Saturday, June 13, 2015

Course Final Grades

The TA’s finished grading the final labs today.  That allowed me to calculate and enter the final grades for the course.  I’ve left the course open through the end of the first week of the summer term for you to review for any significant errors since we were unfortunately late in returning your final labs.

Below are the statistics for the overall grades.  You’ll see that we had a high percentage of A’s and a number of A+’s.

image

These grades take into account:

  • Dropping the lowest lab and discussion grade
  • Using the adjusted grade for the final take-home assessment
  • Allowing a total of three missed lectures and labs for the attendance grade

Four individual had their final grade drop from the “running” grade displayed during the term.  This occurred because they hadn’t turned in required work.  This wasn’t taken into account by the “running” grade.  I warned about this earlier in the term.

Related Posts

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Take Home Assessment–Comments

Some of you may wish to know how the class performed on the final Take Home Assessment. Here are some comments

The Process
  • I graded all the essay questions myself – almost everyone was careful and received full credit. My comments on the essay are in a separate post.
  • I reviewed the “item analysis” provided by BbLearn.  It looks at the performance on each question to see if there problems because they were poorly written or possibly required material that was not presented in class.
    • As a result of that review I decided to add 3.6 points to each person’s raw score to make allowance for possible lack of clarity, although I found only two questions that I felt had some ambiguity (see below).
    • The result of this increase in the exam is reflected in the column –CAEE-201 AdjustedAsses.  This was used in computing the final grade.

Some comments on questions where there were difficulties.

  • Learning after Graduation – It’s almost certain that you’re going to need to go on learning throughout your career as an engineer.  Many of you chose answers that indicated your thought there wouldn’t be much later learning.
  • Nested IF Function – This was admittedly a difficult question, but it was directly based on the hydrology lab.  Learning to use this kind of logic will almost certainly be beneficial in your engineering career.
  • Gas Concentrations – A key result of the IAQ lab was that you cannot have all things – low ozone and low CO2 merely by ventilating.
  • Revit Type – Revit is BIM software, not a sketching or drafting tool.  When I Googled the word Revit the first entry stated that as I did in class.
  • EER – EER is a ratio of BTU/Watt-Hour – It’s a measure of efficiency of an air conditioning system.  It is NOT dimensionless as it is used. 
  • Member Weight Calculation – It’s surprising that a number had difficulty with this one.  You needed to calculate the volume and multiply by the density, being sure to watch the units of volume to work in either in^3 or ft^3.
  • Issues of Concern to Engineers – Four of the five options are likely to be important to engineers.  Only the analysis of lives of great engineers is unlikely to important.
  • Practice Requirements – Almost everyone recognized that our disciplines are interactive with and affected by disciplines and issues outside our department and outside our country.
  • Controlling Storm Water – My “correct” answers were that it’s a problem in older cities and it’s required by EPA.  A number of you chose that it’s politically popular to control storm water.  I decided to award a makeup point to everyone since denying this was questionable:  Few politicians want to vote to pay for cleaning up storm water (and few taxpayers want to pay for it), but all want to claim credit.
  • Foundation Types – I awarded another makeup point because a mat foundation can indeed be used for large buildings, but that may not have been clear from the lectures and from Google searches.

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Best and Worst of CAEE-201–Your Comments

I’ve completed grading the essays on the final assessment and thought you’d like to have some statistics about what you said – and what I learned.  While grading them I kept track of your comments in a variety of categories suggested by what you wrote (see below) to get a sense of what worked and what needs to be improved.

I’ll use these results to try and improve what we do when next we offer CAEE-201.

What Worked

Overall you were very positive about CAEE-201.  You liked the variety of speakers, the discussions, the labs, the exposure to what the CAEE majors consist of, and the site visits.

The breakdown of the comments overall was

  • 81 Students completed the essay – 1 did not
    • 42 wrote only positive comments
    • 37 wrote both positive and negative comments
    • No one wrote only a negative comment
  • 194 Positive/Best comments
  • 55 Negative/Worst/Needs Improvement comments
What Needs Improvement

As you’ll see in looking at the details the biggest area you felt needs improvement is the instructions for the labs (22 comments).  There were 48 “worst” comments addressing some aspect of the labs (please note that there were 70 positive comments as well).  There’s considerable variety in the specifics of what you felt was problematic.

