Synopses & Reviews
Engineering Systems: An Introduction introduces students to the field of engineering and engineering problem-solving while providing important foundation skills in MATLAB. Presenting a broad view of actual engineering practice, this book describes the general skills and training engineers of any discipline need to serve society.
Engineering Systems: An Introduction focuses on establishing the basic mindset and skill set that beginning engineering students need as a foundation for success, both in school and as professionals. The author presents a simple model of how the human mind stores, organizes, and retrieves information, and uses this as background for introducing a variety of foundation skills for engineering students, including:
* study skills and techniques for learning new material,
* problem-solving using a divide-and-conquer approach,
* ways of describing systems and understanding why engineers organize systems as they do.
The author also emphasizes the importance of quantitative models in the design process, and introduces students to the concepts of objectives and constraints, and ways of predicting if a design will be acceptable before it is built. The final chapter of the book presents a simple yet detailed description of how current--and future--computing systems represent and process information, and of the role that information processing technology plays in engineering systems.
Problem-solving is reinforced through extensive use of MATLAB throughout the text, providing students the opportunity to learn this important engineer analysis and visualization tool.
Course Hierarchy:
Offered freshman year and may be offered in any engineeringdepartment at the freshman or sophomore level. Course is most often called Intro to Engineering.
Check Mechanical, Electrical, Computer, Civil, and Industrial for courses as well as General or other similarly named departments that offer freshman and sophomore level service courses for their School of Engineering. This book does NOT fit the more advanced Engineering Systems course in Industrial Engineering.
Synopsis
Written through the eyes of an engineer, this book offers readers an introduction to the field that looks at how engineers apply science and technology to solve problems facing society. It first focuses on how engineers represent and solve engineering problems and then describes some of the different kinds of mathematical models that are used. Readers will also find a whole section dedicated to MATLAB, an integrated environment for technical computing.
Synopsis
Check Mechanical, Electrical, Computer, Civil, and Industrial for courses as well as General or other similarly named departments that offer freshman and sophomore level service courses for their School of Engineering. This book does NOT fit the more advanced Engineering Systems course in Industrial Engineering.
Synopsis
engineering: from the Latin
ingenium, refers to one’s native genius, one’s ability to create things.
Engineering is as diverse as societies needs. In Introduction to Engineering, Jay Brockman helps you acquire the engineering mindset, showing you how engineers apply science and technology to solve problems facing society, and providing you with the core knowledge and skills that all engineers need to succeed.
Whether you go on to work at construction sites or farms, on off-shore oil platforms, or in space, the main business of engineering is to apply technology in concert with natural phenomena to develop the things we need or want—all designed and built with a purpose.
Brockman uses the basic concepts of math and science—algebra, geometry, some trigonometry, and the basic laws of physics—in the context of solving these engineering problems. Through clear explanations and real-world problems—like how to provide water for rural communities in developing nations—the book provides a foundation for those things that all engineers have in common.
The book is organized in three parts:
- Part I: The Engineering Mindset, focuses on how we represent and solve engineering problems;
- Part II: Model-Based Design, which teaches you how to use models to collect and analyze information and make technical decisions;
- Part III: Engineering Problem-Solving with MATLAB, which utilizes this critical tool for modeling. Each of the chapters in this part corresponds to an earlier chapter using MATLAB to implement programs for examples from that chapter.
Clear, methodical, and uniquely focused on real-world engineering practice, Introduction to Engineering; is a solid course that will quickly acquaint you with engineering concepts, build your problem-solving skills, and prepare you to meet the challenges of designing systems as a professional engineer in any field.
Synopsis
In this groundbreaking new text, Jay Brockman helps students acquire the engineering mindset, providing them with the core knowledge and skills all engineers need to succeed. Through clear explanations and real-world examples—like how to provide water for rural communities in developing nations—Introduction to Engineering teaches students to see the world through the eyes of an engineer, looking at how engineers apply science and technology to solve problems facing society today.
