Computer Applications in Engineering and Construction

CVEN 302-501

Computer Applications in Engineering and Construction

Fall 2010

Applications of computers to solution of Civil Engineering problems using various numerical methods; mathematical modeling and error analysis; solution of algebraic and differential equations; numerical differentiation and integration; curve-fitting. Prerequisites: ENGR 112 and Math 308 or registration therein. Credit: (2-2) 3 hours

Instructor: W. Lynn Beason, Ph.D., P.E.

Office: 701C CE-TTI Bldg.

e-mail:

Office Hours: Announced in Class and Displayed on Website:

Primary Text: Applied Numerical Methods with MATLAB for Engineers and Scientists, Second Edition, S. C. Chapra, McGraw-Hill, 2008

Matlab Text: Selected Chapters from Matlab Programming for Engineers, Third Edition, S.J. Chapman, Nelson, a division of Thomson Limited: Ontario, Canada, 2008.

Tentative List of Topics

(Subject to Change Without Prior Notice)

1. You are responsible for reading the relevant material in the text.
2. "M" stands for the Matlab programming custom book by Chapman and "C" is the numerical methods book by Chapra.

Grading: Your final grade will be based on the following criteria.

A=90-100, B=80-89, C=70-79, D=60-69, F=0-59

Beason’s Grading Rubric will be used to score all work.

THERE IS NO POSSIBILITY FOR EXTRA CREDIT IN ANY FORM -- EVERYONE IS TREATED EQUALLY

Software: MATLAB will be the language of choice for this class and you will be expected to write programs. You will also be expected to use spreadsheets with graphics capability.

Daily Attendance:Class attendance is required for all students at all classes -- there are no exceptions. There is no legitimate reason for you to miss this class during the scheduled hours except for a university excused absence. This policy is enforced through the homework/pop quiz grade. Homework is due at the beginning of the class -- there are no exceptions. No pop quizzes or name quizzes will be given during the first 10 minutes of class. Only a fully documented University Excused absence as defined below will provide grounds for a pop quiz makeup. At least 1 pop quiz/homework assignment will be excluded from the final average at the end of the semester.

Attendance at Major Exams and Final: It is your responsibility to be aware of the dates and times of the three major exams and the final. Changes, if any, to the printed dates and times will be announced in class. A university excused absence is required to justify your not attending a major exam or the final at the announced time and place. A doctor’s note must include a statement that you could/cannot appear for valid medical reasons. The mere fact that you happened to be in a doctor’s office at the time of the examination is not sufficient. The instructor should be notified of any impending absences well in advance of the scheduled exam date. Do not attempt to postpone an exam on the day that it is scheduled because it will be extremely hard to locate the instructor on that date because he will be involved in final preparations for the exam. For authorized absences, the instructor will chose to either give a makeup exam or modify the grading procedure presented above. No credit will be given for unauthorized absences.

Problem Sets and Pop Quizzes: Problem Sets will generally be assigned each Friday and due on the following Friday before the related programming assignment begins.

As an engineer and a professional, your work will often be read and scrutinized by others. In some instances, it could be a legal document or a piece of evidence in a court of law. It is your responsibility to see that the work you prepare is presented in a legible, methodical, and logical manner. In so doing you will get in the habit of presenting your work in a professional manner. You will also likely refer back to these problems later in your studies and in your career. Understanding what the problem was and the methods used in its solution require proper documentation.

Your work should be prepared on engineering paper. All work should be presented on one side of the paper only. All work should be legible and neat. Your name, course and section number, and date should be in the upper, right-hand corner of each page. Each problem should begin at the top of a new page. The manner in which you organize your work is up to you. However, it should be NEAT and logically arranged. Key results should be highlighted in some fashion.

Homework should be completed on the specified due date.

It is recommended that you make copies of all homework submitted. This may help you study for the major exams and for the pop quizzes that may be given prior to the return of your graded homework.

Occasionally pop quizzes may be given at random. These will focus on problems that are similar to assigned homework or information contained in the assigned reading.

