every year brought a new challenge and a new project. We presented to NASA engineers and judges, got flown out to Houston, and stood in front of real astronauts to pitch our invention.

Looking back, we also nearly fell apart along the way. Not because the engineering was too hard, but because each project lived in one giant, disorganized Google Doc.

This is what went wrong, the planning steps we wish we’d followed from day one, and how we took a full 180 in the way we manage projects.

What is NASA HUNCH? HUNCH stands for High school students United with NASA to Create Hardware. It’s a long-running NASA program where students design and build real products for astronauts on the International Space Station (NASA). It has reached more than 24,000 students from over 1,700 schools in 46 states (Voyager Technologies).

Our team was in the design and prototyping track. It works like a real engineering contract:

1. NASA hands you a problem statement, plus rules, guidelines and constraints.
2. You research, design and build a prototype that meets them.
3. You present to judges through formal design reviews, like a CDR (critical design review).
4. If your design stands out, you’re invited to Houston to present to NASA engineers and astronauts.

We made it to that last step. We presented in the massive George W.S. Abbey Rocket Park building with the unbelievably large 36-story Saturn V rocket, a truly breathtaking display of human ingenuity, and got to see the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, where astronauts train underwater. To this day, it’s still one of the best experiences of my life.

Two of our favorite projects:

NANO LAB for Space Crop Production: an enclosure that grew and monitored microgreens in zero gravity on its own, using sensors, LEDs, cameras, pumps, Raspberry Pi's and custom code. We tested capillary materials for efficient water transfer and built an interactive display, which we presented to NASA judges and astronauts in Houston.

Lunar Landing Legs: our One Stop Drop system used elastic spandex to lock the legs at a set angle so they wouldn’t bounce back, stabilizing legs to prevent tilting, and memory foam to land the payload safely, then triggering a release mechanism to safely drop off a weighted payload.

What went wrong: one Google Doc for everything

Every year we took on a new project with a team of five or six people. And every year, everything we produced went into one shared Google Doc: research, sketches, test notes, ideas, to-do lists. There was no structure to it. We just kept dumping things in.

That caused four problems that fed each other:

Nobody knew their role. Without clear owners, the same task got done twice or not at all, and we argued about who was supposed to do what. There was no plan. We never set real deadlines, a calendar or a Gantt chart. Each design review turned into a scramble. Nothing was documented properly. Research and test results were buried somewhere in the doc, if they were written down at all. In a program judged on your design process, that hurt.

Nobody could see the big picture. A long document shows you one page at a time. No one could look at it and say where we were or what came next.

We did get through it, and we’re proud of what we built. But year after year, we finished with far less to show for our work than we should have. The problem was never effort. It was that we had nowhere to organize it.

How to plan a team hardware project: what we’d do differently

If you’re starting a HUNCH project, a robotics season, a senior design project or any team build, these are the steps we wish we’d taken in week one.

• Turn the problem statement into a checklist: Copy every requirement and constraint from the prompt into its own line. Each one becomes something you must prove your design meets, so you can check it off at each review.
• Map the whole project in phases: Research, concept, design, prototype, test, final presentation. Put them left to right where everyone can see them, so the team always knows which phase you’re in.
• Break each phase into steps with one owner each: Every step gets exactly one name on it. Two people can help, but one person is responsible. This alone would have saved us most of our arguments.
• Work backward from your review dates: Put every design review and deadline on a calendar first, then give each step a due date that leaves room before it. Reviews should never be a surprise.
• Mark what depends on what: Some steps can’t start until others finish. You can’t machine parts before the CAD is approved. Make those dependencies visible so nobody starts too early or waits without knowing why.
• Keep research and test results next to the step they belong to: Don’t put them in one long running document. When a judge asks why you chose a material, the answer should sit right on that design step. Review the plan every week: Ten minutes: what’s done, what’s late, what’s blocked. Then update the board. A plan that isn’t updated stops being trusted, and then stops being used.

What I wish we'd known from day one Looking back on those four years, I don't regret the projects we chose or the time we spent building them. I regret how much time we lost trying to organize the work around the engineering.

We learned how to prototype hardware, troubleshoot designs, test materials, and present our ideas to people working in the aerospace industry. But we also learned something that applies far beyond engineering: a team can have talented people, a great idea, and plenty of motivation and still struggle if nobody knows what needs to happen next.

