Professors Durón, (Chair), Bassman, Baumgaertner, Bright, Cardenas, Cha, DiMaggio (2007–2008), Dym, D. Harris, S. Harris, Lape, King, Little, Miraghaie (2006–2008), Molinder, Orwin, Remer, Schaffer (2006–2008), Spjut, Wang and Yang.

Department Goals:

• Graduate exceptionally competent engineers whose work is notable for its breadth and technical excellence;
• Provide a "hands-on" approach to engineering students so that graduates develop an understanding of engineering judgment and practice;
• Prepare and motivate students for a lifetime of independent, reflective learning;
• Graduate students who are fully aware of the impact of their work on society, both nationally and globally;
• Offer a curriculum that is current, exciting and challenging for both students and faculty, but can be completed in four years by any motivated student who is admitted to HMC.

Based on the premise that design is the distinguishing feature of engineering, the HMC engineering program provides a broad-based, hands-on experience in engineering practice and synthesis, as well as in analysis. Thus, the engineering program is designed to prepare graduates for professional practice, for advanced study in a specific engineering discipline, and for a lifetime of independent learning. Culminating in an unspecialized bachelor’s degree, the program emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to problem solving.

The engineering curriculum can be described as having three stems. The engineering science stem consists of five required courses (E82, E83, E84, E85 and E106) that collectively embody the fundamental "applied science" knowledge base needed by a broadly educated engineer practicing in the foreseeable future.

The systems stem is a sequence of three required courses (E59, E101, E102) that provides analysis and design tools to model and interpret the behavior of general engineering systems. The sequence is multidisciplinary in approach, enabling students to gain a unified view of the entire spectrum of engineering disciplines.

The design and professional practice stem includes five required courses that focus on working in teams on open-ended, externally-driven design projects that, over the course of the curriculum, encompass conceptual design, preliminary (or embodiment) design, and detailed design. Hands-on exposure to professional practice begins with students undertaking challenging design problems in the first year (E4), continues with a practicum (E8) on drawing and making objects a laboratory course in experimental engineering (E80), and culminates with three semesters of Engineering Clinic (E111–113).

Pioneered by the Department of Engineering at Harvey Mudd College in 1965, the Engineering Clinic brings together teams of students to work with faculty advisors and external liaison engineers on carefully selected, industry- and government-sponsored design and development projects. The students plan and execute their projects; the faculty advise, coach, monitor, evaluate and provide feedback; the sponsors' liaisons ensure that the sponsors’ goals are achieved and that the design experience corresponds as closely as possible to what engineers encounter in actual practice. Thus, the questions and problems that student teams face are typical of those regularly confronted by practicing engineers, and the solutions they devise must work in practice, not just in theory.

We believe that our broad engineering program graduates engineers capable of adapting changing technologies to expanding human needs, while at the same time being sensitive to the impact of their work on society. In this context, an engineering major may choose to emphasize a particular engineering specialty by appropriate choice of elective courses and Engineering Clinic projects. Specific programs tailored to individual needs are developed in consultation with an engineering faculty advisor.

An engineering major must satisfactorily complete the following required courses for the bachelor’s degree: Engineering 4, 8, 59, 80, 82, 83, 84, 85, 101–102, 106, 111–113 and 121–124. In addition, three upper-division engineering technical electives are also required and seniors must submit a final Clinic report that is acceptable to the project’s faculty adviser. Students should note that many electives are offered in alternate years.

To keep the option open for majoring in engineering, a student should have taken Engineering 4 and 59 before the fourth semester. Any proposed variation from this program must be discussed in advance with an engineering adviser.

COURSES

4. Introduction to Engineering Design. Dym, staff. Design problems are, typically, open-ended and ill-structured. Students work in small teams applying techniques for solving design problems that are, normally, posed by not-for-profit clients. The project work is enhanced with lectures and reading on design theory and methods, project management techniques and engineering ethics. Enrollment limited to first-year students and sophomores, or by permission of the instructor. 3 credit hours. (Fall and Spring.)

8. Design Representation and Realization. King. A practicum that provides hands-on, shop-based experience to give meaning to the concepts of design representation and design realization. Students are introduced to ASME drawing specifications and are required to generate drawings that meet the appropriate specifications. Students manufacture a tool tray, screwdriver and hammer, using equipment in the student shop. Students are exposed to limits in the design and manufacture of engineering components. Open to all students. 1 credit hour. (Fall and Spring.)

