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Engineering Courses

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Courses Recommended for Non-Majors

Ideal for non-majors and first-year students exploring engineering, these courses have few or no prerequisites.

  • ENGS 1.01
    Mathematical Concepts in Engineering

    Description

    This course introduces prospective engineering students to mathematical concepts relevant in engineering while emphasizing the solving of engineering problems rather than mathematical derivations and theory. All topics are driven by engineering applications taken directly from core engineering courses. The course includes hands-on laboratory exercises as well as a thorough introduction to Matlab.

    Distribution Code

    TAS
  • ENGG 2
    Integrated Design: Engineering, Architecture, and Building Technology

    Description

    An introduction to the integrated design of structures and the evolving role of architects and engineers. The course will investigate the idea that design excellence is very often the result of deep collaboration between engineers, architects, and builders and that it is only in relatively recent history that a distinction between these areas of expertise has existed. The historical, social, and architectural impact of structures will be explored and several structures and their designers will be studied in depth. Enrollment is limited to 50 students.

    Distribution Code

    TAS

    Offered

    Term
    Time
    Location / Method
    Instructor(s)
    Term: Winter 2023
    Time: 12
    Location:

    MACLEAN B01 ZALESK

    Instructors:

    John D. Wilson


    Term: Winter 2023
    Time: 11
    Location:

    MACLEAN B01 ZALESK

    Instructors:

    John D. Wilson


    Term: Summer 2023
    Time: 2A
    Location:

    MacLean MB01

    Instructors:

    John D. Wilson


    Term: Winter 2024
    Time: 12
    Location:

    MacLean B01 Zaleski

    Instructors:

    John D. Wilson


    Term: Winter 2024
    Time: 11
    Location:

    MacLean B01 Zaleski

    Instructors:

    John D. Wilson


    Term: Summer 2024
    Time: 10A
    Location: –
    Instructors:

    John D. Wilson


  • ENGS 3
    Materials: The Substance of Civilization

    Description

    With the exception of ideas and emotions, materials are the substance of civilization. From the "Iceman's" copper ax to indium phosphide gallium arsenide semiconductor lasers, materials have always defined our world. We even name our epochs of time based on the dominant material of the age: Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age and now Silicon Age. In addition to discussing the nature and processing of metals, polymers, ceramics, glass and electronic materials, this course will analyze the dramatic developments in civilization directly resulting from advances in such materials. The text Stephen Sass' The Substance of Civilization will be used in the course. Enrollment is limited to 50 students per section.

    Distribution Code

    TAS
  • ENGS 4
    Technology of Cyberspace

    Description

    This course will cover some basic concepts underlying the "information superhighway." The technologies of high-speed networking have stimulated much activity within the federal government, the telecommunications and computer industries, and even social science and popular fiction writing. The technical focus will be on communications technologies, information theory, and the communications requirements of video (standard and ATV), speech (and other audio), and text data. Social, economic, and policy issues will be an integral part of the course. Enrollment is limited to 30 students.

    Distribution Code

    TAS

    Offered

    Term
    Time
    Location / Method
    Instructor(s)
    Term: Fall 2023
    Time: 2A
    Location:

    MacLean 201

    Instructors:

    Stephen Taylor


  • ENGS 5
    Healthcare and Biotechnology in the 21st Century

    Description

    The course will explore technologies that will impact healthcare in the 21st century, including biology, robotics, and information. Included will be biotechnologies to be used for the treatment of diseases and the regeneration of missing organs and limbs. The course will also cover robotics that will replace human parts. Included will be artificial organs and joints, robots as replacement for human parts, the human genome project, gene therapy, biomaterials, genetic engineering, cloning, transplantation (auto, allo, and xeno), limb regeneration, man-machine interfaces, and prosthetic limbs. This section will also cover ethical issues related to the above topics and issues regarding the FDA and the approval of new medical treatments. We will discuss going beyond normal with respect to the senses, muscles, and creating wings. Enrollment is limited to 75 students.

