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#### TommyLie

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##### Re: Monash University - Subject reviews & ratings
« Reply #120 on: July 25, 2013, 12:05:20 am »
+6
Subject Code/Name: MAE1041 - Introduction to Aerospace Engineering

Workload: Quite heavy, you will probably need to do a fair bit of study to follow the lectures. There is a very large amount of content compared to my other first year subjects - MTH1035, PHS1011.

Assessment: The first assignment was a lab on boundary layers using the small wind tunnel engines. I though this lab was poorly organized, rushed and there was not enough explanation of what was going on and why things were happening. After the demonstrator practically did everything for you, while leaving your group their wondering what was going on, we had to write a fairly substantial lab report on it...

The second assignment was a much better one, we had to design a paper airplane (It could be made of as many pieces of A4 paper and sticky tape as you want) that would fly as far as possible, from a height of 6 meters with a gentle gliding throw. We then had to write a report on our design, making reference to important design aspects of aircraft wings and aerodynamics, and how this affected the flight path and results.

These were worth a combined total of 20%. There was a weekly 2 hour tutorial session where you sat down and did a problem set. You either get a mark of 0, 1 or 2. These counted for another 10%. I wasn't very pleased that no solutions were posted on Moodle for these until literally the days leading up to the exam. Solutions would have helped a lot if they were posted earlier, if you wanted solutions you had to go to the tutors and look at them yourself - you weren't aloud to take a copy for some reason...

Recorded Lectures:  No.

Past exams available:  Yes, and solutions. I believe about 4 or 5.

Textbook Recommendation:  The prescribed textbook is 'Flight Physics'. It used to be 'Introduction to flight' by John Anderson, but Hugh changed it because he believes it explains the stuff we do later in the unit better. I had both textbooks and, in my opinion, Anderson's textbook is much better than 'Flight Physics', and I highly recommend it. It has Q's & A's, where as Flight Physics does not, it gives a much smoother transition between topics and is easier to understand.

Lecturer(s): Hugh Blackburn took the whole unit. Personally I did not find Hugh's teaching style to work for me. I certainly enjoyed his sense of humor, but it felt as if he assumed everyone in the class was a genius, and thus did not explain a lot of things in as much detail as I would have liked. I felt like a lot of things went over my head in lectures, and so I heavily relied on the textbook.

For me, the lecture notes were worthless. They were way too brief and did not explain how things work, they just had a lot of formulas and a few sentences here and there. But reading through them, it felt like all I was doing was trying to memories 50+ formulas and 100+ definitions, while not really understand that much.

Year & Semester of completion: 2013, semester 1

Rating: 2 Out of 5

Comments: Overall I did not enjoy this unit at all. Although I did like the stuff we were learning - particularly aerodynamics - the way it was presented to us and they way the unit was run was not good in my opinion. Like I said above, I did not really feel like I was actually doing much problem solving most of the time, just memorizing where and how to use the 50+ formulas they gave us. It was not fun to do this.

A major problem I found was the huge amount of content (IMO) combined with the broadness of it. We covered so many different topics which were not really at all connected (At least in the amount of depth we went into them they were not), and thus you could not really link things together, nor go into much detail into anything because there wasn't enough time. But I guess thats what you would expect with a unit called 'introduction to....'
« Last Edit: January 28, 2014, 12:30:53 am by alondouek »
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2013 - 2017: |Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering & Science @ Monash, Clayton|

#### synchronise3

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##### Re: Monash University - Subject reviews & ratings
« Reply #121 on: July 25, 2013, 12:12:58 am »
+5
Subject Code/Name: MGC1010 - Introduction to Management

Workload:  One 90 minute lecture and one 90 minute tute.

Assessment:

Assignment 1 (Annotated bibliographies) = 15%
Assignment 2 (Individual Essay-2500 words) = 25%
In tutorial quiz = 10%
Exam = 50%

Recorded Lectures:  No

Past exams available:  No

Textbook Recommendation:  Schermerhorn, J., Davidson, P., Poole, D, Simon, A., Woods, P. & Chau S. S. (2011) Management:
4th Asia Pacific Edition John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd. (This textbook is vital for this unit since the exam is open-book).