59. Introduction to Engineering Systems. Cha, Molinder, staff. An introduction to the concepts of modern engineering, emphasizing modeling, analysis, synthesis and design. Applications to chemical, mechanical and electrical systems. Prerequisite: sophomore standing. Corequisite: Physics 51. 3 credit hours. (Fall and Spring.)

80. Experimental Engineering. Spjut, Cardenas, staff. A laboratory course designed to acquaint the student with the basic techniques of instrumentation and measurement in both the laboratory and in engineering field measurements. Emphasis on experimental problem solving in real systems. Prerequisites: Engineering 8 (taken previously or concurrently), Engineering 59 or permission of instructor. 3 credit hours. (Spring.)

82. Chemical and Thermal Processes. Lape. The basic elements of thermal and chemical processes, including: state variables, open and closed systems, and mass balance; energy balance, First Law of Thermodynamics for reactive and non-reactive systems; entropy balance, Second Law of Thermodynamics, thermodynamic cycles and efficiency. 3 credit hours. (Fall and Spring.)

83. Continuum Mechanics. Bassman. The fundamentals of modeling continuous media, including: stress, strain and constitutive relations; elements of tensor analysis; basic applications of solid and fluid mechanics (including beam theory, torsion, statically indeterminate problems and Bernoulli’s principle); application of conservation laws to control volumes. 3 credit hours. (Fall and Spring.)

84. Electronic and Magnetic Circuits and Devices. Wang, Schaffer. Introduction to the fundamental principles underlying electronic and magnetic devices and applications of these devices in circuits. Topics include electrical and magnetic properties of materials; physical electronics (with emphasis on semiconductors and semiconductor devices); passive linear electrical and magnetic circuits; active linear circuits (including elementary transistor amplifiers and the impact of non-ideal characteristics of operational amplifiers on circuit behavior); operating point linearization and load-line analysis; electromagnetic devices such as transformers; and selection criteria for motors. 2 credit hours. (Fall and Spring.)

85. Digital Electronics and Computer Engineering. D. Harris, S. Harris. This course provides an introduction to elements of digital electronics, followed by an introduction to digital computers. Topics in digital electronics include: Boolean algebra; combinational logic; sequential logic; finite state machines; transistor-level implementations; computer arithmetic; and transmission lines. The computer engineering portion of the course includes computer architecture and micro-architecture: levels of abstraction; assembly-language programming; and memory systems. The digital electronics portion of E85 may be taken by non-engineering majors as a stand-alone half course under the number E85A. 3 credit hours. (Fall and Spring.)

85A. Digital Electronics. D. Harris, S. Harris. This course provides an introduction to elements of digital electronics, intended for non-engineering majors who may be interested in pursuing other advanced engineering courses that require this background. Lectures for this course coincide with lectures for the first half of E85. 1.5 credit hours. (Fall and Spring.)

101–102. Advanced Systems Engineering. Molinder, Duron, Miraghaie. Analysis and design of continuous-time and discrete-time systems using time domain and frequency domain techniques. The first semester focuses on the connections and distinctions between continuous-time and discrete-time signals and systems and their representation in the time and frequency domains. Topics include impulse response, convolution, continuous and discrete Fourier series and transforms, and frequency response. Current applications, including filtering, modulation and sampling, are presented and simulation techniques based on both time and frequency domain representations are introduced. In the second semester additional analysis and design tools based on the Laplace- and z-transforms are developed and the state space formulation of continuous and discrete-time systems is presented. Concepts covered during both semesters are applied in a comprehensive treatment of feedback control systems including performance criteria, stability, observability, controllability, compensation and pole placement. Prerequisite: E59 or permission of instructor. 3 credit hours per semester. (Year-long sequence.)

106. Materials Engineering. King. Introduction to the structure, properties and processing of materials used in engineering applications. Topics include: material structure (bonding, crystalline and non-crystalline structures, imperfections); equilibrium microstructures; diffusion, nucleation, growth, kinetics, non-equilibrium processing; microstructure, properties and processing of: steel, ceramics, polymers and composites; creep and yield; fracture mechanics; and the selection of materials and appropriate performance indices. Prerequisites: Physics 51, E82 and E83 or permission of instructor. 3 credit hours. (Fall and Spring.)

111. Engineering Clinic I. Little, staff. Participation in engineering projects through the Engineering Clinic. Emphasis is on design of solutions for real problems, involving problem definition, synthesis of concepts, analysis and evaluation. Prerequisite: junior standing in engineering or permission of Clinic director. 3 credit hours. (Fall and Spring.)