Detailed Comment Breakdown
  • The groups of comments are organized alphabetically within “Best” or “Worst”
  • In some cases I included specific issues as well

image

Saturday, May 30, 2015

About the Online Final Assessment

Where Do I Find It?
  • Click on the “Quizzes and Exams” menu item in the course website in BbLearn
When It’s Available – LAST WEEK OF CLASSES – NOT EXAM PERIOD
  • Opens – Midnight Thursday Morning  6/4 
  • Closes – 11:59PM Sunday Evening 6/7
  • There is NO exam during exam week.
  • There is NO class meeting on Monday of exam week.
How Much Does It Count?
  • 18% of the total grade
What is on it?
  • 75% Multiple Choice + True/False + Multiple Answers (more than one answer per question possible)
    • These are drawn from the lectures and the labs in the course.
    • A few require you to be careful in your thinking, but most are straightforward.
  • 15% – Calculation Questions based on the labs
    • The description and logic for calculating the answer are the same, but each student will see different numbers
  • 10% – 200 words or more on the Best or Worst (or Both) Aspects of CAEE-201 – graded on being specific, not on your opinions.
May I take It More than Once?
  • Yes, you may take it up to three times – each time you have 3 hours
  • You will not receive your score after taking the assessment– not until I have graded the essays after the assessment closes
  • You may not save and resume during one instance of the test.
  • Each time you take it the numbers for the calculations and the order of the questions will probably be different.
  • We will use the highest score you achieve from multiple attempts.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Update on Class DIscussions

Hey Folks,

As we enter the last week of class, you have one discussion post left to complete.  I hope that you have all learned something from these discussions.  Please remember that the more you put into your education, the more you will get out of it.  These posts are not meant to be difficult, they are meant to give you the opportunity to learn something you otherwise wouldn't.  Overall, I am very pleased with the way they are going,  Please just remember that part of your grade for these discussions is to read and review 3 of your classmate's posts.  Good job, and good luck with the rest of this term!

-Brad

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Tacony-Palmyra Bridge Visit–Thursday 5/28

This Thursday we’ll visit the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge. 
  • The visit will take the entire lab period for each lab section
  • We’ll be traveling by Drexel bus, walking across the bridge making observations and then returning to Drexel, all within the two hour lab period. 
  • Below are the key facts for this visit.
Timing
  • We will leave PMOMPTLY on the hour at the start of each lab - 9:00 and 11:00.  We really will leave on time.
  • To ensure that the bus has sufficient capacity stick with your assigned lab section.
  • We expect to be back by 10:50 and 12:50 respectively.  If there’s a traffic problem we could be delayed, but at that time of day it should be OK.
Location
  • The bus will leave from in front of the main building on Chestnut street, probably on the south side of the street.
    • Sometimes for traffic reasons the bus goes to Market street.  If that’s the case we’ll alert you by having someone on Chestnut to direct you.  That person will leave Chestnut at 9:00 or 11:00
  • If you’re a commuter you can meet us at the Tacony Palmyra bridge.
    • The easiest parking lot is on the NJ side
    • We’ll be starting our walk from the PA side so you’ll want to walk across the bridge to meet us.
    • We’ll probably start walking from the PA side about 10:25 or 12:25
Wearing Apparel
  • Wear a windbreaker (raingear if the weather threatens)
    • The bridge is always markedly cooler and windier than on the ground
  • Wear flat shoes – heels will be a problem on some of the sidewalks.
Safety

  • The bridge is a dangerous place, particularly if you lean into the traffic lanes – it’s extraordinarily tight.
  • LISTEN TO THE SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS WHEN WE’RE THERE

Friday, May 22, 2015

Tanker Collision with Bridge Lab–Question

Question

  • Could you explain to me how to do question 14 on this week's lab? …. I know I have to work backwards to find the mass, but I am not sure how to do this. Could you please guide me in the right direction for how to complete this problem?

