Mathematical simulation of engineering problems: on the art of formulation of mathematical models

M.F. Giorgetti
31st Annual Frontiers in Education Conference. Impact on Engineering and Science Education. Conference Proceedings (Cat. No.01CH37193)  
 The structure, the objectives, and the methodology of a new engineering course are described. The course is intended as a facilitating step connecting the basic portions of an engineering program to the engineering sciences. The main objective of the course is the coaching of students for the art of problem formulation or modeling, approached with a strong appeal to the use of laws of conservation; emphasis is given to the splitting of the process into two steps, the use of a fundamental law,
more » ... followed by the use of a subsidiary law or a constitutive relation. Two preliminary reports were given by the author at . The project has been developed further with the inclusion of systems for data acquisition and analysis based on Texas Instruments' graphing calculator TI-89 and accessories, such as the TI Calculator Based Laboratory -CBL, and compatible instrumentation. In the paper, the general methodology is explained and exemplified with modeling for three different experiments of mass conservation.
doi:10.1109/fie.2001.963986 fatcat:3hhi6dlxx5eppffkut76bp77ly