Engineering & Physics

An introduction to the engineering profession for first-year students, with a focus on the engineering design process and problem-solving. Includes data collection, modeling/analysis, and Computer-Aided Design software. Emphasizes professional practices and expectations, including communication, teamwork, and ethics.

An introduction to the engineering profession for first-year students, with a focus on the engineering design process and problem-solving. Includes data collection, modeling/analysis, and Computer-Aided Design software. Emphasizes professional practices and expectations, including communication, teamwork, and ethics.

Linear circuit analysis for circuits with resistors, inductors, and capacitors.  DC and AC circuits.  Includes laboratory work.  Offered alternate years.

Vector analysis includes couples, resultants, free-body diagrams, friction and rigid bodies.  Equilibrium mechanics with trusses, frames, centers of mass, bending and shear forces in beams, moments of inertia and parallel-axis theorem.  Use of software for vector/matrix algebra (e.g., MATLAB).  Offered alternate years.

Newton's laws, impulse, work/energy, impact, rotational inertia and rotating axes. Vector kinematics of particles and rigid bodies.  Offered alternate years.

Continuous-time and discrete-time linear systems.  Theory and applications of Fourier Series, Fourier Transforms and Laplace Transforms.  Techniques of signal sampling and reconstruction.  Use of MATLAB to implement digital signal processing.  Offered alternate years.

Theory and applications of classical thermodynamics, including first and second law of thermodynamics, gas mixtures, combustion, and power/refrigeration cycles. Equations of state, property tables, and other thermodynamic properties of pure substances.  Offered alternate years.

Theory and applications of fluid mechanics, including Euler's and Bernoulli's equations, hydrodynamics, fluid properties and dynamics, statics, real fluids, laminar and turbulent flows, boundary layer modeling.  Applications include introduction to turbomachinery, compressible flow and propulsion devices, flow measurement.  Offered alternate years.

Basics of heat and mass transfer, with application to mechanical engineering systems including heat exchangers.  Steady-state and transient conduction; convection and radiation.  Offered alternate years.

Formulation and application of solid mechanics: analysis of forces, stresses, deformation and strains in solids (equilibrium, kinematic, and constitutive relations).  Assessment of strength and stability, effects of pure and combined loading, and statically-indeterminate structures.  Different mechanisms of strengthening of metals are also considered: grain refining, alloying with interstitial and substitutional solutes, precipitates, second-phase, etc.  Contemporary approaches of modelling the strain hardening behavior are highlighted.  Includes a two-hour weekly lab.  Offered alternate years.

Application of engineering principles and material mechanics to the design of mechanical elements, such as shafts, gears, bearings, belts, springs, brakes, clutches, and fasteners. Includes failure criteria and safety factors, fatigue, deflection and impact. Design and manufacturing of mechanical systems carried out on a CAD/CAM system. Projects will be designed in 3D modeling program (e.g., SolidWorks). 2 hours of lecture, 2 hours of lab.  Offered alternate years.

Review of fundamentals of vibrations with application of simple machine and structural
members. Topics include harmonic motion, free and forced vibration, resonance, damping, isolation, and transmissibility. Single, multiple, and infinite degree-of-freedom systems are also examined.  Offered alternate years.

Computational and numerical techniques for problem-solving in applied physics.  Methods for differential equations, Monte Carlo simulations, and modeling of physical systems (e.g., fluid flows, waves).  Programming of neural networks / machine learning to solve problems in engineering and applied science.  Implemented in Python.

Theory and application of circuit components: transistors, diodes, power supplies, filters, amplifiers, control circuits.  Includes 2 hour laboratory each week and 2 hours of lecture.  Offered alternate years.

Analysis and applications of digital circuits such as flip-flops, registers, counters and analog-to-digital converters leading to interfacing real-time data collection to computers.  Introduces field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).  Offered alternate years.

