ME Elective Course Descriptions

Instructor: Kelsey Rogers

Schedule: Tuesday, Thursday 3:00 - 4:15 PM

Description: Cross-industry applications of noise control engineering. Acoustical measurement, analysis, and human perception of noise. Exploration of applications in architectural and structural building design, mechanical systems, transportation, audio, and consumer electronics. Case studies from professional practice, guest experts, hands-on projects, and field trips. Final project in which students identify and analyze a real noise problem, design and auralize an engineering solution.

Recommendation: ME 62, ME 126, or ME 127

Instructor: Ana Jain

Schedule: Tuesday, Thursday 1:30 - 2:45 PM

Description: This course will serve as an introduction to the technical, operational, and societal factors that must be considered in the design and control of systems with high levels of automation and autonomy. We will study the framework and tools required to develop an architecture for our application scenario: a large, complex, heterogeneous multi-vehicle aerospace system such as today's airspace, where conventional aircraft operate alongside delivery drones and commercial space launch vehicles. We will identify desirable collective system behaviors and requirements such as safety, and then design individual vehicle control laws to achieve these goals. In doing so, we will cover the optimization problems and underlying mathematical solution approaches inherent to navigation and flow management, while also considering how human workload constraints and ethics shape these systems. We will also evaluate the role of learning-based methods in this domain and their implications for verification, certification, and trust

Instructor: Sauro Liberatore

Schedule: Tuesday, Thursday 9:00 - 10:15 AM

Description: (cross-listed with CEE 121) Combined aerodynamic, electromechanical, and structural behavior of wind turbines. Betz's momentum theory, fundamental aerodynamic parameters and criteria governing efficient turbine operation. Analysis of turbine subsystems such as blades, drive trains, generators, towers and foundations to develop an integrated understanding of the overall turbine as a unified entity. Static and dynamic behavior described using simplified analytical models. System interactions interpreted through Campbell diagrams for rotating components. Review of component failure statistics and emerging technological innovations with emphasis on their potential to reduce capital and operational costs.