Turning bicycles into an engineering study tool

Penn students explore the Netherlands’ cycling infrastructure and learn about bicycle design principles in Dustyn Roberts’ popular Penn Global Seminar.

They say you never forget how to ride a bike.

Dustyn Roberts hopes that her students never forget how a bike—something everyone has either seen or ridden—is the ideal introduction to engineering concepts like materials, urban design, and stability.

Instead of examining something more intimidating or imposing—say, jet engines—“I can bring a bike into class and we can talk about mechanical advantage and then ride up a hill,” says Roberts, a practice associate professor of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics in the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

With bicycles at the center, she created a Penn Global Seminar, Bicycles: The Mechanical Advantage, which aims to impart engineering skills as well as offer practical experience in bicycle design and maintenance.

The class also tackles the human side of cycling, including transportation policy. This semester, a guest speaker from Philadelphia’s Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems discussed traffic measurement and intersection design.