Response

Prof. Dasaro set this question to challenge you to think about the physics of what’s happening.  As he noted, in most respects it’s a matter of working backwards through the same steps that you followed in Q1-13.  Below are some hints that may assist.

  • A key thing to note is that in calculating the bending moment we’re pushing on the pier with the maximum the DRPA allows.  In essence, we’re ignoring what happens in the “plastic” region when addressing bending.
  • To work backwards to the allowable tanker mass/weight you need to check whether the maximum stress specified in the question occurs in the elastic range, which includes the DRPA maximum.  You can do this by comparing the moment that occurs with this stress in each pier leg to the maximum moment.  If that moment is less then you can proceed assuming that you’re working exclusively in the elastic range – which simplifies the calculations.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Geothech Q3 graph

You need to show a profile of stress vs. depth (see Q3). In other words, pls show the stress as a function of depth.

In Q1 & 2 you probably worked with each layer independently and only needed to show the stress beneath the whole ‘sandwich’, while in Q3 you need to show the stress in every point of depth – would it be -65 ft or -12.345 ft. I expect to see a piece-wise linear function with 3 or 4 (which, btw, would be correct according to Q3) pieces with a domain [-2; -65] ft.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Geotech - depth and 'thickness'

In Q1 and Q2 you work with 'thickness', in Q3 you work with absolute depths.

Friday, May 8, 2015

More on the LCA Lab

Those steps should gradually help you to get the lab done:
1. Use the greenhouse, climatic, SG and oil parameters and burner efficiency to find how much actual oil and SG you need to burn. Find GHG emission of combusting OIL.
2. Even if we burn SG in Dec, we release C captured in Jun, thus burning SG is C-neutral.
3. Find how much 'virtual' oil you use to get the actual oil. Find GHG footprint of that 'virtual' oil. Several gases contribute to this footprint, account for it. In what units will you account this oil?
4. Find GHG footprint of agricultural part of SG fuel. How many various GHG's it emits?
5. Find how much GHG briquetting contributes.
6. There is more info in the tables than you will use, but we discussed it in the class very well.
7. Sum you oil emissions, and then separately sum SG emissions and compare. Do not over-complicate!
8. Once you go through the lab carefully you will see the lab is straightforward, and involves simple additions and multiplications across rows and columns.
9. If you start doing the Lab on Wed then there will be a fair chance you won't get it done.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Lab-5 River Pollution Questions

Question

“For our lab 5, one of the questions asks to choose the best fit chart type. I was wonder what does that exactly mean? Should we choose it based on the data or which ever graph looks best? Also how are we suppose to know or come up with an idea of the treatment?”

Response

“Best fit chart type” would be the chart that best displays the information for humans to examine and interpret.  There is no “right” answer to the chart type.  You might consider:

  • Bar charts
  • Pie charts
  • Scatter charts

You might also consider what are the appropriate scales:

  • Linear
  • Log
  • Other?

Treatment

We’re not asking you to develop a chemical treatment, but what would you recommend to PWD in terms of actions they might take?

Friday, May 1, 2015

Learned from the HVAC Lab and applied to the Water Quality Lab

Hi all,

I have graded a few HVAC Labs, and from what I have seen the most errors came from units conversion, units sloppiness, and misusing intermediate parameters (e.g., using a hypothetical parameter in the cell G17 instead of one in the cell G18). Thus, WATCH UNITS! Units may "annoy" you but they also give you best support in such Labs. Working with units in Excel is not obvious because they do not accompany your formulas. So take a piece of paper and solve manually all units along the equation chain, from the units given in the PDF to what units are required in the answer.

I learned from Prof. Mitchell to establish a column where you actually list your named variable. It gives you more visual control over your Excel formulas when you construct them and check for bugs. See the pic below.

May the Force be with you, always.