About the Author
Dr. Jay Brockman is concurrently serving as an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame.
Table of Contents
Part I: THE ENGINEERING MINDSET.1 Engineering and Society.
1.1 Introduction.
1.2 The Engineering Method.
1.3 Networks and Systems.
1.4 Engineering Disciplines and Majors.
1.5 Engineering and Computing.
Problems.
2 Organization and Representation of Engineering Systems.
2.1 WhatWe Think About HowWe Think.
2.2 Concept Maps.
2.3 Representation and Design.
2.4 Example:Water Supply for Rural Communities in Developing Nations.
Problems.
3 Learning and Problem Solving.
3.1 Introduction.
3.2 Expertise and The Learning Process.
3.3 What Do You Know? Levels of Understanding.
3.4 Getting Good Results from Your Learning Efforts.
3.5 A Framework for Problem Solving.
3.6 How Much CO Does a Typical Passenger Car Produce?
3.7 Planning Larger Projects.
3.8 Heuristics.
Problems.
Part II MODEL-BASED DESIGN.
4 Laws of Nature and Theoretical Models.
4.1 Engineering Models.
4.2 Evolution of Theory.
4.3 Models of Motion.
4.4 Modeling the “Spring of Air”.
4.5 The Birth of the Piston Engine.
4.6 The Science of Thermodynamics.
4.7 Conservation of Mass.
4.8 Analysis Example: The Internal Combustion Engine.
4.9 Design Example: The Handpump.
Problems.
5 Data Analysis and Empirical Models.
5.1 Introduction.
5.2 Theory and Data.
5.3 Empirical Models.
5.4 Using Statistics to Quantify Uncertainty.
5.5 Trade Studies: Evaluating Tradeoffs Between Design Variables.
Problems.
6 Modeling Interrelationships in Systems: Lightweight Structures.
6.1 Introduction.
6.2 The Statics Perspective.
6.3 The Materials Perspective.
6.4 Putting It All Together.
6.5 Example: A Trade Study of Strength versus Weight in a Truss.
Problems.
7 Modeling Interrelationships in Systems: Digital Electronic Circuits.
7.1 Introduction.
7.2 Computing Machines.
7.3 Digital Circuits from the Symbolic and Logical Perspective.
7.4 Digital Circuits from the Electronics Perspective.
7.5 Putting It All Together: Design of an Inverter.
Problems.
8 Modeling Change in Systems.
8.1 Introduction.
8.2 Predicting the Future: Accumulation of Change.
8.3 Launching a Softball.
8.4 Running Out of Gas.
Problems.
Part III PROBLEM SOLVING WITH MATLAB.
9 Getting Started with MATLAB.
9.1 Your First MATLAB Session.
9.2 Examples.
Problems.
10 Vector Operations in MATLAB.
10.1 Introduction.
10.2 Basic Operations.
10.3 Simple Two-Dimensional Plots and Graphs.
10.4 Statistics.
Problems.
11 Matrix Operations in MATLAB.
11.1 Basic Operations.
11.2 Parameter Sweeps Over Two Variables.
11.3 Plotting 3-Dimensional Data.
11.4 Matrix Arithmetic.
11.5 Solving Systems of Linear Equations.
Problems.
12 Introduction to Algorithms and Programming In MATLAB.
12.1 Algorithms, Flow Charts, and Pseudocode.
12.2 MATLAB Functions.
12.3 Conditional Selection Statements.
12.4 Loops or Repetition Statements.
12.5 Examples of Functions, Conditionals, and Loops.
12.6 Accumulation of Change.
Problems.
Appendix A Problem Solving Process.
Appendix B Bloom’s Taxonomy: Levels of Understanding.
Appendix C Engineering Societies and Professional Organizations.
Appendix D Systems of Units.
D.1 The SI System.
D.2 Non-SI Units and Conversion Factors.
Bibliography.
Index.