Online courses directory (19947)

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Create lumped parameter models (expressed as ODEs) of simple dynamic systems in the electrical and mechanical energy domains
• Make quantitative estimates of model parameters from experimental measurements
• Obtain the time-domain response of linear systems to initial conditions and/or common forcing functions (specifically; impulse, step and ramp input) by both analytical and computational methods
• Obtain the frequency-domain response of linear systems to sinusoidal inputs
• Compensate the transient response of dynamic systems using feedback techniques
• Design, implement and test an active control system to achieve a desired performance measure

Mastery of these topics will be assessed via homework, quizzes/exams, and lab assignments.

This course covers theory and evidence on government taxation policy. Topics include tax incidence, optimal tax theory, the effect of taxation on labor supply and savings, taxation and corporate behavior, and tax expenditure policy.

This course covers theory and evidence on government expenditure policy-- topics include: The theory of public goods; Education; State and local public goods; Political economy; Redistribution and welfare policy; Social insurance programs such as social security and unemployment insurance; and Health care policy.

Political Economy I explores the major social science paradigms for analyzing relations among state, economy, and society. Through readings, lectures and discussion of original texts in political liberalism and individualism, neo-classical economics, Marxism, sociological and cultural theories, and neo-institutionalism, the seminar examines the fundamental assumptions on which our understanding of the social world and our research are based.

This course reviews momentum and energy principles, and then covers the following topics: Hamilton's principle and Lagrange's equations; three-dimensional kinematics and dynamics of rigid bodies; steady motions and small deviations therefrom, gyroscopic effects, and causes of instability; free and forced vibrations of lumped-parameter and continuous systems; nonlinear oscillations and the phase plane; nonholonomic systems; and an introduction to wave propagation in continuous systems.

This course was originally developed by Professor T. Akylas.

This course will survey the conditions of material life and changing social and economic conditions in medieval Europe with reference to the comparative context of contemporary Islamic, Chinese, and central Asian experiences. Subject covers the emergence and decline of feudal institutions, the transformation of peasant agriculture, living standards and the course of epidemic disease, and the ebb and flow of long-distance trade across the Eurasian system. Particular emphasis will be placed on the study of those factors, both institutional and technological, which have contributed to the emergence of capitalist organization and economic growth in Western Europe in contrast to the trajectories followed by the other major medieval economies.

This course is intended for first year graduate students and advanced undergraduates with an interest in design of ships or offshore structures. It requires a sufficient background in structural mechanics. Computer applications are utilized, with emphasis on the theory underlying the analysis. Hydrostatic loading, shear load and bending moment, and resulting primary hull primary stresses will be developed. Topics will include; ship structural design concepts, effect of superstructures and dissimilar materials on primary strength, transverse shear stresses in the hull girder, and torsional strength among others. Failure mechanisms and design limit states will be developed for plate bending, column and panel buckling, panel ultimate strength, and plastic analysis. Matrix stiffness, grillage, and finite element analysis will be introduced. Design of a ship structure will be analyzed by "hand" with desktop computer tools and a final design project using current applications for structural design of a section will be accomplished.

This course was originally offered in Course 13 (Department of Ocean Engineering) as 13.122. In 2005, ocean engineering subjects became part of Course 2 (Department of Mechanical Engineering), and this course was renumbered 2.082.   

This course introduces finite element methods for the analysis of solid, structural, fluid, field, and heat transfer problems. Steady-state, transient, and dynamic conditions are considered. Finite element methods and solution procedures for linear and nonlinear analyses are presented using largely physical arguments. The homework and a term project (for graduate students) involve use of the general purpose finite element analysis program ADINA. Applications include finite element analyses, modeling of problems, and interpretation of numerical results.

This course analyzes issues associated with the implementation of higher-level programming languages. Topics covered include: fundamental concepts, functions, and structures of compilers, the interaction of theory and practice, and using tools in building software. The course includes a multi-person project on compiler design and implementation.