Walter

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

HVAC Lab–Energy Question

Question:

I am confused by the units and figures in the E_airflow portion of question 2.  For the calculation in row 32, "Energy brought in by ventilation airflow, Ev:", the only related equation I could find gives E_airflow = m x [0.24T + W(0.45T + 1061)].  I have already calculated m.  I imagine that T is temperature, but is it temperature difference, indoor temperature, or outdoor temperature?  I see that the answer should have units of btu/h.  So far with m, I have lb/h.  How do I get from lb to btu, and what is this W for?  Also, are the rest of the values in this equation constants, or do they need to be modified for our figures?

Response:

  • If you look at the Parameter Definitions above you’ll find the meaings of T, W, Q and other terms used in the lab.  The subscripts define indoor and outdoor conditions.
  • You are given the equation in the instructions to calculate the energy.  Note that it’s units are BTU/hr.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

IAQ and HVAC Lab - Flow Rate Question

Question

For the IAQ and HVAQ Lab, specifically regarding Question 2, no value is given in the PDF for Qe (Exhaust Flow Rate). In Question 1, the Excel sheet said to assume that Qv=Qe= 800 m3/h. Is this true for all questions, that Qv = Qe?
So in Question 2, does the assumption continue that Qv = Qe? Or is there a relationship with the Total Air Flow Rate of 7200 m3/h that must be considered? Does Qv + Qe have to equal Qt? If this is the case, how can both Qv and Qe equal 800 m3/h in the first question?

Answer

Please see the second from the bottom paragraph on page one – algebra in there governs the relationship between Qv and Qe.


Thursday, April 23, 2015

Warnings on Lab-4 HVAC

Hello everyone,
A few announcements about spots in the Lab where you need to be careful.

  1. We were discussing units for L-4 during the Sec-61. There's a typo in units for Emission RATE ECO2/V (both in the PDF and XLS Quest1 cell I13. The correct unit is ppm/(h*ppl) - makes sense to have 1/h for a rate. In the Sec-61 class we thought a typo was in I29, and we were wrong. I just corrected the BbLearn template, as of Thu 4/23 20:09.
  2. If you like to make a unit analysis, remember that kwh is a jargon for kW*h, a unit of energy. My PECO bill also uses kWh, no multiplication operator inside!
  3. EER is a Coefficient Of Performance, it compares Energy vs. Energy. In the industry it is often used unitless, but the 'unit' for it is BTU/(W*h) - Energy/Energy. Keep it in mind when you see it in the cell I20 of Quest2. You will need to use EER in your calcs!!! In addition to the Lab there's a good chance the Final Assessment will have a question about EER.
  4. With that said simply follow the PDF instruction and you will get it done all correct.
  5. BIG WARNING Quest3: in the columns answer what you are asked, read the columns' heading WORD-TO-WORD and answer what is asked there. The cost of a wrong answer there could be  easily 15 pts!
Good luck and remember you have ALL the data and parameters in the PDF, Quests' themselves ("Please determine ...") and the Gray Blocks.


HVAC Discussions

Hi, It's your friendly neighborhood discussion grader signing in with my weekly blog post.  Overall, well done on the HVAC discussions, and I think everyone has figured out the key to doing well in these discussions by now.  I would like to make a few general comments:

-  As most of you noticed, the future of HVAC design is in making buildings more efficient and technologically advanced.

- The most tricky part of things like net-zero buildings, smart homes, etc.  is to increase efficiency without sacrificing comfort or safety.

- Another large concentration in HVAC is Indoor Air Quality, which is becoming a huge concern in large cities where pollution is a problem.

As I have said about previous discussions, only a handful of you will end up practicing HVAC engineering in your career.  I would argue that these discussions are more important to the people not interested in that particular topic, because they force you to build some knowledge base, at least to the point where you can understand what your HVAC engineer is talking about.  Please make an effort when doing these discussions to glean some understanding of the topic you are reading about.  If you learn even just one thing from each discussion, you will grow and become a much more rounded engineer.

Thanks, and Happy Discussing!

-Brad

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Week-4 - Rec Center Tour - Lab Locations and Times

This coming week we’ll be touring the Rec Center AND having time in the lab to address the calculation assignment of the week.  You should plan to be involved the whole two hours of your lab period.  The sessions in Main-301 and Randel-326 are to help you with the lab calculations.

