Online courses directory (2511)

In this course we will read essays, novels, memoirs, and graphic texts, and view documentary and experimental films and videos which explore race from the standpoint of the multiracial. Examining the varied work of multiracial authors and filmmakers such as Danzy Senna, Ruth Ozeki, Kip Fulbeck, James McBride and others, we will focus not on how multiracial people are seen or imagined by the dominant culture, but instead on how they represent themselves. How do these authors approach issues of family, community, nation, language and history? What can their work tell us about the complex interconnections between race, gender, class, sexuality, and citizenship? Is there a relationship between their experiences of multiraciality and a willingness to experiment with form and genre? In addressing these and other questions, we will endeavor to think and write more critically and creatively about race as a social category and a lived experience.

This class provides an introduction to quantitative models and qualitative frameworks for studying complex engineering systems. Also taught is the art of abstracting a complex system into a model for purposes of analysis and design while dealing with complexity, emergent behavior, stochasticity, non-linearities and the requirements of many stakeholders with divergent objectives. The successful completion of the class requires a semester-long class project that deals with critical contemporary issues which require an integrative, interdisciplinary approach using the above models and frameworks.

This subject provides an introduction to the mechanics of materials and structures. You will be introduced to and become familiar with all relevant physical properties and fundamental laws governing the behavior of materials and structures and you will learn how to solve a variety of problems of interest to civil and environmental engineers. While there will be a chance for you to put your mathematical skills obtained in 18.01, 18.02, and eventually 18.03 to use in this subject, the emphasis is on the physical understanding of why a material or structure behaves the way it does in the engineering design of materials and structures.

This course aims at providing students with a solid background on the principles of structural engineering design. Students will be exposed to the theories and concepts of both concrete and steel design and analysis both at the element and system levels. Hands-on design experience and skills will be gained and learned through problem sets and a comprehensive design project. An understanding of real-world open-ended design issues will be developed. Besides regular lectures, weekly recitations and project discussion sessions will be held.

This class is an introduction to the dynamics and vibrations of lumped-parameter models of mechanical systems. Topics include kinematics; force-momentum formulation for systems of particles and rigid bodies in planar motion; work-energy concepts; virtual displacements and virtual work; Lagrange's equations for systems of particles and rigid bodies in planar motion; linearization of equations of motion; linear stability analysis of mechanical systems; free and forced vibration of linear multi-degree of freedom models of mechanical systems; and matrix eigenvalue problems. The class includes an introduction to numerical methods and using MATLAB® to solve dynamics and vibrations problems.

This version of the class stresses kinematics and builds around a strict but powerful approach to kinematic formulation which is different from the approach presented in Spring 2007. Our notation was adapted from that of Professor Kane of Stanford University.

The main objective of 1.054/1.541 is to provide students with a rational basis of the design of reinforced concrete members and structures through advanced understanding of material and structural behavior. This course is offered to undergraduate (1.054) and graduate students (1.541). Topics covered include: Strength and Deformation of Concrete under Various States of Stress; Failure Criteria; Concrete Plasticity; Fracture Mechanics Concepts; Fundamental Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Structural Systems and their Members; Basis for Design and Code Constraints; High-performance Concrete Materials and their use in Innovative Design Solutions; Slabs: Yield Line Theory; Behavior Models and Nonlinear Analysis; and Complex Systems: Bridge Structures, Concrete Shells, and Containments.

Professor Oral Buyukozturk thanks Tzu-Yang Yu, a graduate student at MIT, for his valuable assistance in preparing course documents.

This class serves as an introduction to mass transport in environmental flows, with emphasis given to river and lake systems. The class will cover the derivation and solutions to the differential form of mass conservation equations. Class topics to be covered will include: molecular and turbulent diffusion, boundary layers, dissolution, bed-water exchange, air-water exchange and particle transport.

Wavelets are localized basis functions, good for representing short-time events. The coefficients at each scale are filtered and subsampled to give coefficients at the next scale. This is Mallat's pyramid algorithm for multiresolution, connecting wavelets to filter banks. Wavelets and multiscale algorithms for compression and signal/image processing are developed. Subject is project-based for engineering and scientific applications.

This course discusses the Linearized theory of wave phenomena in applied mechanics. Examples are chosen from elasticity, acoustics, geophysics, hydrodynamics and other subjects. The topics include: basic concepts, one dimensional examples, characteristics, dispersion and group velocity, scattering, transmission and reflection, two dimensional reflection and refraction across an interface, mode conversion in elastic waves, diffraction and parabolic approximation, radiation from a line source, surface Rayleigh waves and Love waves in elastic media, waves on the sea surface and internal waves in a stratified fluid, waves in moving media, ship wave pattern, atmospheric lee waves behind an obstacle, and waves through a laminated media.