This course on software engineering covers design and implementation of medium-scale software systems, using web applications as a platform. In the course, students learn the fundamentals of structuring a web application and writing modular code, with an emphasis on conceptual design to achieve clarity, simplicity, and modularity. Topics also include functional programming, relational databases, and security.

6.857 Network and Computer Security is an upper-level undergraduate, first-year graduate course on network and computer security. It fits within the Computer Systems and Architecture Engineering concentration.

This course offers an advanced introduction to numerical linear algebra. Topics include direct and iterative methods for linear systems, eigenvalue decompositions and QR/SVD factorizations, stability and accuracy of numerical algorithms, the IEEE floating point standard, sparse and structured matrices, preconditioning, linear algebra software. Problem sets require some knowledge of MATLAB®.

This course presents finite element theory and methods for general linear and nonlinear analyses. Reliable and effective finite element procedures are discussed with their applications to the solution of general problems in solid, structural, and fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, and fluid-structure interactions. The governing continuum mechanics equations, conservation laws, virtual work, and variational principles are used to establish effective finite element discretizations and the stability, accuracy, and convergence are discussed. The homework and the student-selected term project using the general-purpose finite element analysis program ADINA are important parts of the course.

This course provides an overview of robot mechanisms, dynamics, and intelligent controls. Topics include planar and spatial kinematics, and motion planning; mechanism design for manipulators and mobile robots, multi-rigid-body dynamics, 3D graphic simulation; control design, actuators, and sensors; wireless networking, task modeling, human-machine interface, and embedded software. Weekly laboratories provide experience with servo drives, real-time control, and embedded software. Students will design and fabricate working robotic systems in a group-based term project.

This course models multi-domain engineering systems at a level of detail suitable for design and control system implementation. Topics include network representation, state-space models; multi-port energy storage and dissipation, Legendre transforms; nonlinear mechanics, transformation theory, Lagrangian and Hamiltonian forms; and control-relevant properties. Application examples may include electro-mechanical transducers, mechanisms, electronics, fluid and thermal systems, compressible flow, chemical processes, diffusion, and wave transmission.

This course is about maneuvering motions of surface and underwater vehicles. Topics covered include: derivation of equations of motion, hydrodynamic coefficients, memory effects, linear and nonlinear forms of the equations of motion, control surfaces modeling and design, engine, propulsor, and transmission systems modeling and simulation during maneuvering. The course also deals with stability of motion, principles of multivariable automatic control, optimal control, Kalman filtering, and loop transfer recovery. We will also explore applications chosen from autopilots for surface vehicles; towing in open seas; and remotely operated vehicles.

This course was originally offered in Course 13 (Department of Ocean Engineering) as 13.49. In 2005, ocean engineering subjects became part of Course 2 (Department of Mechanical Engineering), and this course was renumbered 2.154.

This course provides a broad theoretical basis for system identification, estimation, and learning. Students will study least squares estimation and its convergence properties, Kalman filters, noise dynamics and system representation, function approximation theory, neural nets, radial basis functions, wavelets, Volterra expansions, informative data sets, persistent excitation, asymptotic variance, central limit theorems, model structure selection, system order estimate, maximum likelihood, unbiased estimates, Cramer-Rao lower bound, Kullback-Leibler information distance, Akaike's information criterion, experiment design, and model validation.

This graduate level course is more extensive and theoretical treatment of the material in Computability, and Complexity (6.045J / 18.400J). Topics include Automata and Language Theory, Computability Theory, and Complexity Theory.

This is a graduate course on the design and analysis of algorithms, covering several advanced topics not studied in typical introductory courses on algorithms. It is especially designed for doctoral students interested in theoretical computer science.

The focus of the course is on medical science and practice in the age of automation and the genome, both present and future.

It ncludes an analysis of the computational needs of clinical medicine, a review systems and approaches that have been used to support those needs, and an examination of new technologies.