The emphasis of this course is on the modeling of physical phenomena encountered in typical engineering problems, and on interpreting solutions in terms of the governing physics. In this manner, the course will expose students to a range of techniques that are useful to practicing engineers and researchers. Physical examples will be drawn from fluid mechanics, dynamics, and structural mechanics. The course will introduce analytical techniques as they are required to study such phenomena. Depending on the examples chosen, the techniques covered may include partial differential equations, power series, Fourier series, Fourier integrals, Laplace transform methods, Green's Functions, Sturm-Liouville theory, linear algebra, and calculus of variations. (Prerequisites: differential equations at the undergraduate level.) Students cannot receive credit for this course if they have taken either the Special Topics (ME 593A) version of the same course or ME 500.
Differential equations at the undergraduate level.