This intensive micro-subject provides the necessary skills in Microsoft® Excel spreadsheet modeling for ESD.71 Engineering Systems Analysis for Design. Its purpose is to bring entering students up to speed on some of the advanced techniques that we routinely use in analysis. It is motivated by our experience that many students only have an introductory knowledge of Excel, and thus waste a lot of time thrashing about unproductively. Many people think they know Excel, but overlook many efficient tools, such as Data Table and Goal Seek. It is also useful for a variety of other subjects.

This class covers quantitative analysis of uncertainty and risk for engineering applications. Fundamentals of probability, random processes, statistics, and decision analysis are covered, along with random variables and vectors, uncertainty propagation, conditional distributions, and second-moment analysis. System reliability is introduced. Other topics covered include Bayesian analysis and risk-based decision, estimation of distribution parameters, hypothesis testing, simple and multiple linear regressions, and Poisson and Markov processes. There is an emphasis placed on real-world applications to engineering problems.

This course covers concepts of computation used in analysis of engineering systems. It includes the following topics: data structures, relational database representations of engineering data, algorithms for the solution and optimization of engineering system designs (greedy, dynamic programming, branch and bound, graph algorithms, nonlinear optimization), and introduction to complexity analysis. Object-oriented, efficient implementations of algorithms are emphasized.

Approaching transportation as a complex, large-scale, integrated, open system (CLIOS), this course strives to be an interdisciplinary systems subject in the "open" sense. It introduces qualitative modeling ideas and various techniques and philosophies of modeling complex transportation enterprises. It also introduces conceptual frameworks for qualitative analysis, such as frameworks for regional strategic planning, institutional change analysis, and new technology development and deployment. And it covers transportation as a large-scale, integrated system that interacts directly with the social, political, and economic aspects of contemporary society. Fundamental elements and issues shaping traveler and freight transportation systems are covered, along with underlying principles governing transportation planning, investment, operations, and maintenance.

Design, operation, and management of traffic flows over complex transportation networks are the foci of this course. It covers two major topics: traffic flow modeling and traffic flow operations. Sub-topics include deterministic and probabilistic models, elements of queuing theory, and traffic assignment. Concepts are illustrated through various applications and case studies. This is a half-term subject offered during the second half of the semester.

This course examines the policy, politics, planning, and engineering of transportation systems in urban areas, with a special focus on the Boston area. It covers the role of the federal, state, and local government and the MPO, public transit in the era of the automobile, analysis of current trends and pattern breaks; analytical tools for transportation planning, traffic engineering, and policy analysis; the contribution of transportation to air pollution, social costs, and climate change; land use and transportation interactions, and more. Transportation sustainability is a central theme throughout the course, as well as consideration of if and how it is possible to resolve the tension between the three E's (environment, economy, and equity). The goal of this course is to elicit discussion, stimulate independent thinking, and encourage students to understand and challenge the "conventional wisdom" of transportation planning.

Transmedia narratives exist across multiple storytelling platforms, using the advantages of each to enhance the experience of the audience. No matter which medium nor how many, the heart of any successful transmedia project is a good story. In this class we will spend time on the basics of solid storytelling in speculative fiction before we move on to how to translate those elements into various media. We will then explore how different presentations in different media can complement and enhance our storytelling. While we will read scholarly articles and discuss ideas about transmedia, this is primarily a class in making speculative fiction transmedia projects. We will analyze the strengths and weaknesses of various mediums and consider how they complement each other, and how by using several different media we can give the audience a more complete, rewarding, and immersive experience.

This course discusses the evolution and role of urban public transportation modes, systems and services, focusing on bus and rail. Technological characteristics are described, along with their impacts on capacity, service quality, and cost. Current practice and new methods for data collection and analysis, performance monitoring, route and network design, frequency determination, and vehicle and crew scheduling are covered. The course also discusses effects of pricing policy and service quality on ridership, methods for estimating costs associated with proposed service changes, organizational models for delivering public transportation service including finance and operations, and select transit management topics including labor relations, fare policy and technology, marketing and operations management.

This course addresses information technology fundamentals, including project management and software processes, data modeling, UML, relational databases and SQL. Topics covered include internet technologies, such as XML, web services, and service-oriented architectures. This course provides an introduction to security and presents the fundamentals of telecommunications and includes a project that involves requirements / design, data model, database implementation, website, security and data network. No prior programming experience required.

This course surveys operations research models and techniques developed for a variety of problems arising in logistical planning of multi-echelon systems. There is a focus on planning models for production/inventory/distribution strategies in general multi-echelon multi-item systems. Topics include vehicle routing problems, dynamic lot sizing inventory models, stochastic and deterministic multi-echelon inventory systems, the bullwhip effect, pricing models, and integration problems arising in supply chain management. Probability and linear programming experience required.

This class presents the application of principles of soil mechanics. It considers the following topics: the origin and nature of soils; soil classification; the effective stress principle; hydraulic conductivity and seepage; stress-strain-strength behavior of cohesionless and cohesive soils and application to lateral earth stresses; bearing capacity and slope stability; consolidation theory and settlement analysis; and laboratory and field methods for evaluation of soil properties in design practice.