Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

This course examines the design of a modern spacecraft or complex space system, including the space environment and its impact on design. The principles and design aspects of the structure, propulsion, power, thermal, communication, and attitude subsystems are studied. The course also introduces systems engineering, project management, manufacturing and test, mission operations, mission design, and space policy. Acting as a single project team, students will design a satellite or space system from conception to critical design review. Two 90-minute lectures. Prerequisite: 206, 305, 341 recommended, or instructor's permission.

The fundamental concepts required for the design and function of implantable medical devices, including basic applications of materials, solid mechanics and fluid mechanics to bone/implant systems. The course examines the interfaces between cells and the surfaces of synthetic biomaterials that are used in orthopedic and dental applications. Prerequisites: MAT 103 and 104, and PHY 103 and 104. Three one-hour lectures.

Robotics is a rapidly-growing field with applications including unmanned aerial vehicles, autonomous cars, and robotic manipulators. This course will provide an introduction to the basic theoretical and algorithmic principles behind robotic systems. The course will also allow students to get hands-on experience through project-based assignments. Topics include inverse kinematics, motion planning, localization, mapping, vision, and reinforcement learning. Prerequisites: MAT 201 or 203, MAT 202 or 204, COS 126. Recommended ORF 309 and MAE 305. A.B. students ST requirement; B.S.E. students 1st-year science requirement. Two 90-minute lectures.

This course will provide students with a basic technical understanding of some of the critical technologies that are relevant to national and global security and will equip students with the skills to better assess the challenge of developing effective policies to manage such technologies. Case studies will inter alia include nuclear weapons and their proliferation, nuclear and radiological terrorism, space weapons, biosecurity and cyberware. Two lectures.

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.

The study of the role of and mechanisms behind oceanic transport, storage and exchange of energy, freshwater and momentum in the climate system. Exploration of ocean circulation, mixing, thermodynamic properties and variability. Understanding the physical constraints on the ocean, including Coriolis-dominated equations of motion, the wind-driven and thermohaline circulations, and the adjustment of the ocean to perturbations. El Niño, oceans and global warming & sea ice. Three 50-minute classes. G. Vecchi and S. Legg

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.

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.

Introduction to modern state-space methods for control system design and analysis. Application to multiple-input, multiple-output dynamical systems, including robotic systems and flexible structures. State-space representation of systems. Stability. Controllability and observability. State feedback control. Observers and output feedback control. Optimal control design methods. Three lectures.

Presentation of timely and advanced topics in mechanical and aerospace engineering. Subject matter will vary depending upon the interest of the faculty and students. Possible topics could include acoustics and noise, biomechanics, lasers, space propulsion, solar energy conversion. Three lectures.

Presentation of timely and advanced topics in mechanical and aerospace engineering. Subject matter will vary depending upon the interest of the faculty and students. Possible topics could include acoustics and noise, biomechanics, lasers, space propulsion, solar energy conversion.

Senior independent work is the culminating experience for the mechanical and aerospace engineering programs. Students select a subject and adviser, define the problem to be studied and propose a work plan. Projects include engineering design, defined as devising a system, component, or process to meet desired needs. A list of possible subjects of particular interest to faculty and staff members is provided. Students must submit a written final report and present their results to faculty, staff, fellow students, and guests.

Senior independent work is the culminating experience for the mechanical and aerospace engineering programs. Students select a subject and adviser, define the problem to be studied and propose a work plan. Projects include engineering design, defined as devising a system, component, or process to meet desired needs. A list of possible subjects of particular interest to faculty and staff members is provided. Students must submit a written final report and present their results to faculty, staff, fellow students, and guests.

Senior thesis is a year-long independent study for individual students. It is the culminating experience for the mechanical and aerospace programs. Work begins in fall, but enrollment is in spring when a double grade is recorded. Projects include engineering design, defined as devising a system, component, or process to meet desired needs. Students develop their own topic or select a faculty proposed topic. Students create a work plan and select an adviser. A written progress report is expected at the end of the fall term. Students submit a written final report and make an oral presentation at the end of the spring term.

The senior project is a year-long independent study intended for students who choose to work in teams of two or more. Work begins in fall, but enrollment is in spring when a double grade is recorded. Projects include engineering design, defined as devising a system, component, or process to meet desired needs. Groups develop their own topic or select a faculty proposed topic. Groups create a work plan and select an adviser. A written progress report is expected at the end of the fall term. Students submit a written final report and make an oral presentation at the end of the spring term.

This class will teach students about optical and photonic sensing technologies and their applications to environmental monitoring. The course will contain elements of atmospheric science and Earth observation, fundamentals of optics, photonics and laser physics, as well as a survey of modern optical and spectroscopic sensing applications.

Methods of mathematical analysis for the solution of problems in physics and engineering. Topics include an introduction to functional analysis, Sturm-Liouville theory, Green's functions for the solution of ordinary differential equations and Poisson's equation, and the calculus of variations.

A complementary presentation of theory, analytical methods, and numerical methods. The objective is to impart a set of capabilities commonly used in the research areas represented in the Department. Standard computational packages will be made available in the courses, and assignments will be designed to use them. An extension of MAE 501.

The goal of this course is to teach basic tools and principles of writing good code, in the context of scientific computing. Specific topics include an overview of relevant compiled and interpreted languages, build tools and source managers, design patterns, design of interfaces, debugging and testing, profiling and improving performance, portability, and an introduction to parallel computing in both shared memory and distributed memory environments. The focus is on writing code that is easy to maintain and share with others. Students will develop these skills through a series of programming assignments and a group project.

A broad introduction to scientific computation using examples drawn from astrophysics. From computer science, practical topics including processor architecture, parallel systems, structured programming, and scientific visualization will be presented in tutorial style. Basic principles of numerical analysis, including sources of error, stability, and convergence of algorithms. The theory and implementation of techniques for linear and nonlinear systems of equations, ordinary and partial differential equations will be demonstrated with problems in stellar structure and evolution, stellar and galactic dynamics, and cosmology.

Selected topics in mathematical methods, with an emphasis on advances relevant to research activities represented in the department. Possible topics include analytical methods for differential equations, numerical solution of hyperbolic equations, and statistical methods.