Note that we will meet outside the East entrance to the Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building (inside if raining).  Here’s a map showing where we’ll meet and where we’ll go.

Wear flat shoes (NOT heels) – we’ll walk on sensitive surfaces.

Time & Location

image

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Hydrology Discussions

Hello,

Regarding last week's discussion post on hydrology, I have a few general comments for the class:

Overall, very well done.  It seems as though most students are making an effort to read and comprehend the articles they are choosing, and to make intelligent comments about them.

Remember that the main purpose of these discussions as a whole is to introduce you briefly to all of the main topics in the CAEE department.  Not every topic will interest you, and that is ok.  Try to gain a basic understanding of the topics you are not interested in, and don't be afraid to dig a little deeper into the ones that you do like.

If there is something you don't understand in your article, it can only help you to try researching and finding a little more information.

One thing to take away from this is that the work that Civil Engineers do is among the most taken for granted of any profession.  Supplying potable water, removing waste, protecting entire cities from flooding, etc.  are all incredible accomplishments that the public accept as normal, without a thought to how difficult a feat they truly are.

Thanks, and keep up the good work!

-Brad

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Water Reduction–Meanings

Question


I have a couple questions about the CAEE 201 lab from this week. I am wondering what "Potable Water Reduction" and "Storm Water Reduction" mean conceptually. I have talked to a few students, and none of us seem to be able to figure out or find online what those phrases mean so that we can figure out how to do the calculations.

Response

Potable water = Drinkable water = water bought from the city
Storm water reduction = water that doesn’t go into the city sewers that would have without your prevention system, in this case the cistern and it’s associated engineering components.

Supplemental Question

In the lab, we were told that the potable water reduction value and storm water reduction value should be different numbers. However, I keep getting the same value (but different percentages) for both. My thought process was that potable water reduction is water we don't have to buy from the city (what we collected in the cistern), and that storm water reduction is water that doesn't go into city sewers because of the cistern (what we collected in the cistern). With that, it makes sense that I am getting the same value, but since we were told in lab that they should be different I assume that I am missing something. I would appreciate if you could clarify that they should/should not be the same value.


4/22/2015 Update

I need to apologize to those students who asked this question.  Thanks to another student not being satisfied with the answers I'd given I checked and found that indeed the potable water purchase reduction produces exactly the same amount of storm water overflow reduction.  The percentages will be different, but the actual numbers ARE the same.

This does make sense since the water that goes into flushing the toilets does not go down the drain.

I've used this lab for multiple years and never been asked the question before so I never thought it through and never noticed the identity.

My suggestion below of using boundary conditions is still often helpful, but was misleading in this case.  That's why I've put lines through the answer. 

Response - See Above 4/22/2015

It’s often useful to think of a “boundary condition” example when trying to address this sort of problem.  Think of the following:
  • There is no rain whatsoever.
    • Would the city have to buy water in this case?
    • Would there be any overflow in this case?
Hopefully that will help you think through the answer to your question.

Update 4/20/2015
It was pointed out after lecture that this boundary case isn't as illustrative as desirable.  So, think of another one.

  • The amount of rain that falls every day is exactly what is needed by the toilets
    • In this case there would be no water purchased from the city (Maximum Reduction) AND no overflow and therefore a maximum of storm water reduction.
    • If the rainfall increases there will be no change in the water purchased for toilet flushing (purchase remains at zero).  There will, however, be an increase in the overflow and thus a decrease in storm water reduction.

Writing Water Budget / Hydrology Memo

Hello everyone,
The Hydro Lab is a great opportunity to write a Memo on an actual project of Evaluating Rain-harvesting Cistern Performance. Compose your Memos in a passive voice. For the Hydro lab you can, and I encourage to, avoid the word "Lab" entirely, including the title. You were not doing a Lab, you were in reality evaluating how the cistern work and ho it benefits the environment and Drexel's balance books!
Good luck,
Walter 

Individual Feedback on Lab-1 In a File Returned by the TA

Several students have been unclear how to access the files that the TA’s have graded and returned via BbLearn.  Here are instructions that worked on the BbLearn before:.

