Engineering Sciences 20

 

ENGS 20 Home Page

Course Content

Instructor

Office Hours

Classes

Text

References

Prerequisite

Homework

Recitation

Blackboard



Other Course Pages

Thayer School of Engineering

Dartmouth College


Introduction to Scientific Computing

Course Content

This course introduces concepts and techniques for creating computational solutions to problems in engineering and science. The essentials of computer programming are developed using the C and Matlab languages, with the goal of enabling the student to use the computer effectively in subsequent courses. Programming topics include problem decomposition, control structures, recursion, arrays and other data structures, file I/O, graphics, and code libraries. Applications will be drawn from numerical solution of ordinary differential equations, root finding, matrix operations, regression, searching and sorting, simulation, and data analysis. Good programming style and computational efficiency are emphasized. Although no previous programming experience is assumed, a significant time commitment is required.

Students planning to pursue the engineering sciences major are advised to take ENGINEERING SCIENCES 20. Students considering the computer science major or majors modified with computer science should take COMPUTER SCIENCE 5.

Instructor

Instructor   Simon G. Shepherd
Location   Room 212, Cummings Hall
Telephone   646-0096
E-mail   simon at thayer.dartmouth.edu

Office Hours

Tu 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Th 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
212 Cummings Hall

Classes

There will be three classes per week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1:45 to 2:50 p.m. in Room MB 01, MacLean Hall (ESC). X-hour is on Thursday from 1:00 to 1:50 p.m. We will use every X-hour.

Text

Reading is from

Bronson, "A First Book of ANSI C, 3rd ed."
Gilat, "Matlab: An Introduction with Applications, 2nd ed. or 3rd ed."

References

On reserve in Feldberg Library:

Prata, "C Primer Plus", 5th ed., 2005. Excellent reference text for all that is C.
Deitel and Deitel, "C: How to Program", 2004. Another good reference text for C programming.
Press, Teukolsky, Vetterling, and Flannery, "Numerical Recipes in C." The best resource for optimized numerical programs.
Hanselman and Littlefield, "Mastering MATLAB 7", 2005. Excellent reference for MATLAB.
Palm, "Introduction to MATLAB 7 for Engineers." Another good introduction to MATLAB and programming in MATLAB.

Prerequisite

MATHEMATICS 3 and prior or concurrent enrollment in MATHEMATICS 8.

Homework

In this course you will learn to write computer programs in C and Matlab. Because you will be learning a new language, it is important that you practice the language frequently. To this end there will be daily computer programming excercises in addition to longer homework problems.

Recitation

Weekly recitations will be led by teaching assistants. These sessions provide students with an opportunity to review material for the week and get help from the teaching assistants. Tutorials will be held during sessions when needed.

Blackboard

More information about this course can be found at the ENGS 20 Blackboard site. You can login to Blackboard using your DND username and password. If you have registered for ENGS 20, you will see a link for ENGS.020.01-SP08: in your "My Courses" list.