Modeling and control of electromechanical systems.  Electronic interface and controller design, selection of sensors and actuators, signal acquisition, filtering and conditioning.  Use of microcontrollers.  Offered alternate years.

Feedback control of linear continuous and digital systems in the time and frequency domain.  Frequency response, stability, root locus, linear state variable feedback, and design of compensators used to analyze closed-loop systems.  Offered alternate years.

Provides an opportunity for a student to gain field experience in an area related to the student's program of study or career goals. The learning objectives for internships include connecting academic knowledge and problem-solving processes to experiences and problems in professional settings. Supervision of an intern is provided by an appropriate faculty member and by a site supervisor of the agency or business in which the student is an intern. A student who wishes to engage in an internship must consult with the appropriate faculty member at least eight weeks in advance of the start of the term in which the internship is to be completed. A description of the internship, signed by the student and the faculty sponsor, must be filed with the director of internships by the first day of the semester prior to the start of the internship. Approval of each application for an internship is made by the director of internships based upon approved policies and guidelines. Internships are graded on an S or U basis. Students must complete 120 hours of internship-related work as well as weekly journal entries and a final reflective paper completed in accordance with approved requirements.  A student may enroll in an internship program for 3 credits per semester, and internship credit may be earned in subsequent semesters subject to the limitations that no more than two internships may be pursued in any one agency or business and a maximum of 9 credits in internships may be applied toward graduation. FILA general education: experiential learning.

In this two-course sequence, students collaborate in groups to design an engineering project supervised by engineering faculty.  A typical project includes testing, analysis and redesign, with application of skills in manufacturing process design and fabrication.  Students work in groups of 3 - 5 students.  Professional communication is scaffolded throughout the sequence, including oral presentations, proposals and reports, and a comprehensive written final report.

In this two-course sequence, students collaborate in groups to design an engineering project supervised by engineering faculty.  A typical project includes testing, analysis and redesign, with application of skills in manufacturing process design and fabrication.  Students work in groups of 3 - 5 students.  Professional communication is scaffolded throughout the sequence, including oral presentations, proposals and reports, and a comprehensive written final report.

Upon approval of the department and the division head, a student with a cumulative grade point average of 2.20 or better may engage in an independent study or research project. One desiring to pursue independent study or research must submit a written description of the proposed work to the chair of the appropriate department and to the appropriate division head prior to the last day of the drop and add period for the semester in which the study is to be conducted. At the end of the semester, the supervising professor files with the registrar a grade for the student and a description of the work accomplished. Credit may be received for no more than three independent studies or research projects.

Upon approval of the department and the division head, a student with a cumulative grade point average of 2.20 or better may engage in an independent study or research project. One desiring to pursue independent study or research must submit a written description of the proposed work to the chair of the appropriate department and to the appropriate division head prior to the last day of the drop and add period for the semester in which the study is to be conducted. At the end of the semester, the supervising professor files with the registrar a grade for the student and a description of the work accomplished. Credit may be received for not more than three independent studies or research projects.

An honors project is one in which a student researches a subject, by examination of relevant literature or by experimentation or both; the student reports the results in an accurately documented and well-written paper or appropriate representation of the work. Whenever the study deals with the subject of an established course, the student is expected to go well beyond the usual work of the course in research and in assimilation of the results as revealed in the report. Juniors and seniors with a cumulative grade point average of 3.40 or above may register for an honors project. One desiring to pursue an honors project must submit a written description of his or her proposed work to the chair of the appropriate department and to the appropriate division head prior to the last day of the drop and add period for the semester in which the study is to be conducted. Upon the completion of the honors project, the student must present an oral defense of his or her project. The final grade must include a satisfactory performance on the oral defense, assessed by a three-faculty member team. The project advisor will authorize the make-up of the oral defense team and will assign the final grade on the project. The honors project title will be noted on the student's transcript. It is the student's responsibility to provide a copy of the written paper or appropriate representation of the work to the library in compliance with specifications approved by the Council on Education. The library director arranges for binding and storage.