Whether you're building a robot, designing a product for NASA HUNCH, or working on your senior design project, don't wait until everything becomes chaotic to organize your work.

Start with a clear plan. Give every task an owner. Set deadlines before they sneak up on you. Keep your research and test results organized, use technology to your advantage, apps like Lucidchart, Monday.com and Flowboard are great for this, and make sure everyone can see the bigger picture.

Good engineering is about solving the right problems. Good planning helps you actually get there.

In my head, I’d walk into class and start learning equations, writing code, wiring Arduinos and building robots. That’s the version of mechanical engineering you see online. What I actually got was a slow, wide-open class where civil, chemical, electrical and mechanical majors all sat together and spent the first few months learning what each kind of engineer does.

That gap isn’t a bad thing. But nobody explained it to me ahead of time, so I’m explaining it to you.

Below is how CSU’s first-year engineering course works, how hard it really is, where the math actually shows up, and what I’d do in your first semester knowing what I know now.

How CSU’s first-year engineering course works

Every engineering major at CSU starts in the same intro course: ENGR 111, Fundamentals of Engineering. It doesn’t matter if you’ve known you want to be a mechanical engineer since middle school. You take the exploratory version with everyone else.

That was the biggest surprise for me. I’d expected to dive straight into my major, the way I assumed it worked at CU Boulder and other Colorado schools. Instead, the class mixes every discipline in one room.

For the first few months, each unit covers a different kind of engineering. You get a feel for what civil, chemical, electrical and mechanical engineers actually spend their days on.

If you’re undecided, this is great. If you’re already set on your major, it can feel like a detour. I’d treat it as a free look at fields you’d never sit in on otherwise. Most real projects need more than one kind of engineer anyway.

In spring, CSU’s mechanical engineering flowchart moves you on to ENGR 114, Engineering for Grand Challenges.

Tip

A warning if you’re torn between schools: CSU’s engineering setup doesn’t line up well with CU Boulder’s. The first-year courses are built so differently that your CSU engineering classes may not count the way you’d hope if you transfer. CU Boulder reviews every outside course on its own and gives credit only where it matches, under its engineering transfer credit policy. So if you’re not completely sure CSU is the right pick, think it through before you commit, not after your first year.

The Friday projects and the slow start

Every Friday, we did a small hands-on project tied to whatever discipline we’d covered that week. They were simple. Think quick, low-stakes builds, not robots.

One week, we built a small wind turbine with cardboard blades and tested it in a wind chamber. Another week, for environmental engineering, we made a water filter out of different earthy, natural materials. Nothing fancy, but each one gave you a quick feel for what that field actually does.

Our Friday environmental engineering project: a filter built from natural materials, getting its first pour of muddy water.

The first stretch of the semester moves slowly. There’s less math and fewer equations than most people expect from an engineering class. If you show up ready to grind problem sets, the early weeks might feel almost too easy.

Don’t take that as a preview of the whole degree. It’s a warm-up.

When it picks up: MATLAB and Arduino

The class finally clicked for me when we got our Arduino kits and opened MATLAB. That’s when it started to feel like the engineering I’d signed up for.

In MATLAB, we coded simple games. With the Arduino kits, we worked through basic skills, the starter circuits and short programs that bigger projects build on. None of it is advanced. But it’s the first time in the class that you make something work yourself.

If you’ve never coded, don’t stress. The class starts from zero. If you have, this is where you’ll pull ahead, and you can help the people around you catch up.

How hard is CSU engineering first semester?

Honestly, the engineering class itself was easy. It almost felt like an optional elective. The tests were very manageable, and the math in ENGR 111 was limited. You don’t need calculus to do well in that course.

Here’s the catch: ENGR 111 isn’t your whole schedule. First semester, engineering students also take General Chemistry (CHEM 111) and a math class. That math class depends on your placement. You can be in precalc and still take ENGR 111 at the same time. The mechanical engineering flowchart shows the fastest path, starting at Calculus I (MATH 160).

Which math class you start in depends on the Math Placement Tool, which incoming engineering students take before orientation.

So the math is real. It just lives in your math and chemistry classes, not in the intro engineering course. Plan your study hours around those.

Join a club your first semester

The best thing I did my first semester was join two engineering clubs: Baja SAE and the FSAE EV team.