Programming Assignments: Programming assignments will generally be assigned each Friday and due the following Friday.

Programming assignments are a significant part of your grade: you should complete all assignments individually, putting forward your best effort, and cheating will not be tolerated. An automated computer program will scan programming submissions and flag similar programs for increased scrutiny by the grader.

As with the homework assignments, you may ask others for help at places where you have made diligent attempts and have become stumped. You may ask others for confirmation of results at significant milestones in the problem. You may not share computer programs, Word documents, or Excel files. Copying another student’s solution, even if you slightly change the presentation will be considered as cheating and given a grade of zero (see Plagiarism statement below).

Each programming assignment will specify a format for reporting the results, but will generally consist of a short written memorandum followed by a program listing, code validation calculations, and complete program output.

Similar to the homework, unless you have a university excuse (see Absences below), late assignments will not be accepted for credit. Please do not ask for exceptions. Each assignment will feature a challenge problem, worth 30 extra points out of 100, and due at the same time as the assigned program. It is not necessary to complete any of the challenge problems, and they should not be attempted until the assigned problem is completed satisfactorily. Challenge problems will not be accepted late.

Exams: Two 120-minute exams and one 2-hr final exam are scheduled (see above for scheduling). The grading of the exams will be based on Beason’s Grading Rubric. Exams will be closed book and closed notes. You may prepare a crypt sheet on the front and back of one page of 8 ½x11 paper for each exam. You will need a hand-held calculator for each exam. It is your responsibility to ensure that your calculator is working and will perform in the examinations.

Excused Absences (excerpt from Student Rules:)

7.1 The student is responsible for providing satisfactory evidence to the instructor to substantiate the reason for absence. Among the reasons absences are considered excused by the university are the following:

7.1.6 Injury or illness that is too severe or contagious for the student to attend class.

7.1.6.1 Injury or illness of three or more days. For injury or illness that requires a student to be absent from classes for three or more university business days (to include classes on Saturday), the student should obtain a medical confirmation note from his or her medical provider. The StudentHealthCenter or an off-campus medical professional can provide a medical confirmation note only if medical professionals are involved in the medical care of the student. The medical confirmation note must contain the date and time of the illness and medical professional's confirmation of needed absence.

7.1.6.2 Injury or illness less than three days. Faculty members may require confirmation of student injury or illness that is serious enough for a student to be absent from class for a period less than three university business days (to include classes on Saturday). At the discretion of the faculty member and/or academic department standard, as outlined in the course syllabus, illness confirmation may be obtained by one or both of the following methods:

a. TexasA&MUniversity Explanatory Statement for Absence from Class form available at

b. Confirmation of visit to a health care professional affirming date and time of visit.

7.1.6.3 An absence for a non acute medical service does not constitute an excused absence.

You will be expected to comply with both 7.1.6.2.a and 7.1.6.2.b to receive an excused absence.

Academic Integrity Statement:

“An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do.” Students are expected to understand and abide by the Aggie Honor Code presented on the web at: No form of scholastic misconduct will be tolerated. Academic misconduct includes cheating, fabrication, falsification, multiple submissions, plagiarism, complicity, etc. These are more fully defined in the above web site. Violations will be handled in accordance with the Aggie Honor System Process described on the web site.

Copyright Statement:

The handouts used in this course are copyrighted. By “handouts,” it is meant that all materials that have been generated for this course including those materials generated in all previous semesters. Such materials include but are not limited to syllabi, quizzes, exams, problem sets, worked problems, materials presented on my internet site, in-class materials, review sheets, additional problem sets, and/or solutions prepared for these materials. Because these materials are copyrighted, you do not have the right to copy them, or possess copies of them outside of the normal course uses for which they were intended. Certain violations of these copyrights can be treated as violations of academic integrity and will be handled in accordance with the Aggie Honor System Process described on the following web site:

American with Disabilities Act:

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Department of student Life, Services for Students with Disabilities in Room 126 of the KoldusBuilding, or call 845-1637.