Lecturer(s): Dr Tui McKeown, Associate Professor Ingrid Nielsen, Dr Andrea North-Samardzic

Year & Semester of completion: 2013, Semester 1

Rating: 3.5 Out of 5

Comments: Good subject but can be a little bit boring. However, the content was fairly easy to grasp with nothing overly complex. I would definitely recommend going to tutes and lectures if you're keen (I only went to two). Like any other subject going to tutes will benefit you particularly when you're given assignments and tutor will often give great tips. There are two assignments and the first one requires you to read 5 (?) academic articles and write an annotated bibliography (don't worry if you don't know what this is, they cover it). The second assignment is an essay and I must stress that you are going to want to start it early, you wouldn't believe the amount of people writing up a 2500 word essay the night before. The exam was fairly straightforward and it was probably one of the exams I prepared least for. Given that the exam is open-book, you should do a few of the questions in the book as preparation because I found 1-2 of the questions I did from the text book ended up in the exam itself.
« Last Edit: January 28, 2014, 12:31:10 am by alondouek »
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#### babygurl

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##### Re: Monash University - Subject reviews & ratings
« Reply #122 on: July 25, 2013, 04:34:32 am »
+5
Subject Code/Name: ATS1355: Fanatics and Fundamentalists: The Global Politics of Violence (Recoded in 2014 as ATS2942)

1 x 2 hour lecture, 1 x 1 hour tutorial

Assessment:

500 word essay - 10%

2000 word mid-semester exam - 40%

2500 research essay - 50%

Recorded Lectures:  Yes

Past exams available:  Exam questions are posted on moodle one week prior to exam.

Textbook Recommendation: Unit instructor will recommend you to buy 'Terror In The Mind of God' by Mark Juergensmeyer and 'God Is Not One' by Stephen Prothero - the former is more useful than the latter.

Lecturer(s): Dr Irfan Ahmad, various guest lecturers

Year & Semester of completion: 2013, Semester 1.

Rating: 5 Out of 5

Comments: This unit is full of thought-provoking and dense readings on religion and theology (Nietzsche, Freud, Aquinas, Maududi), terrorism, violence and global politics. So if you're interested in doing a bludge unit and have no interest in religion, terrorism, violence or politics whatsoever, then this unit probably isn't for you.

Dr Irfan Ahmad was extremely knowledgeable about the subject matter and made the dense readings crystal clear. His lectures were very interesting and engaging at the same time. He also invited a guest lecturer almost every week for the second half of the lecture (this helped keep things fresh in my opinion). The tutorials (Dr Irfan Ahmad was my tutor as well) were also lively and full of interesting discussion, which is more than I can say for other arts units I've completed at Monash. Overall, the unit was taught extremely effectively and was well organised.

Even though it was one of the more dense first-year arts units I've completed, it was also one of the most rewarding! Your perception about global terrorism, violence and certain religions (such as Islam) will no doubt change by the end of the unit! I would highly recommend this unit for those seeking to complete a politics major at Monash
« Last Edit: January 28, 2014, 12:33:00 am by alondouek »

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##### Re: Monash University - Subject reviews & ratings
« Reply #123 on: August 13, 2013, 11:58:38 pm »
+6
Subject Code/Name: ECE2061 Analogue Electronics

Workload:  3 lectures per week, 1 hour tutorial, 2 hour lab

Assessment:  Labs (30%) and exam (70%)

Recorded Lectures:  Yes

Past exams available: No

Textbook Recommendation: The prescribed textbook is Microelectronic Circuit Design by Jaeger and Blalock. Lectures should suffice.

Lecturer(s): Jean-Michel Redoute

Year & Semester of completion: 2013, semester 1

Rating: 5 out of 5

Comments: This unit is core for electrical engineering and is frankly one of the more enjoyable core units. It comprises three major parts. The first part is on operational amplifiers, starting with ideal operational amplifiers and moving on to non-ideal amplifiers, and some basic feedback systems theory. The second part is on solid state electronics (diodes and transistors), and the third part is on single transistor amplifiers.