  • Open the course in BbLearn
  • Click on Grades in the left column
  • Click on the title of assignment - e.g. "Week-3 Lab Structures"
  • You’ll see the attached file in lower right under the small heading "File Name". It can be also located in a sub-menu "Feedback to Learner" (that's actually how I see it on my TA interface) 
    • Click on it to see it
    • You can download it by clicking on the small icon with a downward arrow in top dark bar - 2nd from right
    • For Lab-1 sec-60 the filename starts with "grd_", for sec-61 with "Wk-1_Lab".
    • When open the file, browse through each page, that's where we usually leave feedback.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Lab 3 Hydro - Harvested Rain Volume

Hello all,

Just a reminder that pls be careful with units when getting the volume of the harvested rain.

Cheer,
Walter

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Discussion 1

Hello!

Welcome to CAEE-201! My name is Brad, and I will be grading your weekly discussions this term.  I would like to start by apologizing for my tardiness in grading the first set of discussions.  In the future, expect them to be graded by Thursday every week.  If you have any questions about the discussions, feel free to email me at bjd66@drexel.edu.  I am also more than willing to answer, to the best of my ability, any general questions you may have about what life is like for a CAEE student at Drexel.

As far as the discussion posts go, make sure to read the grading rubric over for future posts.  It is very easy to get a 15 every time, as many of you will.  Just make sure to read and comment on two separate articles related to the weekly topic, as well as comment on at least three of your classmates' posts.  Please post these as actual comments on the other students posts, so that they are more easily visible to the students you are providing the comments to.

I would like to encourage you to make it a point to learn something new every week in these discussions.  If you come across a term or topic you don't quite understand, dig a little deeper and try to figure out exactly what it means.  Increasing your knowledge base now can help a lot in your future endeavors.  Good luck, and have fun!

-Brad

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Lab-1 Question

Question

“For question 5 is there a specific formula I need to know? If so what is it?”

Response

Both Part “a” and Part “b” ask you to use basic physics reasoning.  We belief you can derive the necessary equation given an understanding of what’s happening.

For Part “b” the way’ I approach it is to imagine a cubic foot of air.  Can I figure out how much it weighs?  Can I figure out how many BTU’s it take to heat that cubic foot 1DegF?  How many to heat it 20DegF?  How many CF of air would it take to convey 8,000 BTU?

You should be able to check your answer using units.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Lab-2– Revit –Times and Locations

This week’s lab will again be located in the CAEE CadLab in CAT-167.  It’s on the ground floor in the Southeast corner of the building.  CAT is the building to the North of Ludlow (where the food trucks are located)  - Link to Google Maps

Familiarity – Email to Skip Lab Session

If you are already competent with Revit you may send me an email (James.Mitchell@Drexel.edu) BEFORE the lab time saying you know Revit and don’t need to attend the lab.  I’ll mark you present for the lab.

Times

Because there are only a limited number of computers in the lab we’re splitting each section in half, so each comes for only 1 hour.  You may exchange with a student from another section, but except as noted below please do not come at a time different than the one to which you’re assigned.

Note that section 061 is much bigger than Section 060 so some students from 061 may come to the 060 times with a reasonable chance of finding a place.  Those officially in the section will have priority if we exceed the capacity of the room.

Section 060 9:00-11:00

  • A-L  9:00
  • M-Z  10:00

Section 061 11:00-1:00

  • A-L  11:00
  • M-Z 12:00
Revit

We’ll be using the program Revit in the lab.  You’re welcome to download it for your laptop for free from http://students.autodesk.com.