    Distribution Code

    TAS
  • ENGS 6
    Technology and Biosecurity

    Description

    This course will introduce students to the technologies used to combat biological threats to security ranging from pandemic influenza to bioterrorism. In particular, this course will explore the dual role that technology plays in both enhancing and destabilizing security. Specific technologies covered include the use of nanotechnology, synthetic biology, and mass spectrometry. The course considers questions such as: Where can technological solutions have the greatest impact? When can defensive technologies have offensive applications? And, how can we balance the need to regulate potentially dangerous technologies against the need for academic freedom and high tech innovation? Enrollment is limited to 30 students.

    Distribution Code

    TAS

    Offered

    Term
    Time
    Location / Method
    Instructor(s)
    Term: Spring 2023
    Time: 2A
    Location:

    MACLEAN 132

    Instructors:

    Kendall L. Hoyt


    Term: Spring 2024
    Time: 2A
    Location:

    MacLean B01

    Instructors:

    Kendall L. Hoyt


  • ENGS 7.02
    Climate Change

    Description

    Climate change has occurred naturally and frequently over the course of many time scales in the past. America today is engaged in a discussion of current climate change and its cause, ranging from calls for immediate action to denial. This course explores the published scientific literature on the nature and cause of climate change, potential impacts on us, and the implications for our nation's energy issues. Through readings, class discussion, and individual research, we will explore this complex problem; student writing will synthesize results from the literature to clarify the factual basis for their own understanding. Reading will include a number of published papers and selections from textbooks. Students will be required to actively participate in class by leading class discussions and actively engaging in small group activities. In addition students will write two short papers, develop an annotated bibliography, and write a research paper based on the research completed for the annotated bibliography. Enrollment is limited to 16 students.

    Distribution Code

    TAS

    Offered

    Term
    Time
    Location / Method
    Instructor(s)
    Term: Spring 2023
    Time: 10
    Location:

    ECSC B01

    Instructors:

    Klaus Keller


    Term: Spring 2024
    Time: 10
    Location:

    ECSC 042

    Instructors:

    Klaus Keller


  • ENGS 7.05
    Contemporary and Historical Perspectives on Medical Imaging

    Description

    Medical imaging has evolved significantly over the last 100 years and has transformed modern medical practice to the extent that very few clinical decisions are made without relying on information obtained with contemporary imaging modalities. The future of medical imaging may be even more promising as new technologies are being developed to observe the structural, functional, and molecular characteristics of tissues at finer and finer spatial scales. This first-year seminar will review the historical development of modern radiographic imaging and discuss the basic physical principles behind common approaches such as CT, ultrasound, and MRI. Contemporary issues surrounding the use of imaging to screen for disease, the costs to the healthcare system of routine application of advanced imaging technology, and the benefits of the information provided by medical imaging in terms of evidence-based outcomes assessment will be explored. Students will be required to read, present, and discuss materials in class and write position papers articulating and/or defending particular perspectives on the historical development of medical imaging and its contemporary and/or future uses and benefits. Enrollment is limited to 16 students.

    Distribution Code

    TAS
  • ENGS 7.06
    Sustainability Revolution

    Description

    Humanity has previously seen two major resource transitions that have had radical impacts on day-to-day life: the Neolithic revolution (from hunting and gathering to agrarian) and the industrial revolution (from agrarian to pre-sustainable industrial). This writing course will consider the hypothesis that the human enterprise now requires a third such resource revolution - the sustainability revolution (from pre-sustainable industrial to sustainable industrial) - and that future generations will judge those of us alive today by how well we responded to this imperative. Topics addressed include past resource revolutions, resource and environmental metrics, energy, food, water, and climate. Writing assignments will include a personal essay, a critique encompassing one or a few sources, and an integrated analysis.

    Distribution Code

    TAS
  • ENGS 9
    Everyday Technology

    Description

    This course is intended to take the mystery out of the technology that we have grown to depend on in our everyday lives. Both the principles behind and examples of devices utilizing electricity, solid and fluid properties, chemical effects, mechanical attributes, and other topics will be discussed. In the associated lab project, students will dissect and analyze (and possibly revive!) a broken gadget or appliance of their choosing. Enrollment is limited to 50 students.