The lecturer for this unit, Jean-Michel, is what makes this unit. He is entertaining and adds a lot of personality to the unit, which makes a huge difference. The lectures are thoroughly enjoyable and well-presented, especially for an engineering unit. The concepts are somewhat difficult, but pay close attention to the lectures (and watch the recordings of them during swotvac) and you will have no trouble with it. There is a book that covers all of the same material, but it is an absolute tome. Reading it is far from necessary to understand the concepts. It's one of those books you begin reading and soon after stop reading once you realise you have read the same paragraph four times and haven't paid any attention to the text.

The tutorials are not what you would traditionally expect. They are essentially like lectures except Jean-Michel spends the hour working through the tutorial sheets. They are also recorded like lectures, which is a bonus. There are weekly labs, and prepare to struggle with them on occasion, as things tend not to work as planned. Don't stress too much about the labs, though. The demonstrators hardly care about the overall quality of your lab work as long as you attempt everything. If you put in the effort, consider them an easy 30% of your grade.

Don't fall behind in this unit. Most of what you learn will build on what is previously covered, so make sure to be up to date with the lectures and tutorials. If you are comfortable with the tutorial problems, the exam won't be an issue. It is reasonable and none of the questions contain any nasty tricks. If you are interested in microelectronics, this unit is a very satisfying introduction. The unit also has a third year continuation: ECE3062 Electronic Systems and Control, so it would be a good idea to understand this unit well or ECE3062 will be very difficult for you (and it's also a core unit).
« Last Edit: January 28, 2014, 12:36:32 am by alondouek »
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##### Re: Monash University - Subject reviews & ratings
« Reply #124 on: September 02, 2013, 01:02:20 am »
+7
Posting this on behalf of binders:

Subject Code/Name: ATS2924 - Ancient Egyptian Language: The Basics

Workload:  Weekly 1 x 1h lecture, 1 x 90min tute.

Assessment:  80% 8 x weekly take home translation tasks, 2 x 10% in-tute tests.

Recorded Lectures:  Yes

Past exams available:  No.

Textbook Recommendation:  A Concise Grammar of Middle Egyptian, Boyo G. Ockinga

Lecturer(s): Colin Hope

Year & Semester of completion: 2013 Sem 1

Rating:  5 Out of 5

Comments: This subject introduces you to the language of the middle kingdom period of ancient Egypt, and to the hieroglyphic script. The language is taught through lectures on grammar, and weekly, open book translation tasks where the grammar learned is applied. Colin's lectures are indispensable, as the textbook is quite dense, and a bit too concise. By the end of the semester,
you should be able to tackle simple hieroglyphic inscriptions, and have developed a love/hate relationship with Ockinga's text.

The textbook should provide you with everything you need to complete the subject, but occasionally you will find a word or hieroglyph missing, so access to Faulkner's Dictionary of Middle Egyptian or Gardiner's Egyptian Grammar (both available in the Matheson) can be useful when you're otherwise stumped by Ockinga.

The workload is heavy, especially at the start, with the tutor advising us in the first tute that 15hrs of study for the weekly homework is not unreasonable or unusual, but that this decreases as you start to master the signs and vocab. Both the lecturer and tutor are excellent, and take the time to clearly explain and repeat concepts until they are understood.

Advice: You won't need to learn every hieroglyph in the book (there are 54 different kinds of birds alone), but you really really should learn the 100 or so "alphabetic" hieroglyphs in the front of Ockinga sooner rather than later, as this will save you a huge
amount of time when it comes to the weekly tasks - other students who took the time to do this early on report that they only spent about 2-4 hours a week on the homework assignments.

