Year No. Offer Mode Description Cred. Pts 98 E0001 S1 D COMPUTERS IN ENGINEERING 1.00
Computers and related technology have become an integral part of engineering, both as a tool for analysis and design and as a system for embedding in an application. They enable problems to be approached in many different ways, for example a simple computer simulation can often give more insight than a complex algebraic solution. Students must of course be made aware of the fundamental technology and terminology and be able to make good use of wordprocessing and spreadsheets. More demanding is the ability to formulate engineering problems in a way which can be readily programmed on desktop machines in well structured understandable code. Students will be given a fundamental understanding and aptitude in a simple structured programming language and will learn to express engineering problems in software terms. They will learn the use of iteration to simulate the solution of differential equations and to display the results with graphics. In the process, they will learn the fundamental "grammar" of computing from arithmetic assignment through looping and conditional control to structures including subroutines and functions. They will be introduced to background topics including the history of computing from and engineer's perspective and the relationships between various programming languages, such as C, Fortran, Algol, Pascal and Visual Basic and between operating systems such as MSDOS and UNIX as they are employed in current engineering practice.
On successful completion of this unit students will be able
to:
Description Weighting(%)
- Use of a desktop computer, MSDOS fundamentals 5.00
- Simple computer operations relevant to engineering and 35.00 surveying problems (in the QBasic environment)
- Formulation of an engineering problem in computer terms 30.00 and its solution including the use of graphics
- Use of word processing and spreadsheet packages 10.00
- Computer terminology and background, memory, addressing 10.00 and other hardware topics, supercomputers, benchmarks, number systems and logical operations, computer communications methods and standards
- Comparison of languages and operating systems commonly 10.00 used in engineering and surveying
Either
Shelley G B, Cashman T J, Waggoner G A and W C, "Discovering
Computers : A Link to the Future", Boyd and Fraser, 1997 (recommended
for degree students or students with prior knowledge of computers).
or
Meyer M & Baber R, "Computers in Your Future", QUE College (Prentice
Hall), 1995 (recommended for Associate Degree and Bachelor of
Technology students or students with no prior knowledge of computers).
You must have access to: (1) either QBasic (included as part of DOS 5
or 6, to QuickBasic 4.5. These packages all have HELP facilities: (2)
a word processing and spread sheet package eg Microsoft Office.
Tuesday's Australian Computer Section, or equivalent daily newspaper
coverage. Magazines such as BYTE, PC World, PC Magazine, Australian
Personal Computer.
ACTIVITY HOURS Lectures 28 Tutorials/Workshops 28 Private Study 35 Examinations 3 Assessments 61
No *F/S Marks Due Description Wtg(%) LBL WWW 1 S 150.00 20/03/98 ASSIGNMENT 1 15.00 N N 2 S 100.00 09/04/98 ASSIGNMENT 2 10.00 N N 3 F 09/04/98 CML 1 N N 4 S 150.00 22/05/98 ASSIGNMENT 3 15.00 N N 5 F 22/05/98 CML 2 N N 6 S 400.00 END S1 2 HOUR OPEN BOOK EXAMINATION 40.00 N N 7 S 200.00 END S1 1 HOUR CLOSED BOOK EXAMINATION 20.00 N N
1 This is a COMMUNICATION BENCHMARK unit and a major component of
the assessment of this unit will be associated with the
demonstration of communication skills.
2 A minimum standard of communication skills must be demonstrated
in order for a passing grade to be achieved.
3 In order to successfully complete the unit, students must
normally obtain 50 percent of the marks awarded for each section
the examination. In addition, the student must submit all of the
required assignments and must obtain 50% of the aggregate marks
awarded for the assignments.
4 It is advised that all assignment work is individual. However
you may work in a team of no more than 3 students and submit ONE
group assignment but you must state clearly who has worked in
your team. No collaboration between teams and if significantly
similar assignments are found without a covering declaration NO
MARKS WILL BE AWARDED TO EITHER PARTIES. All programming
assignments must be accompanied by COMPLETE DOCUMENTATION.
Assignment number one is a FORMAL REPORT, so presentation along
with spelling, grammar and technical content will count.
5 If students submit assignments after the due date without prior
approval then a penalty of up to 20% of the assignment total
marks will apply for each working day late.
6 The Faculty of Engineering and Surveying will NOT accept
submission of hand written or typed assignments by facsimile,
email or computer diskette. Students in remote locations who do
not have regular access to postal services may be given special
consideration.
7 In order to complete the assignment work in this unit, students
will require access to a computer. Students must complete the
assignments by the due dates specified in the assessment details
section.