Modern Solid Mechanics

Description of Course Goals and Curriculum

This class is aimed at developing an understanding of force and torque balance, internal forces, stress, strain, beam bending, beam deflection, and analyses of trusses. The aim is to be able to look at a stationary system of standard components with a given force and torque distribution and be able to quantitatively analyze how it changes.

Learning From Classroom Instruction

This class is extremely well organized, and the topics covered for each lecture is posted on the syllabus with the associated readings. The slides are posted ahead of class, so redrawing diagrams may not be the best use of time during class. Instead, it was useful to follow along on his slides as he went through them.

Learning For and From Assignments

The problem sets are structured the same way every week- two relatively easy problems and then a third difficult problem. There are office hours the night before the problem set is due where the TA's help everyone do the problem set. The problem set's are meant to be done collaboratively and this session is designed to help with that.

External Resources

What Students Should Know About This Course For Purposes Of Course Selection

Andrej is a phenomenal professor, who introduces these basic concepts in a clear, organized manner. The materials covered in this class are also often asked in mechanical engineering interviews- a reflection of how fundamental and important the material covered is.