Baja teams design and build a rugged off-road vehicle for SAE’s student competitions. Ram Racing is CSU’s Formula SAE team. It runs both a combustion car and an electric car, and it’s open to all majors and experience levels.

A Colorado State Formula SAE car. Ram Racing builds both a combustion and an electric version.

Both are big teams with real projects. That matters in a semester where your classes are still slow. It’s also how you meet older, more experienced engineers, which you don’t get in a room full of first-years.

You don’t need experience to join. Go to the first meetings, pick a sub-team that sounds interesting, and keep showing up. Team builds run on planning as much as skill, which is something I wrote about in what 4 years of NASA HUNCH taught us.

What to do in your first semester

1. Take math placement seriously. It decides where you start, and calculus sets your pace for the next two years. If you’re rusty, CSU runs a summer program called ENCourage Engineering Math that reviews pre-calc.
2. Use the easy weeks. When ENGR 111 is slow, put that time into math and chem instead of coasting.
3. Pay attention outside your major. You might find a field you like more. Switching is easiest early, before your schedule splits off.
4. Get comfortable with MATLAB and your Arduino kit. They come back. On the ME flowchart, ENGR 111 is a prerequisite for the second-year experimentation course (MECH 231).
5. Join a club in the first few weeks. Baja, Ram Racing or anything else that builds something physical.
6. Find the Engineering Success Center. It’s on the first floor of the Scott building and handles advising, career support and scholarships.

If a club project or a big class assignment feels like too much at once, break it down the way I describe in How to Turn a Big Goal Into a Step-by-Step Plan.

Common mistakes in your first semester

• Assuming the whole degree will be this easy. The flowchart puts statics and Calculus II in spring. It gets heavier from there.
• Tuning out the disciplines that aren’t yours. Mechanical engineers work next to electrical and civil engineers all the time. Those weeks teach you how they think.
• Waiting to join a club until you “know enough.” The club is where you learn it.
• Keeping your plan in your head. Between ENGR 111, math, chem, labs and club meetings, deadlines pile up quietly. Write them down in one place.

Doing it in Flowboard

First semester is mostly about keeping a lot of small things moving at once. Here’s how we’d set it up in Flowboard: one board for the semester, with a step for every exam, lab and club deadline. It’s the same way we plan engineering projects.

• Lay out each class and club as steps on a visual project plan, each with a due date and status.
• Check the automatic project timeline so a heavy week doesn’t sneak up on you.
• Use gates for work that depends on something else, like a club design review that can’t start until your part is modeled.
• Attach MATLAB files, lab write-ups and notes to the right step with project documents.

If that sounds useful, you can try it free for 7 days at flowboard.design/register.

Frequently asked questions

What classes do CSU engineering freshmen take first semester?

Most CSU engineering freshmen take ENGR 111 (Fundamentals of Engineering), a math class based on placement, a science class and a core requirement. In practice, that usually means ENGR 111, General Chemistry (CHEM 111) and a math class anywhere from precalc to Calculus I. Your exact schedule depends on your major and math placement.

Is the first semester of engineering at CSU hard?

The intro engineering course at CSU usually isn’t hard. In my experience, ENGR 111 felt close to an elective, with manageable tests and very little math. The real difficulty in first semester comes from your math and chemistry classes, which you take at the same time. Plan your study hours around those.

Do you need calculus for ENGR 111 at CSU?

No, you don’t need calculus to do well in ENGR 111, because the course uses very little math. You can even take it while you’re still in precalc. Calculus comes soon after, though, and later engineering courses build on it. Your starting math class is set by the Math Placement Tool, which you take before orientation.

What engineering clubs should a CSU freshman join?

The best club for a CSU engineering freshman is one that builds something real, like Baja SAE or Ram Racing’s Formula SAE teams. Ram Racing runs both combustion and electric cars and is open to all majors. Teams like these give you hands-on work early and connect you with experienced upperclassmen.

Do all CSU engineering majors take the same first-year class?

Yes, every CSU engineering major starts in ENGR 111, Fundamentals of Engineering, even if you’ve already picked your discipline. The class mixes all majors and spends its first few months introducing each type of engineering. On the standard plan, ENGR 114, Engineering for Grand Challenges, follows in the spring semester.