MECH&AE 150A
Intermediate Fluid Mechanics
Description: Lecture, four hours; discussion, two hours; outside study, six hours. Enforced requisites: courses 103, 182A. Basic equations governing fluid motion. Fundamental solutions of Navier/Stokes equations. Lubrication theory. Elementary potential flow theory. Boundary layers. Turbulent flow in pipes and boundary layers. Compressible flow: normal shocks, channel flow with friction or heat addition. Letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2022 - I took both MAE 103 and MAE 150A with Eldredge. My opinion of him remains unchanged - he is hands down one of the best professors in the MAE department. His class is structured the same way as it was in 103, with homework assignments containing optional extra credit problems (25%), three midterms with the lowest dropped (40%), infinite-attempt quizzes (10%), and a final exam (25%). The content was definitely a lot more difficult than it was in 103, though it was far more interesting. Expect to see a lot more derivations in both the lectures and the homework rather than straight plugging in numbers into formulas. Also, 150A is much more conceptual than 103, and midterm problems with explanations rather than calculations did stump me sometimes. But that's my own fault for not making use of office hours and frankly for thinking this class would be easy since it would just be 103 part two (lol). Our discussion sections were great too. The TA was very knowledgeable and he always tried to provide example problems hinting towards what the exams would cover. My only complaint about this class, though many would disagree, was the lack of homework assignments. There were only five problem sets - some weeks there would be no homework at all. This made me feel that I was not getting enough practice applying the content we learned during lecture. But overall, this class was very fair, the grading was very lenient, and I definitely am walking away from 150A knowing that fluid mechanics is something I want to specialize in in graduate school.
Fall 2022 - I took both MAE 103 and MAE 150A with Eldredge. My opinion of him remains unchanged - he is hands down one of the best professors in the MAE department. His class is structured the same way as it was in 103, with homework assignments containing optional extra credit problems (25%), three midterms with the lowest dropped (40%), infinite-attempt quizzes (10%), and a final exam (25%). The content was definitely a lot more difficult than it was in 103, though it was far more interesting. Expect to see a lot more derivations in both the lectures and the homework rather than straight plugging in numbers into formulas. Also, 150A is much more conceptual than 103, and midterm problems with explanations rather than calculations did stump me sometimes. But that's my own fault for not making use of office hours and frankly for thinking this class would be easy since it would just be 103 part two (lol). Our discussion sections were great too. The TA was very knowledgeable and he always tried to provide example problems hinting towards what the exams would cover. My only complaint about this class, though many would disagree, was the lack of homework assignments. There were only five problem sets - some weeks there would be no homework at all. This made me feel that I was not getting enough practice applying the content we learned during lecture. But overall, this class was very fair, the grading was very lenient, and I definitely am walking away from 150A knowing that fluid mechanics is something I want to specialize in in graduate school.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2022 - I went into this class thinking I hated fluids; 103 felt like a lot of busy work and I didn't feel like I really got a solid background in fluid mechanics. Karagozian flipped my hate of fluids on its head. Her lectures are extremely thorough and really help you understand the material and where everything comes from as opposed to just giving out the formulas and calling it a day. About half of her lectures are her going through the course reader and the other half is her working derivations and examples on the board. I never felt that she was wasting time in lectures. Her course reader is probably one of the best textbooks I have ever used. I honestly think you could get by in the whole class with the course reader alone if you can get the textbook problem statements from someone; I probably only used the Wilcox textbook for maybe 3 or so formulas in the whole class (I did need it for the homework problem statements). I am still constantly referring to the 150A course reader in other upper division classes, it is definitely worth holding on to. The homework and exams were very fair. None of her problems in the assignments or the homework were "gotcha" questions, they were just challenging at times in that they required you to really understand the theory. I think the homework problems that she writes herself did the best at helping me really get a hold on the concepts. The final did feel like a little bit of a marathon, but again none of the questions struck me as excessively difficult. She gave out extra credit on the two midterms (15 points EC available on each) and gave a whole extra credit question one of the homeworks, which I through was huge and kind of fun. The midterm grading was also pretty generous with the partial credit. Overall, I really loved this class and this is easily my favorite class in the Aerospace major up to now. Definitely not easy, but not hard either. I think its really difficult to walk out of this class feeling like it's a waste of time. You're taking a fluids class with one of the most accomplished researchers in the field, it really doesn't get much better than that.
