Rev. 16 Feb 2011
These beginning courses are available to all NCSSM students. They do not have prerequisites.
Introduction to Engineering: Mechanical, EE304 This course is designed to introduce students to the study and practice of engineering. Students explore the wide variety of fields of study in engineering, focusing on topics important to the fields of Mechanical, Civil, Chemical, and Biomedical Engineering. Using activities, design projects, and laboratory modules students learn first-hand how engineers use mathematics and science to solve problems. Topics include statics, dynamics, fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, and materials.
Introduction to Engineering: Electrical, EE306 This one-trimester course is designed to introduce students to the study and practice of engineering. Students explore the wide variety of fields of study in engineering, focusing on topics important to the fields of Mechanical, Civil, Chemical, and Biomedical Engineering. Using activities, design projects, and laboratory modules students learn first-hand how engineers use mathematics and science to solve problems. Topics include statics, dynamics, fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, and materials.
Architecture and Civil Engineering, EE309 a, b This two-trimester course provides an overview of the interrelated fields of architecture and civil engineering. Students use industry- standard software (Revit Architecture) to design buildings and illustrate the engineering basis of those designs. Driven by hands-on projects and activities, this course covers topics such as the roles of architects and civil engineers, architectural history, project planning, site planning, building design, and project documentation and presentation. A major focus is the development of a local property parcel, giving students the opportunity to model the real-world experiences of architects and civil engineers. Students work in teams on all hands-on projects, thus developing teamwork and leadership skills.
Introductory Robotics, EE316 This course provides students with the opportunity to develop skills in simple basic programming of an autonomous robot, use of radio controllers, simple sensors and tracking; gaming strategy, teamwork, design, and some basic tool skills. The instruction is both traditional and project-based. A significant portion of the course is dedicated to the design and completion of an instructor-approved individual project chosen by the student.
Engineering the Modern: The Twentieth Century American Aesthetic in its Cultural and Historical Context, IE356 This interdisciplinary course examines the aesthetic and scientific transformations of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries that resulted in High Modernism, primarily in an American historical and cultural context while including European backgrounds and influences. Influences between visual arts, architecture, literature, engineering, science, and technology are examined against the background of historical and political movements and events in order to construct a comprehensive understanding of this historical period and its lasting significance. The cultural significance of topics such as the Brooklyn Bridge, Frank Lloyd Wright, Albert Einstein, the Arts and Crafts movement, the birth of the skyscraper, automation, the atomic age, the digital age, and Postmodernism show the relationship between diverse modes of expression and demonstrate how innovations in science and technology affect the ways reality is perceived and depicted. Assessments for the course are essay- and project-based and are designed to allow students to develop and demonstrate their analytical reasoning skills and ability to communicate ideas in multiple modes of discourse.