    Distribution Code

    TLA

    Offered

    Term
    Time
    Location / Method
    Instructor(s)
    Term: Spring 2023
    Time: 11
    Location:

    CUMMINGS 118

    Instructors:

    Scott C. Davis


    Term: Spring 2024
    Time: 11
    Location:

    Cummings 118

    Instructors:

    Scott C. Davis


  • ENGS 10
    The Science and Engineering of Digital Imaging

    Description

    Recent advances in electrical and computer engineering, computer science and applied mathematics have made remarkable digital imaging systems possible. Such systems are affecting everyone today — from eyewitness documentation of social and political events to health care to entertainment to scientific discovery. This course will introduce students to the fundamental concepts underlying a diverse and representative collection of modern digital imaging systems including cell phone cameras, medical imaging systems, space telescopes, computer games and animated movies. Specific attention will be paid to the scientific principles and engineering challenges underlying optics, computer processing chips, image processing software and algorithms, data compression and communication, and digital sensors as well as the basic principles of human vision and cognition. Students will explore and learn the basic science and technology through a combination of in-class lectures and active hands-on experimentation with digital cameras, image processing software and digital video systems. Students will participate in a course-long group project that demonstrates their understanding of and ability to harness these new technologies. Students will be expected to have access to an entry-level digital camera, either standalone or attached to a cell phone or tablet computer. Enrollment limited to 75 students.

    Distribution Code

    TAS
  • ENGS 11
    The Way Things Work - A Visual Introduction to Engineering

    Description

    Students will explore and compare engineered systems and processes in the world around them. They will sketch and build models to help them understand and communicate. Each week, students will learn new sketching and visual communication techniques that they will use to visually explain how engineered systems or processes work. Students will also maintain a sketchbook to practice new sketching techniques. After being exposed to some basic engineering principles students will further investigate specific engineered systems through sketching, research, disassembly, and building. They will communicate their findings visually.

    Distribution Code

    ART

    Offered

    Term
    Time
    Location / Method
    Instructor(s)
    Term: Winter 2023
    Time: 10A
    Location: –
    Instructors:

    David A. Macaulay


    Term: Spring 2024
    Time: 2A
    Location:

    MacLean 201

    Instructors:

    David A. Macaulay


    Term: Summer 2024
    Time: 2A
    Location: –
    Instructors:

    David A. Macaulay


  • ENGS 12
    Design Thinking

    Description

    A foundation course on the cognitive strategies and methodologies that form the basis of creative design practice. Design thinking applies to innovation across the built environment, including the design of products, services, interactive technology, environments, and experiences. Topics include design principles, human need-finding, formal methodologies, brainstorming, heuristics, thinking by analogy, scenario building, visual thinking, and study of experienced thinkers. Weekly projects and exercises in a variety of media provide practice and development of students' personal creative abilities. Enrollment is limited to 20 students.

    Distribution Code

    TAS

    Offered

    Term
    Time
    Location / Method
    Instructor(s)
    Term: Winter 2023
    Time: 10A
    Location:

    ECSC B09

    Instructors:

    Rafe H. Steinhauer


    Term: Winter 2023
    Time: 2A
    Location:

    ECSC B09

    Instructors:

    Rafe H. Steinhauer


    Term: Spring 2023
    Time: 10A
    Location:

    MACLEAN 132

    Instructors:

    Peter J. Robbie


    Term: Fall 2023
    Time: 2A
    Location:

    ECSC B09

    Instructors:

    Eugene Korsunskiy


    Term: Fall 2023
    Time: 10A
    Location:

    MacLean 132

    Instructors:

    Peter J. Robbie


    Term: Winter 2024
    Time: 10A
    Location:

    ECSC B09

    Instructors:

    Rafe H. Steinhauer


    Term: Winter 2024
    Time: 2A
    Location:

    ECSC B09

    Instructors:

    Rafe H. Steinhauer


    Term: Spring 2024
    Time: 10A
    Location:

    MacLean 132

    Instructors:

    Peter J. Robbie


    Term: Spring 2024
    Time: 2A
    Location:

    MacLean 132

    Instructors:

    Peter J. Robbie


    Term: Spring 2024
    Time: 2A
    Location:

    ECSC B09

    Instructors:

    Elizabeth Murnane


  • ENGS 13
    Virtual Medicine and Cybercare

    Description

    There is a revolution in technology that is occurring in healthcare. This new technology will dramatically change how healthcare is delivered in the future. This course will cover topics related to the virtual human, created from bits. This will include virtual reality, augmented reality and datafusion, computer simulation, advanced 3D and 4D imaging techniques, the operating room of the future, minimally invasive surgery, space medicine, tele-operations, tele-medicine and tele-surgery, Internet 2 and cyberspace, artificial intelligence and intelligent agents applied to medicine, and the National Library of Medicine virtual human project. We will also discuss the FDA approval of computer simulators, robotic surgeons, and the ethics of robots doing surgery. In addition, we will discuss the medical library of the future, teleconferencing, and the use of interactive media in healthcare education. We will also discuss computerized patient records (CPR) and clinical information systems. Enrollment is limited to 48 students.

    Distribution Code

    TAS
  • ENGS 15
    Undergraduate Investigations in Engineering

    Description

    An original investigation in a phase of science or engineering under the supervision of a member of the staff. Students electing the course will be expected to have a proposal approved by the department chair and to meet weekly with the staff member supervising the investigation. The course is open to undergraduates who are not majoring in engineering. It may be elected only once, or taken as a one-third course credit for each of three consecutive terms. A report describing the details of the investigation must be filed with the department chair and approved at the completion of the course.

    Distribution Code

    TAS

    Offered

    Term
    Time
    Location / Method
    Instructor(s)
    Term: Winter 2023
    Time: Arrange
    Location: –
    Instructors:

    Douglas W. Van Citters


    Term: Spring 2023
    Time: Arrange
    Location: –
    Instructors:

    Douglas W. Van Citters


    Term: Summer 2023
    Time: –
    Location: –
    Instructors:

    Douglas W. Van Citters


    Term: Fall 2023
    Time: Arrange
    Location:

    Individualized Study

    Instructors:

    Douglas W. Van Citters


    Term: Winter 2024
    Time: Arrange
    Location:

    Individualized Study

    Instructors:

    Douglas W. Van Citters


    Term: Spring 2024
    Time: Arrange
    Location:

    Individualized Study

    Instructors:

    Douglas W. Van Citters


    Term: Summer 2024
    Time: Arrange
    Location: –
    Instructors:

    Douglas W. Van Citters


  • ENGS 15.01
    Senior Design Challenge I

    Description

    The Senior Design Challenge is a two-term course designed to serve as a senior capstone experience for Dartmouth students across all majors. Students in this project-based course will practice human-centered design, developing not only the skills, but also the creative confidence to apply their liberal arts education to make a positive difference in the world beyond Dartmouth. Students will work in interdisciplinary teams on projects that will be determined in partnership with organizations in the Upper Valley. The project topics will be designed to give students some flexibility in determining the specific problem on which to focus, while ensuring client responsiveness and substantial fieldwork opportunities.

    Distribution Code

    TAS

    Offered

    Term
    Time
    Location / Method
    Instructor(s)
    Term: Winter 2023
    Time: 10A
    Location:

    ECSC 042

    Instructors:

    Eugene Korsunskiy


    Term: Winter 2024
    Time: 10A
    Location:

    ECSC 042

    Instructors:

    Eugene Korsunskiy


  • ENGS 15.02
    Senior Design Challenge II

    Description

    The Senior Design Challenge is a two-term course designed to serve as a senior capstone experience for Dartmouth students across all majors. Students in this project-based course will practice human-centered design, developing not only the skills, but also the creative confidence to apply their liberal arts education to make a positive difference in the world beyond Dartmouth. Students will work in interdisciplinary teams on projects that will be determined in partnership with organizations in the Upper Valley. The project topics will be designed to give students some flexibility in determining the specific problem on which to focus, while ensuring client responsiveness and substantial fieldwork opportunities.