Winter 2022 - I went into this class thinking I hated fluids; 103 felt like a lot of busy work and I didn't feel like I really got a solid background in fluid mechanics. Karagozian flipped my hate of fluids on its head. Her lectures are extremely thorough and really help you understand the material and where everything comes from as opposed to just giving out the formulas and calling it a day. About half of her lectures are her going through the course reader and the other half is her working derivations and examples on the board. I never felt that she was wasting time in lectures. Her course reader is probably one of the best textbooks I have ever used. I honestly think you could get by in the whole class with the course reader alone if you can get the textbook problem statements from someone; I probably only used the Wilcox textbook for maybe 3 or so formulas in the whole class (I did need it for the homework problem statements). I am still constantly referring to the 150A course reader in other upper division classes, it is definitely worth holding on to. The homework and exams were very fair. None of her problems in the assignments or the homework were "gotcha" questions, they were just challenging at times in that they required you to really understand the theory. I think the homework problems that she writes herself did the best at helping me really get a hold on the concepts. The final did feel like a little bit of a marathon, but again none of the questions struck me as excessively difficult. She gave out extra credit on the two midterms (15 points EC available on each) and gave a whole extra credit question one of the homeworks, which I through was huge and kind of fun. The midterm grading was also pretty generous with the partial credit. Overall, I really loved this class and this is easily my favorite class in the Aerospace major up to now. Definitely not easy, but not hard either. I think its really difficult to walk out of this class feeling like it's a waste of time. You're taking a fluids class with one of the most accomplished researchers in the field, it really doesn't get much better than that.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - If I were to take this class again with Taira I'd do it in a heartbeat. Taira not only knows his material but also knows how to teach it. I never really had to use the textbook for learning aside from doing a few practice problems before the midterm and final. He weighed the midterm and final to be 25% and the homework to be 50%. Don't be fooled, the homework is NOT easy. Taira was a math major before he was an engineer, so some of his homework's involve deriving fundamental equations or proving something (unnecessary imo but whatever). The homework itself takes a lot of time unless you know your stuff; anywhere b/w 2-4 hours in my experience. However, the level of difficulty went down substantially after the first midterm. And they are doable by the way its just that some problems are just designed to make you sit for an hour debating if this class is worth it. Aside from this, the midterm and final are really just reflections of homework problems and often times easier. So if you survive his homework, you'll survive on the tests given that you actually solve the homework on your own. Last piece of advice: do not go to office hours expecting him to give you the homework answer, try solving it first. His guidance is going to be very vague, so partner up with someone. Best of Luck :)
Winter 2024 - If I were to take this class again with Taira I'd do it in a heartbeat. Taira not only knows his material but also knows how to teach it. I never really had to use the textbook for learning aside from doing a few practice problems before the midterm and final. He weighed the midterm and final to be 25% and the homework to be 50%. Don't be fooled, the homework is NOT easy. Taira was a math major before he was an engineer, so some of his homework's involve deriving fundamental equations or proving something (unnecessary imo but whatever). The homework itself takes a lot of time unless you know your stuff; anywhere b/w 2-4 hours in my experience. However, the level of difficulty went down substantially after the first midterm. And they are doable by the way its just that some problems are just designed to make you sit for an hour debating if this class is worth it. Aside from this, the midterm and final are really just reflections of homework problems and often times easier. So if you survive his homework, you'll survive on the tests given that you actually solve the homework on your own. Last piece of advice: do not go to office hours expecting him to give you the homework answer, try solving it first. His guidance is going to be very vague, so partner up with someone. Best of Luck :)
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