MECH&AE 182A
Mathematics of Engineering
Description: Lecture, four hours; discussion, two hours; outside study, six hours. Requisites: Mathematics 33A, 33B. Methods of solving ordinary differential equations in engineering. Review of matrix algebra. Solutions of systems of first- and second-order ordinary differential equations. Introduction to Laplace transforms and their application to ordinary differential equations. Introduction to boundary value problems. Nonlinear differential equations and stability. Letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Chatterjee wasn't good by any means but he wasn't terrible. I personally can't understand his Indian accent, so I stopped going to lecture. The test are based on 1)theory and 2)homework. I got an A in the class just by reading and studying the textbook and doing homework. The easy thing about Chatterjee is that he tells you exactly what he is going to test you on. The bad thing is that it is very theoretical - you can never "just wing it" on a test. All in all, if you study hard what he says to, you will get an A. Also, test questions have multiple parts, so its hard to bomb. Chatterjee doesn't throw screwballs - you're not going to be doing well one day and failing the next. I would recommend him.
Chatterjee wasn't good by any means but he wasn't terrible. I personally can't understand his Indian accent, so I stopped going to lecture. The test are based on 1)theory and 2)homework. I got an A in the class just by reading and studying the textbook and doing homework. The easy thing about Chatterjee is that he tells you exactly what he is going to test you on. The bad thing is that it is very theoretical - you can never "just wing it" on a test. All in all, if you study hard what he says to, you will get an A. Also, test questions have multiple parts, so its hard to bomb. Chatterjee doesn't throw screwballs - you're not going to be doing well one day and failing the next. I would recommend him.
Most Helpful Review
I have taken this professor for two courses: MAE 182A and 150A. He is one of the nicest professors you will have. Both courses were taught in a very similar fashion. Here is what I can remember: -He makes his own homeworks, every time, and they are worth a significant portion of your grade (~15-20%). However, if you look closely, many of the problems are like ones from the book except tweaked a little bit -His lectures are pretty good; he always tries to relate what you learn to everyday things you will see in life which helps -Slight accent -Terrible handwriting (his major downfall). After a few weeks it becomes easier to read, but probably the worst handwriting I've seen -He makes himself available for drop by help whenever you want (at his office), which is cool -His tests are open book and open notes -You don't need past midterms, although they might help a little -Genuinely cares about students You will not fail either class, as long as you follow this advice: his midterm (only 1 midterm, for both classes) and final are VERY VERY similar to the "practice" midterm and final that he posts online. I STRONGLY suggest that you work through these practice tests with your friends and make sure you have the correct solutions (and understand them) for the test. Simply having the correct solutions to the practice test will ensure that you pass the real equivalent test (whether it's the midterm of final). In general, the problems on his test (compared with the practice) will have EXTREMELY similar parts a) and b) but then c) will be way different. So just try to think outside the box about how he could tweak the problem just a little bit to make you solve for something different. Hope that helps, and good luck. I definitely wouldn't avoid this professor, easy B (if not A, if you are smart). My final piece of advice: don't be afraid to ask for help and guidance during the test -- if you ask him if you are approaching the problem the right way, he will let you know, and probably give you a few pointers too!
I have taken this professor for two courses: MAE 182A and 150A. He is one of the nicest professors you will have. Both courses were taught in a very similar fashion. Here is what I can remember: -He makes his own homeworks, every time, and they are worth a significant portion of your grade (~15-20%). However, if you look closely, many of the problems are like ones from the book except tweaked a little bit -His lectures are pretty good; he always tries to relate what you learn to everyday things you will see in life which helps -Slight accent -Terrible handwriting (his major downfall). After a few weeks it becomes easier to read, but probably the worst handwriting I've seen -He makes himself available for drop by help whenever you want (at his office), which is cool -His tests are open book and open notes -You don't need past midterms, although they might help a little -Genuinely cares about students You will not fail either class, as long as you follow this advice: his midterm (only 1 midterm, for both classes) and final are VERY VERY similar to the "practice" midterm and final that he posts online. I STRONGLY suggest that you work through these practice tests with your friends and make sure you have the correct solutions (and understand them) for the test. Simply having the correct solutions to the practice test will ensure that you pass the real equivalent test (whether it's the midterm of final). In general, the problems on his test (compared with the practice) will have EXTREMELY similar parts a) and b) but then c) will be way different. So just try to think outside the box about how he could tweak the problem just a little bit to make you solve for something different. Hope that helps, and good luck. I definitely wouldn't avoid this professor, easy B (if not A, if you are smart). My final piece of advice: don't be afraid to ask for help and guidance during the test -- if you ask him if you are approaching the problem the right way, he will let you know, and probably give you a few pointers too!