    Distribution Code

    TAS

    Offered

    Term
    Time
    Location / Method
    Instructor(s)
    Term: Spring 2023
    Time: 3B
    Location:

    ECSC 042

    Instructors:

    Eugene Korsunskiy


    Term: Spring 2024
    Time: 3B
    Location:

    ECSC 042

    Instructors:

    Eugene Korsunskiy


  • ENGS 15.04
    Computing Before Electronics

    Description

    In this course we explore the computational techniques by which society survived and thrived before the advent of the integrated circuit and the electronic calculator. From the commerce of early civilizations until the last third of the 20th century, there was a progression of mechanical calculating gadgets, some simple – some quite ingenious and complex. Among these we will study slide rules, planimeters, integrators, digital adding machines, nomographs, and other special charts and graphical techniques. We will also cover celestial navigation, which in its day was a particularly important application of calculation; technical drawing and perspective, the precursors to computer graphics; and cryptography, whose computational requirements helped propel us into the electronic age. Laboratory sessions will give students direct experience using antique and period calculating instruments, plus the opportunity to create their own calculating devices.
    Includes Lab

    Prerequisites

    Introductory Calculus (Math 3, or equivalent, or permission)

    Distribution Code

    TLA

    Offered

    Term
    Time
    Location / Method
    Instructor(s)
    Term: Winter 2023
    Time: 10A
    Location:

    CUMMINGS 102

    Instructors:

    Harold J. Frost


    Term: Spring 2024
    Time: 10A
    Location:

    Cummings 105

    Instructors:

    Harold J. Frost


  • ENGS 16
    Biomedical Engineering for Global Health

    Description

    The past 20 years have seen an incredible amount of high-tech medical advances, but to what degree have these impacted the health of those living in the developing world? The potential for years of life gained through biomedical technology is tremendous in some of the world’s poorest regions, but appropriate design requires an understanding of the clinical, political, and cultural landscape, and a clean-slate approach to developing low-cost, effective tech. This course offers an exciting opportunity to understand how to design solutions for the most important health challenges of the developing world. Learning goals will be achieved through hands-on experience, including: a laboratory component where we deconstruct, design and build a low-cost medical device, case study discussions on successful global health innovations, and several “teardowns” of common medical devices. Lecturers from Thayer, Tuck School of Business, the Dartmouth Center for Health Care Delivery Science, and Geisel School of Medicine will cover complimentary topics in clinical medicine, healthcare delivery, innovation and medical imaging. A final project will bring everything together by addressing a real health problem with a prototype of a low-cost tech solution. Enrollment is limited to 40 students.

    Distribution Code

    TAS
  • ENGS 17
    Making Music: The Art, Science, and Symbolism of Musical Instruments

    Description

    A hands-on course in which students working in groups build and assemble simple musical instruments with the aim of understanding how materials, technologies, craftsmanship, and cultural knowledge interact in the conception, design, and production of diverse instruments around the world. Merging the methodologies of materials science and engineering with the approaches of arts and humanities, the course explores from an interdisciplinary perspective the social meanings and powers ascribed to musical instruments, and the way that instruments have come to function as potent symbols of personal, cultural, and political identity.

    Cross Listed Courses

    MUS 17.04/COCO 20
  • ENGS 18
    System Dynamics in Policy Design and Analysis

    Description

    This course introduces systems dynamics, an approach to policy design and analysis based upon feedback principles and computer simulation. The approach is useful for gaining an understanding of the underlying structural causes of problem behavior in social, economic, political, environmental, technological, and biological systems. Goals of this approach are to gain better understanding of such problem behaviors and to design policies aimed at improving them. Lectures and exercises illustrate applications of the approach to real, current problems such as urban decay, resource depletion, environmental pollution, product marketing and distribution, and agricultural planning in an expanding population. The similarity and transferability of underlying feedback characteristics among various applications is emphasized. No prior engineering or computer science experience is necessary.

    Distribution Code

    TAS

    Offered

    Term
    Time
    Location / Method
    Instructor(s)
    Term: Winter 2023
    Time: 2A
    Location:

    MACLEAN B01 ZALESK

    Instructors:

    Steven O. Peterson


    Term: Winter 2024
    Time: 2A
    Location:

    ECSC 009

    Instructors:

    Steven O. Peterson


  • ENGS 85
    Special Topics in Engineering Sciences

    Description

    From time to time a section of ENGS 85 may be offered in order to provide an advanced course in a topic which would not otherwise appear in the curriculum. This course can only be elected once and either ENGS 84 or 85 may be used toward the Engineering Sciences major, but not both.

    Prerequisites

    Permission of the department chair