112–113. Engineering Clinic II–III. Little, staff. Participation in engineering projects through the Engineering Clinic. Emphasis is on design of solutions for real problems, involving problem definition, synthesis of concepts, analysis and evaluation. Prerequisites: E4, E8, E80 and E111 or permission of Clinic director. 3 credit hours per semester.

114. Engineering Clinic. Little, staff. A continuation of Engineering Clinic for undergraduates who elect a fourth semester. Prerequisite: permission of department chair. 1–3 credit hours. (Spring.)

115. Project Management. Little. This course teaches tools and techniques commonly used in managing engineering projects, including work breakdown structures, PERT/CPM analysis, and budgeting, forecasting and aspects of project control. It also introduces use of models and operations research techniques in selecting and assigning resources to projects. Students are required to develop and implement a work plan for a small-scale project, typically a Clinic project. 3 credit hours. (Fall.)

116. Cost Estimation and Modeling. Remer. Principles of cost and schedule estimation and modeling for capital projects, and for estimation and budgeting of operations and maintenance of ongoing processes. Hardware and software and integrated design projects are included. Advantages and disadvantages of different estimation methods are explored. 3 credit hours. (Every other year; Spring semester.)

119. Preliminary Design. Spjut. This course examines the general principles associated with functional analysis and preliminary design, and applies these principles to a particular design problem. Students in the course will be expected to demonstrate competency in the application of functional analysis techniques and setting of performance specifications, design of artifacts to meet the functional specifications, and documentation of successful designs. Students will be offered a choice of several design problems, which may come from one of the traditional engineering disciplines (chemical, civil, electrical, mechanical, etc.) or may cut across several boundaries. 3 credits. (Every other year; Fall semester.)

121–122. Engineering Seminar. Remer, Bassman. Weekly meetings devoted to discussion of engineering practice. Required of junior engineering majors. No credit. (Year-long sequence.)

123–124. Engineering Seminar. Remer, Bassman. Weekly meetings devoted to the discussion of engineering practice. Required of senior engineering majors. No credit. (Year-long sequence.)

131. Fluid Mechanics. Miraghaie. The flow of incompressible fluids. Primarily a study of momentum transport in continuous media. Included are the treatment of viscosity, the equations of continuity and of motion, and turbulence. Applications to analysis and design. Prerequisite: E83. 3 credit hours. (Fall.)

132. Heat Transfer. Miraghaie. A study of conduction, convection and radiation phenomena with application to selected problems in several fields of engineering. Prerequisite: E82. 3 credit hours. (Spring.)

133. Chemical Reaction Engineering. Staff. The fundamentals of chemical reactor engineering: chemical reaction kinetics, interpretation of experimental rate data, design of batch and continuous reactors for single and multiple reactions including temperature and pressure effects, and the importance of safety considerations in reactor design. 3 credit hours. (Every other year; Fall semester.)

134. Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics. Staff. The application of classical thermodynamics to engineering systems. Topics include power and refrigeration cycles, energy and process efficiency, real gases and non-ideal phase and chemical reaction equilibria. Prerequisite: E82. 3 credit hours. (Every other year; Spring semester.)

136. Mass Transfer and Separation Processes. Lape. Principles of mass transfer, application to equilibrium-stage and finite-rate separation processes. Extension of design principles to multistage systems and to countercurrent differential contacting operations. Applications from the chemical processing industries and from such fields as desalination, pollution control and water reuse. Prerequisite: E82. 3 credit hours. (Every other year; Spring semester.)

138. Introduction to Environmental Engineering. Staff. Introduction to the main concepts and applications in modern environmental engineering. Included are surface and groundwater pollution (both classical pollutants and toxic substances); risk assessment and analysis; air pollution; and global atmospheric change. 3 credit hours. (Every other year; Spring semester.)

140. Introduction to Compressible Flow. Cardenas. The effects of compressibility in the governing integral and differential equations for fluids. The effects of friction, heating and shock waves in steady one-dimensional flow. Unsteady wave motion and the method of characteristics. Two-dimensional flow over air foils, linearized potential flow and the method of characteristics for supersonic flow. Prerequisite: E131. 3 credit hours. (Every other year; Spring semester.)

