An Integrated Introduction to Engineering, Mathematics, Physics
Letter to Freshmen, FAQ, and Student Testimonials Course Application (Word) Course Application (pdf)
Review this article in the Daily Princetonian for additional background information on this course.
The primary goal of this integrated course is to give first-year engineering students a sense of the excitement of modern engineering and of the foundational roles that mathematics and physics play in various engineering disciplines. Engineering-Math-Physics (EMP) was the first course developed by the Keller Center and is a key part of the center's efforts to shape engineering education for the 21st century. The fall of 2007 marked the start of the third year of a three-year pilot for the course, which will now become an established part of the curriculum.
An integrated approach
Freshman year is a critical time for students who are contemplating the study of engineering. In their first year, undergraduates lay the fundamental mathematical and physical foundations for their later studies, while making crucial decisions about the field in which they would like to concentrate for the following three years. Yet the conventional freshman curriculum gives engineers only a glimpse of the exciting work that this foundation enables. The integrated approach reflects the nature of much engineering practice and research today, which involves solving problems that cut across conventional disciplines. The four courses that make up the EMP series are taught by 10 faculty members from eight departments, who work as a team to introduce calculus and physics in the form of motivational examples and laboratory experiences that are relevant to all branches of engineering.
Laboratory projects
The labs in the first semester of the sequence revolve around a single project to build, launch, and analyze the flight dynamics of water-propelled rockets. The project takes students from building their own circuit boards with micro-mechanical accelerometers to a detailed study of the interactions of gravity, thrust, momentum, and drag. These tasks integrate concepts from mathematics, physics, mechanical and aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science, engaging students in the lab experience in ways that conventional physics labs do not.
In the second semester, after a series of lectures on each engineering discipline, students work on three design projects, each based on a major theme: energy sources and the environment, robotic remote sensing, and wireless multimedia communication. Each project entails lectures on the technical background and hands-on work to apply the general principles of engineering to working devices. The sessions also include guest lectures that introduce societal, technical, and scientific issues related to the three major themes.
Reflections on EMP
Insight, community, and collaboration:
"The course load was very challenging at times...however, it was gratifying to accomplish what we did in the class, as only freshmen. I thought the program also gave us a good taste of each discipline, and it really helped me to be able to choose which engineering I wanted to do." -- Maya Srinivasan '10
"The EMP labs are practical, fun, and fully maximize the allotted three hours. Last semester's highlight was launching the water rockets we built, but in the process we learned basics of soldering, circuitry, and analyzing data using Matlab." -- Nathan Keyes '11
"The biggest thing I've gained from the experience is a true un- derstanding of how math and phys- ics go hand-in-hand. Every week when we learn something new in physics that we had seen in our multivariable class, I get excited because I'm actually able to see the how the math plays out in the real world." -- Elizabeth Nadelman '11
"The highlight of EMP for me has certainly been its sense of community. During the first semester, we had two-hour evening problem sessions for both math and physics that almost the entire class attended... I experienced a taste of real academic collaboration." -- Megan Wong '11
"The camaraderie was very palpable. Because they went through the courses together, they all got to know each other. They worked together and helped each other, and the benefit that they got from that was significant." -- James Olsen, Assistant Professor, Physics
Course Descriptions
EGR 191 An Integrated Introduction to Engineering, Mathematics, Physics (also MAT 191/PHY 191) Fall ST
Taken concurrently with EGR/MAT/PHY 192. An integrated course that covers the material of PHY 103 (General Physics: Mechanics and Thermodynamics) and MAT 201 (Multivariable Calculus) with the emphasis on applications to engineering. The physics part of the course discusses mechanics with applications to fluid mechanics, wave phenomena, and thermodynamics. Concurrently, the necessary mathematical background and tools will be taught, including vector calculus, partial derivatives and matrices, line integrals, simple differential equations, surface and volume integrals, and Green's, Stokes', and divergence theorems. Professors: P. Meyers, P. Whitman, J. Rexford
EGR 192 An Integrated Introduction to Engineering, Mathematics, Physics (also MAT 192/PHY 192) Fall QR
Taken concurrently with EGR/MAT/PHY 191. An integrated course that covers the material of PHY 103 (General Physics: Mechanics and Thermodynamics) and MAT 201 (Multivariable Calculus) with the emphasis on applications to engineering. The physics part of the course discusses mechanics with applications to fluid mechanics, wave phenomena, and thermodynamics. Concurrently, the necessary mathematical background and tools will be taught, including vector calculus, partial derivatives and matrices, line integrals, simple differential equations, surface and volume integrals, and Green's, Stokes', and divergence theorems. Professors: P.Meyers, P. Whitman, J. Rexford
EGR 193 An Integrated Introduction to Engineering, Mathematics, Physics (also MAT 193/PHY 193) Spring ST
Taken concurrently with EGR/MAT/PHY 194. These two courses will address the material of PHY 104 and offer an introduction to the various disciplines of engineering. The physics part of the course covers the basic laws of electricity, magnetism, and optics, from Coulomb's law to Maxwell's equations and the prediction of electromagnetic waves. The course concludes with an introduction of quantum theory with a treatment of matter waves, quantization, and the Schroedinger equation. Students who were enrolled in both EGR/MAT/PHY 191 and 192 concurrently in the fall semester will continue in the spring in both EGR/MAT/PHY 193 and 194. Professors: J. Rexford, F. Calaprice
EGR 194 An Integrated Introduction to Engineering, Mathematics and Physics (also MAT 194/PHY 194) Spring ST
Taken concurrently with EGR/MAT/PHY 193. These two courses will address the material of PHY 104 and offer an introduction to the various disciplines of engineering. The engineering part of the course is a project-based sequence (Energy Conversion and the Environment, Robotic Remote Sensing, and Wireless Image & Video Transmission) that covers engineering disciplines and their relationship to the principles of physics and mathematics. Students who were enrolled in both EGR/MAT/PHY 191 and 192 concurrently in the fall semester will continue in the spring in both EGR/MAT/PHY 193 and 194. Professors: J. Rexford, M. Littman, S. Lyon