2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is altering the practice of systems engineering across the lifecycle. However, most undergraduate systems engineering (SE) instruction remains document-heavy and manual, leaving students underprepared for AI-assisted practice. This paper proposes System Engineering with Client-Based Projects, a special topics undergraduate course that integrates AI-assisted systems engineering with participatory and anticipatory design practices through real-world projects with small and mid-sized enterprise (SME) partners.

The course positions AI as a design partner that supports requirements auditing, traceability maintenance, and stakeholder synthesis, while preserving human judgment and accountability. Through project-based learning with real-world clients, students complete four core assignments that include a requirements audit, a traceability automation, an anticipatory foresight, and client-facing prototype and documentation. These assignments are designed to help students apply AI responsibly while balancing technical rigor with human and organizational considerations.

This paper describes the course design framework, implementation considerations, and assessment strategy used to evaluate student learning and professional readiness. The promise of the course is that integrating AI into core systems engineering artifacts can improve students’ systems reasoning, ethical awareness, and ability to balance technical rigor with organizational and human constraints. By situating AI-supported systems engineering within authentic, client-based design projects, the course advances design pedagogy that emphasizes iterative problem framing, stakeholder negotiation, and sociotechnical reasoning. The paper offers a transferable model for educators seeking to integrate responsible AI and systems thinking into undergraduate engineering curricula.