151. Engineering Electronics. Yang. Analysis and design of circuits using diodes, bipolar junction transistors and field-effect transistors, following a brief treatment of solid state electronics and the physics of solid state devices. Analysis and design of single and multi-transistor linear circuits including operational amplifiers. Corequisite: E153. Prerequisite: E59 and E84 or permission of instructor. 3 credit hours. (Fall.)

153. Electronics Laboratory. Baumgaertner. Experimental evaluation of electronic devices and circuits. Prerequisite: Engineering 84 or permission of instructor; taken concurrently with E151. 1 credit hour. (Fall.)

155. Microprocessor-based Systems: Design and Applications. S. Harris. Introduction to digital design using programmable logic and microprocessors. Combinational and sequential logic. Finite state machines. Hardware description languages. Field programmable gate arrays. Microcontrollers and embedded system design. Students gain experience with complex digital system design, embedded programming, and hardware/software trade-offs through significant laboratory and project work. Prerequisites: E85 or E85A and CS60 or permission of instructor. 4 credit hours. (Fall.)

156. Introduction to Communication and Information Theory. Schaffer. Comprehensive treatment of explicit and random signal transmission through linear communication networks by generalized harmonic analysis including signal sampling and modulation theories. Treatment of noise in communication systems including design of optimum linear filters and systems for signal detection. Introduction to information theory including the treatment of discrete noiseless systems, capacity of communication channels and coding processes. Prerequisite: E101. 3 credit hours. (Spring.)

158. Introduction to CMOS VLSI Design. D. Harris. Introduction to digital integrated system design. Device and wire models, gate topologies, logical effort, latching, memories and timing. Structured physical design and CAD methodology. Final team project involves design and fabrication of custom chips. Prerequisites: E84 and E85A or permission of instructor. 3 credit hours. (Spring.)

159. Engineering Electromagnetics. Staff. Analysis of electrostatic systems, magnetostatic systems, Maxwell’s equations, eddy current systems, transmission lines, radar, wave guides and antennae. Prerequisite: Physics 51. 3 credit hours. (Every other year; Fall semester.)

161. Computer Image Processing and Analysis. Wang. An introduction to both image processing, including acquisition, enhancement and restoration; and image analysis, including representation, classification and recognition. Discussion on related subjects such as unitary transforms, and statistical and neural network pattern recognition methods. Project oriented. Prerequisites: E101–102 and programming proficiency, or permission of instructor. 3 credit hours. (Every other year; Fall semester.)

164. Introduction to Biomedical Engineering. Staff. The application of engineering principles to help pose and solve problems in medicine and biology. Focus on different aspects, particularly biomedical measurements, bio systems analysis, biomechanics and biomaterials. 3 credit hours. (Every other year; Spring semester.)

166. High-Speed PC Board Design. S. Harris. This course provides the student exposure to fundamental and practical issues in the design and fabrication of printed circuit boards (PCBs), with primary emphasis on boards for high-speed digital circuits. Students work in teams to design a high-speed PCB, which is then fabricated and subsequently tested by the students. Upon completing this course, students should be able to use appropriate CAD tools to capture a circuit schematic, choose a board cross-section, place components on a board and route wiring. Further, the course should enable students to recognize when circuit speed/size combinations are likely to make “high-speed effects” such as reflections and crosstalk important, know how to quantify these effects and their impact on performance, and to design their boards to reduce the deleterious effects to an acceptable level. Prerequisites: E84 and E85A. 3 credit hours. (Every other year; Spring semester.)

168. Introduction to Fiber Optic Communication Systems. Yang. This course provides the fundamentals of optics and its applications in communication systems. The physical layer of optical communication systems will be emphasized. Topics include optical materials; dispersion and nonlinear effects; polarization and interference; and the basic elements of system implementation such as laser sources, optical amplifiers and optical detectors. The course will include a multiple channel system design. 3 credit hours (Every other year, Spring semester.)

171. Dynamics of Elastic Systems. Cha. Free and forced response of single- degree-of-freedom systems. Eigenvalue problem for multi-degree-of-freedom systems; natural modes of free vibration. Forced response of undamped and viscously damped, multi-degree-of-freedom systems by modal analysis. 3 credit hours. (Fall.)

172. Structural Mechanics. Dym. Introduction to elementary structural systems: trusses, beams. Force and deflection analysis. Energy methods. Stability. Introduction to finite element methods. Prerequisite: E83. 3 credit hours. (Spring.)

173. Applied Elasticity. Dym. Introduction to the concepts of stress and strain. Application to the theory of bending and torsion. Topics in elementary elasticity. Prerequisite: E83. 3 credit hours. (Every other year; Fall semester.)