I and many of my classmates really enjoyed this subject. It's pretty cool to be able to just read some text from 4,000 years ago, straight off a photo of a tomb wall or a papyrus (yes, just like Daniel Jackson) - but - it's easy to underestimate the workload for the first half of the semester. Easily the best and most well run subject I have taken at monash.
« Last Edit: January 28, 2014, 12:39:21 am by alondouek »
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#### DisaFear

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##### Re: Monash University - Subject reviews & ratings
« Reply #125 on: October 19, 2013, 05:30:33 pm »
+5
Subject Code/Name: CHM2922 - Spectroscopy and Analytical Chemistry

• 3x 1hr lectures
• 1x 4hr lab
Assessment:
• End of Semester Exam: 40%
• Mid-semester test: 20%
• Lab work (includes Moot Court): 30%
• Computer tests: 10%
Recorded Lectures:  Yes, with screen capture

Past exams available:  A few. No answers as per School of Chemistry rules

Textbook Recommendation:
• Principles of Instrumental Analysis by Skoog et al - Not really needed unless you want some in-depth information and good diagrams. It is used more in Third year, I've heard - so if you want to continue, get on it
Lecturer(s):
• Assoc Prof. Mike Grace
• Dr. Chris Thompson
• Dr. Toby Bell
Year & Semester of completion: 2013, Semester 2

Rating:  4/5

• This unit is about all analytical techniques (HPLC, GC, UV-Vis, Mass Spec, IR, Raman, etc) and how the instruments work
• This unit is required for all third year Chemistry units except Medicinal Chemistry
• It's sort of interesting, especially when they talk about the applications - forensics is a big user of this type of chemistry
• The labs are decent, you'll be using most of the instruments discussed which is great - there are lab reports to write most weeks, there are some 'oral assessed labs'
• All three lecturers are great!
• There is a moot-court exercise in the final week of semester where you will use your data collected throughout semester in a court case scenario
• Definitely do this unit if you plan on doing third year Chemistry

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#### eeps

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##### Re: Monash University - Subject reviews & ratings
« Reply #126 on: October 23, 2013, 02:19:46 pm »
+5
Subject Code/Name: BFF2631 - Financial Management

Workload: One two-hour lecture and one one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment: Tutorial participation (5%), Trading simulation (5%), Mid-semester test (20%), Exam - 3 hours (70%).

Recorded Lectures: Yes.

Past exams available: Yes, two past exam papers with solutions are provided.

Textbook Recommendation: Corporate Finance Custom Book + Access card + Myfinancelab, 2nd edition PEARSON EDUCATION AUSTRALIA. Didn't buy it personally, but might help for extra reading.

Lecturer(s): Dr Manapon Limkriangkrai and Nigel Morkel-Kingsbury.

Year & Semester of completion: Semester 2, 2013.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Comments: This unit is really quite interesting in my view. It builds on from previous finance units and you learn about topics such as financial mathematics, capital budgeting, portfolio theory and CAPM. The trading simulation is the most enjoyable aspect of the unit as you work in teams with other students, and you essentially trade stock on the market (this is done in one of the labs in week 10). You're assessed on the basis of your team's performance. Tutorials in this unit are crucial, because it really does help to solidify your understanding of the topics (you should get the full 5% just by attending all of the tutorials). Definitely try to keep up to date with the work because it gets progressively harder as the semester goes on. The mid-semester test is not that difficult as previous years' tests are provided for revision; practicing tutorial questions and the papers are a good idea.
« Last Edit: January 28, 2014, 12:38:16 am by alondouek »

#### ninwa

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##### Re: Monash University - Subject reviews & ratings
« Reply #127 on: October 24, 2013, 12:17:55 am »
+6
Subject Code/Name: LAW4243 - Tax Policy

3 hour lecture per week.
Compulsory readings per week which can take anywhere up to 12 hours depending on length and difficulty.
(NB: Unlike normal law subjects where I think you can get by without reading any cases, I strongly recommend doing the set readings because the topics are quite complex, and there's only so much time in lectures to go through the basics. Kathryn had to cut the last topic out of the exam because there was just too much content and not enough lecture time.)

