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Johns Hopkins University | EN.530.105

Mechanical Engineering Freshman Lab I

1.0

credits

Average Course Rating

(4.04)

Hands on laboratory complementing EN.530.101 and EN.530.103, including experiments, mechanical dissections, and design experiences distributed throughout the year. Experiments are designed to give students background in experimental techniques as well as to reinforce physical principles. Mechanical dissections connect physical principles to practical engineering applications. Design projects allow students to synthesize working systems by combining mechanics knowledge and practical engineering skills. Corequisites: EN.530.101 and EN.530.103.

Fall 2012

(4.13)

Fall 2013

(3.94)

Fall 2014

(4.06)

Fall 2012

Professor: Steven Marra

(4.13)

Students liked getting hands-on practice of the concepts from classes and MATLAB programming. They said some of the labs were very interesting, especially the final design project. Negative aspects of the course were that the labs sometimes took a long time and students had to stay late to finish them. In addition, some of the labs were boring, tedious or too simple. Suggestions for improvement included making the labs shorter or doing more of the setup beforehand. Students should know that there is no work outside of class, but that the labs can be time-consuming. Also the first few labs may seem dull, but are worth taking for the design project.

Fall 2013

Professor: Steven Marra

(3.94)

Students loved the hands-on opportunities to use MATLAB and to explore concepts in Mechanical Engineering. Some students found some of the course’s projects to be long and boring, though, so students suggested creating different and more interesting laboratory assignments. Prospective students should know that the course’s workload light and that it was helpful to have some knowledge of physics and programming. Students also found it important not to procrastinate during labs and found it helpful to sign up for sections of the class with few students in order to get more personal attention from teaching assistants.

Fall 2014

Professor: MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

(4.06)

Students greatly enjoyed the final design project and the hands on experience they gained in this course. They thought that the worst thing about the class was that some of the labs took a great deal of time which required students to work beyond the scheduled time period for class sessions. Some of the students also felt that the subject of some of the lab assignments was repetitive. Students thought the course could be best improved by making some of the lab assignments more focused so that time was used more efficiently. They also thought it would help if fewer of the lab assignments focused on principles of physics. People thinking about taking this class should know that some knowledge of physics and some ability to use MATLAB would be valuable for this class, students said.