Global Arc

This is an introductory aerospace engineering course for non-engineers. It gives an elementary technical understanding of what it takes to explore and operate in outer space. We will cover the history of space flight, the space environment, rockets, orbits, launches, re-entries, spacecraft subsystems, and human factors. Students will work with the technical tradeoffs in space mission design in weekly computer labs. Guest lecturers from the engineering and scientific communities will present case studies. Towards the end of the course students will lead critical evaluations of realistic science fiction and visionary non-fiction.

Introduction to microcontroller applications. A laboratory course dealing with the design and construction of self-contained computer-based electronics projects. Major topics include a review of digital and linear electronics, an introduction to microcomputer architecture and assembly language programming, device interfacing, mechanical mechanisms, electromechanical actuation, and system design. Two lectures, two two-hour laboratories. Prerequisite: 221 and 224, or equivalent.

The bioinspired design course offers interdisciplinary, advanced design and critical thinking experience. Students will work in teams to integrate biological knowledge into the engineering design process. The course uses case studies to show how biological solutions can be transferred into engineering design. The case studies will include themes such as locomotion, materials, and sensing. By the end of the course, students will be able to use analogical design concepts to engineer a prototype based on biological function.

VR/AR can enable engineers, scientists, and architects to plan and conduct their work in fundamentally new ways, visualize and communicate their findings more effectively, and work in environments that are otherwise difficult, impossible, or too costly to experience in person. This course explores the basic concepts of effective VR/AR experiences, builds skills needed to develop and support innovative science, engineering, or architecture projects. In the second half of the semester, working in small teams, students develop, implement VR/AR projects of their choice.

Covers the fundamentals of heat transfer and applications to practical problems in energy conversion and conservation, electronics, and biological systems. Emphasis will be on developing a physical and analytical understanding of conductive, convective, and radiative heat transfer, as well as design of heat exchangers and heat transfer systems involving phase change in process and energy applications. Students will develop an ability to apply governing principles and physical intuition to solve multi-mode heat transfer problems. Three lectures, one preceptorial.

This is a survey course on energy storage systems with a focus on electrochemical energy storage. Fundamentals of thermodynamics will be reviewed and fundamentals of electrochemistry introduced. These fundamentals will then be applied to devices such as batteries, flywheels and compressed air storage. Device optimization with respect to energy density, power density, cycle life and capital cost will be considered.

The study of principles, flight envelopes, and engine designs of rocket and ram/scramjet propulsion systems. Topics include jet propulsion theory, space mission maneuver, combustion control, and system components of chemical and non-chemical rockets (nuclear and electrical propulsion), gas turbine, ramjet, and scramjet engines. Characteristics, optimal flight envelopes, and technical challenges of combined propulsion systems will be analyzed. Prerequisites: 221 and 222. Three lectures.

An overview of energy utilization in, and environmental impacts of, current and future propulsion systems for ground, air, and space propulsion applications. Introduces students to principles of advanced internal combustion, electric hybrid, and fuel cell energy conversion systems for ground transportation.Relevant thermodynamics, chemistry, fluid mechanics, and combustion fundamentals will be stressed. Performance properties of power plants, control of air pollutant emissions, and minimization of resource-to application carbon emissions will be explored.Three lectures, one preceptorial. Prerequisites: 221, 222, or instructor's permission.

This course provides an introduction to the application of deep learning to physical problems. Topics include convolutional neural networks, and graph neural networks.

Introduction to the analysis and design of automatic control systems. Mathematical models of mechanical and electrical feedback systems. Block diagram algebra. Accuracy, speed of response, and stability. Root locus, Bode, and Nyquist techniques. Introduction to digital control. Regulation, tracking, and compensation. Effects of nonlinearity, disturbance, and noise. Prerequisite: 305 or instructor's permission. Two 90-minute lectures, one three-hour laboratory.