Assessment:
10% class participation
40% compulsory assignment (2000 words strictly, no 10% leeway)
50% 2 hour exam (and 30 mins reading time)

Recorded Lectures: No, because this is the first time this subject has been offered and so the structure of the subject is still in development, but Kathryn mentioned it might be in future.

Past exams available: No because first time offered etc. Kathryn was kind enough to write up a sample exam though.

Lecturer(s): Kathryn James

Year & Semester of completion: Semester 2, 2013

Rating: 5 out of 5

Lecturer: Kathryn is awesome. Engaging, extremely knowledgeable (her PhD was in this area), funny and she has really cool hair (used to be a mohawk, currently half-shaved :3)

Assessment: 10% class participation (not sure how this is marked, but she'll memorise everyone's names and faces by week 2 so you better have something interesting to contribute).
40% compulsory assignment covering 2-4 topics in the course and relating them to a current event. This year's assignment question related to the Business Council of Australia's proposal to increase the GST and reduce the company tax rate.
50% exam.

We cover topics including:
- economic theories of tax reform
- philosophical perspectives on tax and justice
- criteria used to assess tax policies
- whether to tax the wealthy
- the theories and realities of taxing income and consumption (i.e. GST)
- tax bases like death and bequest taxes
- theories behind the politics of tax reform
- tax expenditures and how they help achieve social justice objectives

Because it's a policy unit, there are very few cases studied (and the ones we do look at, we only look at briefly). The majority of readings are more theoretical in nature. It is a very different subject to the majority of standard law subjects, and the exam reflects this (I've also attached the sample exam to this post).

I couldn't believe I chose this as an elective after how much I despised taxation law, but I'm so happy I did because it's been one of the most interesting law subjects I've studied. It's also by far the toughest subject I've ever studied and the hardest I have ever worked. Some of the readings will leave you feeling like you've been bashing your naked brain against a rusty barbed wire fence for 10 hours. In fact, all of the readings will leave your head aching... but in the same way that your muscles ache after a good work-out. Except philosophy which I will forever maintain that I'm too stupid to understand. Fuck you John Rawls you've taken 10 years off my life span.

If you've ever been interested in economics, tax reform or government policy, you will learn SO much interesting stuff in this unit. But be prepared to work your butt off, especially if you have no background in basic economics or philosophy. (I didn't, and a lot of people didn't, but after flailing around hopelessly for the first couple of weeks I managed okay.) I've attached the reading guide to this post as well to give an idea of the workload!
edit: sorry I forgot to remove all my crappy highlighting and notes from the reading guide that I uploaded
« Last Edit: October 25, 2014, 03:40:44 pm by ninwa »
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#### Water

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##### Re: Monash University - Subject reviews & ratings
« Reply #128 on: October 25, 2013, 01:38:54 am »
+6
Posting this on Behalf of Binders

Subject Code/Name: ATS2925 - Ancient Egyptian Language: Intermediary Stage

Workload:  Weekly 1 x 1h lecture, 1 x 90min tute.

Assessment:  100% 10 x weekly take home translation tasks.

Recorded Lectures:  No.

Past exams available:  No.

Textbook Recommendation:  A Concise Grammar of Middle Egyptian, Boyo G. Ockinga

Lecturer(s): Colin Hope

Year & Semester of completion: 2013 sem 2

Rating:  5 Out of 5

This unit continues on from ATS2924 Ancient Egyptian Language: the basics, starting with a bit of revision on semester 1's noun clauses, then diving straight into verbal sentences.  The same textbook from semester one is used, and by the end of semester, you will probably have worked through most of it.  We didn't get to cover negative constructions in depth, but made it to the reading translation of The Shipwrecked Sailor - an actual ancient literary text - by week 12, which was tackled as an unseen - sight read - in class (not for assessment).

Comments on workload and resources from the review of ATS2924 apply to this unit also, though you will find yourself being able to sight read more hieroglyphs than you thought you could have in semester 1.