Designed to help students appreciate and understand their physical environment and the methods of physical science through the study of basic astronomy. Topics include the history of astronomy; motion of celestial objects; planets of the solar system; birth, life, and death of stars; galaxies; and cosmology. Three hours in class and two hours in laboratory per week. FILA general education: natural and physical sciences.

Physics has given humanity the ability to better understand our world as well as transform our relationship with it. This course investigates the influence of physics principles, discoveries, and applications in human endeavors, such as electricity and nuclear radiation. The role that physics plays in energy use, technology and modern society is explored along with the impacts these discoveries and applications have on global and personal scales. FILA general education: natural and physical sciences.

An introduction to the basic concepts of physics emphasizing practical applications of physical laws to common occurrences. Physical descriptions are presented on how things move, the behavior of sound and light, uses of electricity and magnetism, and the behavior of fundamental particles. Three hours in class and two hours in laboratory per week. FILA general education: natural and physical sciences.

This course is a set of lectures and active-learning activities that explore the physics of sounds and music. Topics covered include propagation and energy of sound waves, frequency and wavelength, harmonics and overtones, perception of sound intensity, how various musical instruments produce different sounds, and standing waves in different media.

An introduction to astrophysics using computational models to explore the astrophysical processes responsible for the properties and structure of stars, stellar remnants, and black holes. We will also explore the formation of stars, dynamics of clusters, and large scale structure of the Universe. This course will include an off-campus visit to a national center of astrophysical research. No previous computing experience is necessary.

A hands-on introduction to scientific computing with professional software packages. Emphasizes the graphical capabilities of software, such as Mathematica, applied to problems in physics.

An algebra-based exploration of the concepts of motion, forces, energy, waves, heat, electricity, magnetism, optics, and modern physics. Three hours in class, one hour in recitation and two hours in lab per week.  Offered alternate years: 2024-2025.

An algebra-based exploration of the concepts of motion, forces, energy, waves, heat, electricity, magnetism, optics, and modern physics. Three hours in class, one hour in recitation and two hours in lab per week.  Offered alternate years: 2024-2025.

During the first term: Kinematics, Newton's laws of motion, conservation laws, rotational motion, periodic motion, and fluid mechanics. During the second term: Thermodynamics, electricity, magnetism, optics and modern physics. A combination of lectures and learning by inquiry are employed. Computers are used for data acquisition, data analysis, and mathematical modeling. Three hours in class, one hour in recitation and two hours in lab per week.

During the first term: Kinematics, Newton's laws of motion, conservation laws, rotational motion, periodic motion, and fluid mechanics. During the second term: Thermodynamics, electricity, magnetism, optics and modern physics. A combination of lectures and learning by inquiry are employed. Computers are used for data acquisition, data analysis, and mathematical modeling. Three hours in class, one hour in recitation and two hours in lab per week. 

Provides an opportunity for a student to gain field experience in an area related to the student's program of study or career goals. The learning objectives for internships include connecting academic knowledge and problem-solving processes to experiences and problems in professional settings. Supervision of an intern is provided by an appropriate faculty member and by a site supervisor of the agency or business in which the student is an intern. A student who wishes to engage in an internship must consult with the appropriate faculty member at least eight weeks in advance of the start of the term in which the internship is to be completed. A description of the internship, signed by the student and the faculty sponsor, must be filed with the director of internships by the first day of the semester prior to the start of the internship. Approval of each application for an internship is made by the director of internships based upon approved policies and guidelines. Internships are graded on an S or U basis. Students must complete 120 hours of internship-related work as well as weekly journal entries and a final reflective paper completed in accordance with approved requirements. A student may enroll in an internship program for 3 credits per semester, and internship credit may be earned in subsequent semesters subject to the limitations that no more than two internships may be pursued in any one agency or business and a maximum of 9 credits in internships may be applied toward graduation. FILA general education: experiential learning.