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2016 - STRENGTHS: None WEAKNESSES: - Let me start off by saying this is one of the worst classes at UCLA that I have taken, and this is the type of class that makes engineering seem like a joke at this school. - Class lectures were an absolute mess. Rosen's lectures were incomprehensible half the time. Half the class would fall asleep or leave every lecture. - The midterm had a one hour long algebra problem. It tested nothing and taught us nothing. It was purposefully designed to just be long for the sake of being long. And to make things worse, after the midterm Rosen would rag on the class constantly saying that we hated algebra and that we thought we were masters at algebra since we complained about the midterm problem. NO ROSEN. We just don't expect hour long algebra problems where we learn NOTHING as engineers. - Homeworks and Projects were the worse set of problems I have ever encountered. They are all horrendously long and you end up learning nothing. Resubmittions are the only thing that kept people from failing all the homeworks because we could just copy the solutions and resubmit. - One of the TAs had terrible communication skills. - This class is a drag. It seems like it is designed just to add another class to make students stay an extra quarter so that they have to pay more to this school. It is a pointless and redundant class that overlaps with 33B by a huge margin. Very few other universities require this extension of math beyond differential equations. You learn nothing. You struggle with the terrible assignments. You waste your time with the long 2 hour lectures. What is the point? - If engineering is serious about becoming a top 15 school, you can't treat the students with this kind of education. - STUDENTS. please, please, please stop passing up this class for an easy A and start actively voicing your opinion that this class is pointless so that we can add another GE or engineering elective and actually LEARN something.
Spring 2016 - STRENGTHS: None WEAKNESSES: - Let me start off by saying this is one of the worst classes at UCLA that I have taken, and this is the type of class that makes engineering seem like a joke at this school. - Class lectures were an absolute mess. Rosen's lectures were incomprehensible half the time. Half the class would fall asleep or leave every lecture. - The midterm had a one hour long algebra problem. It tested nothing and taught us nothing. It was purposefully designed to just be long for the sake of being long. And to make things worse, after the midterm Rosen would rag on the class constantly saying that we hated algebra and that we thought we were masters at algebra since we complained about the midterm problem. NO ROSEN. We just don't expect hour long algebra problems where we learn NOTHING as engineers. - Homeworks and Projects were the worse set of problems I have ever encountered. They are all horrendously long and you end up learning nothing. Resubmittions are the only thing that kept people from failing all the homeworks because we could just copy the solutions and resubmit. - One of the TAs had terrible communication skills. - This class is a drag. It seems like it is designed just to add another class to make students stay an extra quarter so that they have to pay more to this school. It is a pointless and redundant class that overlaps with 33B by a huge margin. Very few other universities require this extension of math beyond differential equations. You learn nothing. You struggle with the terrible assignments. You waste your time with the long 2 hour lectures. What is the point? - If engineering is serious about becoming a top 15 school, you can't treat the students with this kind of education. - STUDENTS. please, please, please stop passing up this class for an easy A and start actively voicing your opinion that this class is pointless so that we can add another GE or engineering elective and actually LEARN something.
Most Helpful Review
Professor Sepulveda is a great professor, he practically knows the course like the back of his hand. Once you get past his sometimes sloppy handwriting and Italian accent, there's no one better for the job. The material was difficult but he manages to teach it every subject flawlessly. It is extremely fast paced so you have to make sure not to fall behind when writing notes. The book was useless except for the table of Laplace Transforms, which you are advised to bring to exams. His exams are open book and notes, but the exams are structured such that you won't be able to finish it if you constantly referred to your lecture notes, so make sure you study the example problems carefully. Go to all the lectures and do all the homework meticulously, all his exams are pretty much reiterations of homework problems and class examples.
Professor Sepulveda is a great professor, he practically knows the course like the back of his hand. Once you get past his sometimes sloppy handwriting and Italian accent, there's no one better for the job. The material was difficult but he manages to teach it every subject flawlessly. It is extremely fast paced so you have to make sure not to fall behind when writing notes. The book was useless except for the table of Laplace Transforms, which you are advised to bring to exams. His exams are open book and notes, but the exams are structured such that you won't be able to finish it if you constantly referred to your lecture notes, so make sure you study the example problems carefully. Go to all the lectures and do all the homework meticulously, all his exams are pretty much reiterations of homework problems and class examples.
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I frankly think that Professor Wang is ineffective as a lecturer. While he is a nice person, his persona while lecturing is uninspiring and not engaging. He will write plenty of equations on the board, but his explanations drone on and on. Fortunately, our TA this quarter was excellent and explained the material well and concisely. Perhaps the curriculum of this course is the problem. While it is called "Mathematics for Engineers," we see very little math applied to actual engineering problems, or any problems for that matter. The homework revolves around solving equations, and that's about it.
I frankly think that Professor Wang is ineffective as a lecturer. While he is a nice person, his persona while lecturing is uninspiring and not engaging. He will write plenty of equations on the board, but his explanations drone on and on. Fortunately, our TA this quarter was excellent and explained the material well and concisely. Perhaps the curriculum of this course is the problem. While it is called "Mathematics for Engineers," we see very little math applied to actual engineering problems, or any problems for that matter. The homework revolves around solving equations, and that's about it.
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