The format is slightly different, as the lectures were taken in a tute room and not a lecture theatre, and so more of an interactive, tute-feel.  Each week grammar would be introduced, some unseen examples worked through as a group, then a weekly translation and grammar analysis assignment given. In the next week's tute, the assignment is handed in and the answers worked through in thorough detail until everyone understands the material.

Don't be put off by the participle and relative forms of the verb towards the end of the textbook, if you are still baffled by them after the lecture, ask the lecturer and he will try another tack at explaining them.
The same admonition about rocking up to every lecture applies - if you miss them, you will really struggle.

My objective verdict is that I found this subject awesome.
« Last Edit: January 28, 2014, 12:39:08 am by alondouek »

When I see a youth thus engaged,—the study appears to me to be in character, and becoming a man of liberal education, and him who neglects philosophy I regard as an inferior man, who will never aspire to anything great or noble. But if I see him continuing the study in later life, and not leaving off, I should like to beat him - Callicle

#### DisaFear

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##### Re: Monash University - Subject reviews & ratings
« Reply #129 on: October 27, 2013, 11:37:35 pm »
+5
Subject Code/Name: CHM2962 - Food Chemistry

• 3x 1hr lectures
• 1x 4hr lab
Assessment:  (Outline the various assessments which make up the subject and how much each counts for)
• End of Semester Exam: 60%
• Lab work: 20%
• Assignments/posters: 20%
Recorded Lectures:  Yes, with screen capture

Past exams available: A few, lecturer goes through answers for one

Textbook Recommendation: Don't need it at all

Lecturer(s):
• Professor Gary Dykes
• Dr. Rico Tabor

Year & Semester of completion: 2013, Semester 2

Rating:  3/5

• FIRST THINGS FIRST - THIS IS NOT A UNIT ABOUT COOKING!
• Glad we got that out of the way. This unit is about the chemical properties of food, what they do and how we analyse them
• Stuff covered include proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, minerals, emulsions, enzymes, additives and some other stuff
• Labs are interesting enough, analyse a variety of food products from wine to hot dogs to honey
• Lectures are reallly booooriing, especially after first year chem covering the same stuff
• Lecture slides could be a bit better, and better content progression
• Decent unit - do it if you are interested in chemistry & biochemistry. If you're expecting cooking, go away :3

(AN chocolate) <tisaraiscool> Does it taste like b^3's brain?
BSc (Hons) @ Monash (Double major in Chemistry)

#### BigAl

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##### Re: Monash University - Subject reviews & ratings
« Reply #130 on: October 31, 2013, 12:16:10 am »
+6
Subject Code/Name: ASP2062: Introduction to Astrophysics

Workload:  3x1 hour lectures per week, 1x2 hour problem solving class or computer lab

Assessment:  Labs and tutorials 30% Mid Semester Test 10% Exam 60%

Past exams available:  Yes, only two past exams available. Questions are pretty similar each year.

Textbook Recommendation:  Not necessary if you are not considering astrophysics major

Lecturer(s): Dr.Andrew Prentice-Best lecturer at Monash. He has so much sense of humour. He is also a genius. One of the best jokes he made was when we were discussing a past exam question and the answer was ambiguous..He said "That's alright..we invent a different answer every year" . And he calls some of the symbols a turkey
Dr. Alina Donea-She is a good lecturer. Most of you may know her from ENG2091 I believe.
Dr. Daniel Price-Pretty decent
Dr. Rosemary Mardling-Most of you may know her from MTH2032
Year & Semester of completion: S2/2013

