Instructor

Prof. P Seshu

Semester

Autumn 2023-24

Course Difficulty

Quite an easy course to follow, as the professor starts from scratch with numerical analysis, and then delves into the basics of finite element analysis, slowly building upon that. I would recommend that students in their third/fourth year take this course, as they have a good understanding of basic concepts in mechanical engineering as well as mathematics.

Time commitment needed

Attending classes is more than enough for the course, and the professor provided some assignment questions, which gave a good idea of the questions asked in the examination.

Grading Statistics

Grading was decent, with 7 AAs, 13 ABs and 10BBs out of 51 students. Project had a large weightage, of around 40% which affected the total marks of the students quite significantly

Attendance Policy

No attendance policy as such

Teaching Style

The professor has his own book on the topic, and teaches the topics in the book using slides in the classroom. He is very experienced and teaches in a way that is quite simple to understand. The questions he asks in class are thought-provoking and make you think of a concept in alternate ways.

Feedback on Assignments/ Tutorials/ Projects

The assignment and project combined involved two presentations, one giving an introduction to the topic and another showing the results and conclusions of the project. Grading was done by the professor, TAs and the other students of the class using Google Forms.

Feedback on Exams (Written Evaluation)

The mid-semester and end-semester exams were both open-book and fairly on the easier side, with lenient grading. A few tricky questions were asked which could be solved with good conceptual clarity.

Future Tracks

Would be a good precursor to any course involving numerical analysis for computational engineering

Course Importance

Would be very useful for people pursuing core mechanical engineering, as finite element methods can be used to solve a wide variety of physical problems and this course provides the foundation for that.

Additional Details

I especially liked Sir’s book, as he explains concepts clearly and concisely. Other textbooks, even though they may explain concepts in detail, might take quite a lot of time to read and aren’t suited for a single-semester course.

Written By

Shiva Sudhan R