F13 Lecture 1 Intro To Numerical Methods

ENGR 108
Introduction to Computing for

Engineers and Scientists
LECTURE 1:
INTRODUCTION TO NUMERICAL METHODS
Introduction
Welcome to the Fall 2013 semester
My name is Dr. Nicholas Carlson

◦ Adjunct instructor at RVCC
◦ Structural engineer at Templar Technologies, Mt. Arlington NJ
◦ Email: ncarlson@raritanval.edu
2
Requirements for this course
Prerequisite
◦ MATH 112, Precalculus I (or equivalent)
Textbook
◦ MATLAB for Engineers by Holly Moore
3rd edition, Prentice-Hall, 2012
ISBN: 978-013210325
Software
◦ MATLAB Student Version R2013a, to be installed on your personal computer
(available from http://www.mathworks.com/academia/student_version/)
◦ Any software that supports .DOC, .XLS and .PPT files (MS Office, LibreOffice,
iWork, etc.)
◦ Skype
3
Outline of course content
1. Overview of MATLAB
2. Basic, trigonometric, complex and statistical functions
3. Arrays and matrices
4. Making graphs and plots
5. Linear algebra and systems of linear equations
6. Getting input and formatting output
7. Writing scripts and user-defined functions
8. Using MATLAB for repetition and decision-making
9. Curve fitting and interpolation
10. (If time permits) Additional advanced topics: numerical analysis, image
processing and data structures
4
Learning outcomes
At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to:

• Convert engineering and science problems into MATLAB programs.
• Modify existing MATLAB programs for user-specified purposes.
• Check MATLAB program output and interpret its meaning.
• Present MATLAB output clearly and logically in the form of an
engineering report.
5
Policies
Attendance
For this online class, “attendance” consists of
◦ visiting the course website
◦ viewing the week’s lecture
◦ reading any textbook chapters or related
◦ completing any posted assignments
You are expected to log in and participate at least once a week.

As per the student handbook, the instructor may recommend that you
withdraw from the course if you do not participate for more than 20% of
the semester (three weeks).
If you stop participating and do not withdraw, you will receive an F.
6
Policies
Homework
• Homework will be posted on WebStudy
• All weekly assignments due at noon on Wednesday
• Late assignments not accepted
• If you have a reasonable excuse for missing an assignment, you will be
excused from it (no makeup required)
• It is your responsibility to make sure the file you submit is not corrupt
or incomplete
• No extra credit assignments will be given, either to individual students
or the class as a whole
7
Policies
Exams and projects
Midterm project and exam: due week of October 20

Final exam: due last day of final exam period, December 21
Details of project and exam will be discussed later in the semester
8
Policies
Online etiquette
Even though this is an online course, it is still part of the classroom

environment, so be sure to respect other students and the instructor
◦ Write professionally and formally
◦ Avoid strong language that can be misinterpreted easily
◦ Participate in live discussions, but don’t monopolize them
◦ Don’t talk over other students in voice chat
◦ Do not share off-topic, offensive or illegal material
9
Policies
Accommodations/Honor Code
• Students with documented disabilities can request accommodations
by providing the documentation from Disability Services
• Students are not required to use their accommodations, but cannot
use them retroactively (you cannot retake a test with
accommodations you had but didn’t use)
• Academic dishonesty (cheating, plagiarism and other conduct code

violations) will result in a score of zero on the assignment and will be
reported to the Dean of Instruction
10
What are numerical methods?
Numerical methods develop

accurate and fast approximations
to problems whose exact
solutions are difficult or
impossible to find because of
their complexity
11
MATLAB
MATLAB is a numerical computing
environment used to:
• Manipulate large amounts of data
• Plot functions and visualize data
graphically
• Develop programs to process data
• Model and simulate real-life
systems
12
Applications
Civil engineering Electrical/computer engineering
◦ Structural analysis ◦ Circuit design
◦ Traffic simulations ◦ Network analysis
◦ Environmental simulations ◦ Signal processing
◦ Geographic information systems ◦ Electromagnetic field analysis
and GPS tracking
Chemical engineering
Mechanical engineering ◦ Molecular modeling
◦ Heat flow ◦ Pharmaceutical design
◦ Fluid dynamics ◦ Factory simulations
◦ Structural optimization ◦ Biomechanical and biomedical
◦ Automation of manufacturing engineering
13
Why do we need to learn math when we
have computers?
• Have the creativity and knowledge to
understand a specific problem
You • Develop the method to solve it
• Provides the language you use to

MATLAB describe how to solve your problem
and translates it to machine code
• Provides ways to represent and

manipulate different types of
Operating system data in terms the computer
understands
• Only knows how to add

Computer numbers, but does it
quickly
14
Why do we need to learn math when we
have computers?
A nail gun helps you build a
house faster, but it doesn’t tell
you how to build it safely
A computer is a powerful tool to
solve math problems, but you
have to know how to use it
correctly and responsibly
As an engineer, it is your
responsibility to use your best
judgment and verify that your
calculated results are correct
15
Objectives of this course
By the end of the semester, you will be able to:

◦ Use the built-in MATLAB functions to solve math and engineering problems
◦ Make plots and graphs
◦ Make arrays and matrices of data that represent real-world data sources
◦ Solve problems involving many independent variables using linear algebra
and systems of linear equations
◦ Write basic computer programs for other people to use
◦ Present your solution to a problem in the form of an engineering report
16
Next week
◦ Taking our first steps in MATLAB

◦ Keeping track of calculations and results with scripts, cell-mode and
published reports
◦ Using MATLAB’s built-in functions to solve problems
17

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ENGR 108

Introduction to Computing for

Welcome to the Fall 2013 semester

My name is Dr. Nicholas Carlson

At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to:

You are expected to log in and participate at least once a week.

Midterm project and exam: due week of October 20

Even though this is an online course, it is still part of the classroom

• Academic dishonesty (cheating, plagiarism and other conduct code

Numerical methods develop

• Provides the language you use to

• Provides ways to represent and

• Only knows how to add

By the end of the semester, you will be able to:

◦ Taking our first steps in MATLAB

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