Rating:  4/5

Comments: Overall I found this unit pretty interesting. It essentially extends upon the topics covered in ASP1010 with more detailed mathematical models and computer simulations. Firstly, you'll be going into star and planet formation with Dr.Prentice. He makes these topics so interesting that you may just fall in love with astrophysics. Then Dr.Alina Donea takes over the unit and then you'll pretty much work through things you learned in ASP1010 and watch couple of videos on youtube. Dr.Daniel Price teaches Stars and also Cosmology part. You may get into some mathematical modelling here with 4-5 differential equations and some nuclear physics. Make sure you have a decent background in maths, preferably MTH2010...because you need to be able to derive these equations. Dr. Rosemary Mardling's part was pretty interesting but also heavily overloaded with differential equations. You'll be solving two body problem and derive the equation of an ellipse out of Newton's law...I must say I really appreciate Newton's law after seeing all those things. Only negative side of this unit was computer labs...You'll be having a linux and windows day...and you'll be having a bad day with linux if you have no experience at all. Make sure you learn basic codes! Some of the tutorial work was so tedious that you pretty much hand your work in the following week. Each lab/tutorial class is 3% so make sure you turn up...Mid Semester test was not that hard at all.
« Last Edit: December 10, 2013, 03:22:36 pm by BigAl »
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2013-2015 Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering and Science (dropped in 2015)
2015-2017 Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical)

#### b^3

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##### Re: Monash University - Subject reviews & ratings
« Reply #131 on: November 06, 2013, 06:27:12 pm »
+7
Subject Code/Name: MAE2402 - Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

Workload:  3x1 hr lectures per week, 3 hr tute (not marked), 3 Labs throughout the semester with 2 small lab reports on the first 2 and a long group lab report on the last one

Assessment:  3x5% topic tests, 2x3% short lab reports, 9% long lab report, 70% exam

Recorded Lectures:  Yes, with screen capture.

Past exams available:  7 past exams, no solutions or answers.

Textbook Recommendation:  Prescribed Text: Y.A. Çengel, Introduction to Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer, 2nd ed, McGraw-Hill, 2008.
The textbook is quite useful, you'll need to read up on extra material for this unit.

Lecturer(s): Dr. Meng Wai Woo

Year & Semester of completion: Sem 2 2013

Rating:  3.5 Out of 5

Comments: Going to get this out the way right away, this unit isn't easy. It'll require a lot of work, things aren't straight forward and you'll need to do a lot of extra work to just be baseline. The first half of the course is on Thermodynamics, as the unit title suggests, which at first is a little tricky and takes a bit of getting used to. There is one or two main formulas that you will use for Thermodynamics that you'll need to get manipulating for each problem (there are a whole heap of other smaller formulas for thermo, but that's the main one. Know how to use the first law and everything goes from there). Heat Transfer is quite different to Thermo, in the sense Thermo had a few main formulas, while Heat Transfer has a whole heap (and I meant a large amount) of formulas. Once you work out which formula to apply though, it's not too bad, it's just a matter of working out what fits the situation. I found Thermo harder than Heat Transfer, but most people were the other way around (could have something to do with being sick and missing a week of unit when we were covering the guts of the Thermo component though).

The labs aren't too bad, in our year we had a Steam Boiler efficiency lab where you look at efficiencies throughout certain stages of the steam boiler, a finned surfaces lab where you look at the heat transfer rate of different types of fins and compare them to a flat plate and finally an IC (Internal Combustion) Engine + Propeller lab where you try to work out a power band for the propeller and explain why it's the shape it is, and why the efficiency is so low or high. They take a bit of outside research to write them up properly, the last lab you write up as a group report and is worth three times as much as the other labs and you get 2 weeks to write it up. You get to choose which lab you want to do as the big write up, as you add yourself to a lab group at the start of semester corresponding to certain lab timetables. But there are only a limited number of slots for each, so I suggest you decide which one you want to do, form a group and get in early.

Now for tutes, they're aren't compulsory (and we're given solutions to them beforehand), and because of that not many people go, unless it is the tute which has the test in the same week (which for us was the 3 hr block before the actual test). Now this means in a tute you can get lots of help if you want to. I got slack a little bit after I got sick, and so wasn't always up to date with tutes. I suggest you go to the tutes and get worth out of them, I know they're not compulsory but don't get slack, don't put them off. The tests jump up on you quickly.