174. Practices in Civil Engineering. Dym, Little. The student is exposed to the practice of civil engineering through a series of case studies discussed within the context of a broad-based engineering curriculum. Engineering fundamentals related to the selection and use of construction materials, stress and strain, and to the analysis and design of structural and transportation systems may be discussed. Types and specifics of case studies vary depending upon the instructor. Prerequisites: E59, E80 and permission of the instructor. 3 credit hours. (Every other year; Spring semester.)

176. Numerical Methods in Engineering. Cha. This course focuses on the application of a variety of mathematical techniques to solve real-world problems that involve modeling, mathematical and numerical analysis, and scientific computing. Concepts, calculations and the ability to apply principles to physical problems are emphasized. Ordinary differential equations, linear algebra, complex analysis, numerical methods, partial differential equations, probability and statistics, etc., are among the techniques that would be applied to problems in mechanical, electrical, chemical and civil engineering. Examples are drawn from fluid mechanics, heat transfer, vibration of structures, electromagnetics, communications and other applied topics. Program development and modification are expected as well as learning to use existing codes. 3 credit hours. (Every other year; Spring semester.)

177. Manufacturing Principles. Staff. This project-based manufacturing course builds on a strong technical background and an interdisciplinary approach to engineering. It is vertically integrated in that students are exposed to the entire range of materials manufacture from mining to creating the finished product. Each student must manufacture ten (10) copies of a self-selected, yet class-approved product or device. Prerequisites: E8, E83, E84 and E106. 3 credit hours. (Every other year; Fall semester.)

179. Deformation and Fracture of Solids. Staff. Elements of stress and strain, elastic and plastic deformations of solid materials, fracture mechanics, strengthening mechanisms, thermal and thermo-mechanical processing, effects of microstructure, failure modes and analysis of service failures. Prerequisites: E83 and E106. 3 credit hours. (Every other year; Fall semester.)

190. Special Topics in Engineering. Staff. An upper division or graduate technical elective treating topics in engineering not covered in other courses, chosen at the discretion of the engineering department. 3 credit hours.

191. Advanced Problems in Engineering. Staff. Independent study in a field agreed upon by student and instructor. Credit hours to be arranged.

201. Economics of Technical Enterprise. Remer. Time value of money, interest rates, depreciation and depletion, personal and corporate taxes, investment yardsticks such as present worth, rate of return, payback period and cost/benefit analysis, venture analysis and comparison of alternative projects, cost estimation and inflation, personal economics and investments, current business economic topics, tempering economics with judgment. 3 credit hours. (Fall.)

202. Engineering Management. Little. Introduction to the concepts of modern management including the scientific, behavioral and functional schools of thought, motivational models, leadership styles, organizational structures, project management, and other areas of student interest. (Not to be substituted for any technical elective required for the major.) Prerequisite: senior standing or permission of instructor. 3 credit hours. (Spring.)

205. Systems Simulation. Staff. An examination of the use of high-speed digital computers to simulate the behavior of engineering and industrial systems. Both continuous and discrete systems are treated. Prerequisites: E101–102. 3 credit hours. (Fall.)

206. Optimization Techniques in Engineering Design. Staff. Presentation of techniques for making optimum choices among alternatives; applications to engineering design problems. Prerequisite: E205. 3 credit hours. (Spring.)

231. Advanced Transport Phenomena. Staff. Integrated approach to the subjects of fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and mass transfer, through the study of the governing equations common to all three fields. Applications drawn from a wide variety of engineering systems. 3 credit hours. Prerequisites: none.

276. Experimental Techniques in Dynamics and Vibrations. Staff. Response characteristics of motion transducers and associated signal conditioning circuitry. Digital signal processing, data acquisition and reduction with special reference to structural dynamics. Small- and full-scale vibration tests in laboratory and field. Prerequisite: E83, E171 or permission of instructor. 3 credit hours. (Every other year; Spring semester.)

278. Advanced Structural Dynamics. Staff. Free and forced response of continuous systems, including the vibration of strings, rods, shafts, membranes, beams and plates. One dimensional finite element methods: discretization of a continuum, selection of interpolation functions, and determining the element mass and stiffness matrices and the corresponding load vector. Introduction to special topics, including the effects of parameter uncertainties on the dynamics of periodic structures and model updating in structural dynamics. Prerequisite: E171. 3 credit hours. (Every other year; Spring semester.)