  • It’s a 3GB download and a 5GB Install
  • You’ll need to register with Autodesk
  • It’s for Windows Machines only
  • Be aware you’ll need to copy the files you create in the lab to yourself via thumbdrive, email, DropBox or something similar.  Your files will probably be erased from the machines.
  • Also be aware that files created in a newer version of Revit are NOT openable in older versions.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

An example of a well-structured Memo

More help on memo writing can be found with search terms 'OWL Purdue engineering writing' and 'PSU engineering writing'. Memo is a type of Correspondence, search for this type once you are on the Purdue or PSU site.
The following Memo was altered by a meaningless array of words. In your memos please feel free to use underline and bold typeface to emphasize important messages. USE PARAGRAPHS!
*** Please consult the blog post for further details of a Memo content***
========================================================================

TO: Dr. [Lecturer of the Week], PE
FROM: ----- -------------
DATE: Month Day, 2015
SUBJECT: Measurements in Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Lab

This is your PURPOSE section:
The purpose of this lab was to calculate and [compare] the _________, ________, __________ [stresses], and to calculate the _________ [factor] of the ____________________________.
This is your DETAILS SUPPORTING section:
This lab began with the ______________________. Various dimensions of the ___________ were measured with a laser tape and recorded. The ________ of the ___________ was 2”x 21”, the depth of the [sub-element 1] was 62.6”. There were a total of 5 [items #2] [spanning] the length of the __________. A provided [instrument, protocol, blueprints] showed six _________ of 1234.5’ each.
The [initial stress] was greater than the [thermal boiling freezing other stress], which was greater than the [absolute value of the capacity]. The calculated [post-initial] stress was 1.62*106 psf, the [post-post-initial] stress was 1.4*106 psf, the [thermal freezing resistance] was 1.5*105 psf. All [post-initial] [conductancies] were calculated by dividing the moment by the area of the [rotor] and the depth of the [lake] by zero. The [pre-initial] load moment was 2.2*105 ft*lbs, the [pre-post-initial] mass and acceleration were 2.46*106 ft*lbs/s. The stress due to [thermal excitation] is proportional to the change in temperature and the [another property of a material may go here]. It was [recorded, calculated, received] as 1.0*104 psi at 1234oF.
The [value] is a number representing the relative [property of a structure, characteristic of an assembly] when [loaded]. It is equal to the material capacity minus the [some property, quality, description], all over the [post-presumptive-quality #4]. A [negative] [value in the results] means the [assembly #2] will not [satisfy Standards ASTM-123.456-000], even without [pre-treatment]. A factor of [a thousand] would be [acceptable, safe, and controllable] but have no margin for [economical consideration]. The [rating, evaluating, manufacturing] factor for the [assembly #2] was 1233.4 [times]. A value of more than 987 [times] is above a satisfactory value; and it has a [high, best, acceptable] [safety, durability] [rating].
This is your IMPLICATIONS section:
Examples of the themes that are appropriate to use in here: The [exercise, process, structure] proved _________ is suitable [useful, beneficial] for __________. The [structure] is [safe] for [standard] use. If the [structure] were ___________ or the _________ were to [fail] on a day of significant heat change, the [structure] can ________.
This is your LIMITATIONS section:

    There was a [adjective] limitation in [obtaining the dimensions, for example]. The width and mass of the __________ were estimated and not verifiable measured. The instrument had last calibration 11 months ago, and is near its yearly certification test. The software used has been known in the State of CA to cause heartbreaks. Those limitations [affected, compromised] __________. [list and discuss other assumptions, short cuts, questionable data, vintage data, extrapolations, limited visibility, etc.] 

Memo Writing For Lab Reports

Here is a blog post from a previous version of CAEE-201 addressing what you want to consider when writing a Memo for this course, or any other course.  The length, of course, will vary from once course to another.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

About You

Here’s the breakdown of the students in CAEE-201 this spring as of 3/26/2015.  It’s by College/Major and then by class at the beginning of the term.

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Tuesday, March 24, 2015

About This Blog

We'll use this blog to post announcements and answer questions that are raised throughout this term related to CAEE-201.  We advise you to subscribe to it via an RSS reader – I use Feedly.  That way you won't have to go into BbLearn to see any changes.  There are many many blogs available on interesting topics.  A good place to search for others that may interest you isTechnorati.

Here's the course blog from Fall of AY14-15.   You may find interesting things in it.  Remember that we may change the content and the details of assignments from one term to the next.