There are three tests, for us the first two were on the thermodynamics component and the last on one part of the Heat Transfer component. Not many people did well on theses tests, with the distribution of test 1 being multi-modal with one group centered at 25% and one group centered at around 75%. That is you either get it or you don't. It improved for the latter tests, but again, you don't want to be learning the content and questions the night before. Thermo and Heat Transfer takes a lot of situation and thinking about properties of the material or substance, rather than just using formuals. You need to be able to plug in the correct values into those formuals, which is the tricky part. It's not always clear cut, be prepared to have every question having something new in it.

The exam itself, I found it quite hard, even if you think that you're prepared, odds are you're not. Do not underestimate this unit. I did at the start of the semester, and then when I missed a week of uni was forever fighting to catch back up. Don't let yourself fall behind. You have a scientific calc, but at some points you will have to do fairly complicated methods with it.

Unit Topics and Breakdown:
Thermodynamics
- Thermodynamic Concepts
- Energy and Enegry Transfer
- First Law and Energy Analysis
- Properties of Pure Substances
- Property Tables and Ideal Gases
- Energy analysis of closed systems
- Internal energy and specific heats
- Energy transport by mass
- Energy analysis of steay flow open systems
- Second law of thermodynamics
- Refrigerators and heat pump
- The Carnot Cycle
Heat Transfer
- Mechanisms of Heat Transfer
- Steady Heat Conduction in Cylinders and Spheres
- Heat Transfer from Finned Surfaces
- Transient Heat Conduction
- Transient heat conduction in multidimensional geometries
- Convection heat transfer
- External forced convection
- Internal forced convection
- Laminar and Turbulent Flow
- Natural convection
- Internal natural convection
- Radiation heat transfer between surfaces

I've also included two sample questions from the Heat Transfer part of the course, with what you'd have to do to approach it and go through it. Just to give you a feel for the unit.
Heat Transfer Sample Question 1
Engine oil at $80^{o}\:C$ flows over a $10$-m-long flat plate whose temperature is $30^{o}\:C$ with a velocity of $2.5\:m/s$. Determine the total drag force and rate of heat transfer over the entire plate per unit width.

Solution:
Firstly we find the film temperature, which is the average of the temperature of the surface and the temperature of the free stream medium.
$T_{f}=\frac{T_{s}+T_{\infty}}{2}=\frac{80+30}{2}=55^{o}\: C$.

The fluid properties of oil are then evaluated at this temperature. For this we turn to our data tables, and since they normally have intervals of $10^{o}\:C$, we would linearly interpolate between the values to get our constants. That is we would use $y=\left(\frac{y_{2}-y_{1}}{x_{2}-x_{1}}\right)\left(x-x_{1})+y_{1}$, which since we're going to need four constants means we have to do this four times (this is the annoying part -.-).
So we're given this for the properties of Engine Oil from the data table.
\begin{alignedat}{1}\text{Temp }^{o}C\quad
\\ 20
\\ 40
\\ 60
\end{alignedat}
\begin{alignedat}{1}\text{Density }\rho,\: kg/m^{3}\quad
\\ 888.1
\\ 876.0
\\ 8.639
\end{alignedat}
\begin{alignedat}{1}\text{Thermal Conductivity }k,\: W/m\cdot K\quad
\\ 0.1450
\\ 0.1444
\\ 0.1404
\end{alignedat}
\begin{alignedat}{1}\text{Kinematic Viscosity }v,\: m^{2}/s\quad
\\ 9.429\times10^{-4}
\\ 2.485\times10^{-4}
\\ 8.565\times10^{-5}
\end{alignedat}
\begin{alignedat}{1}\text{Prandtl Number Pr}
\\ 10,863
\\ 2,962
\\ 1,080
\end{alignedat}

Interpolating gives
\begin{alignedat}{1}\rho & =\frac{863.9-876}{60-40}\left(55-40\right)+876.0
\\ & =867\: kg/m^{3}
\\ k & =\frac{0.1404-0.1444}{60-40}\left(55-40\right)+0.1444
\\ & =0.1414\: W/m^{\circ}C
\\ v & =\frac{\left(8.565\times10^{-5}\right)-\left(2.485\times10^{-4}\right)}{60-40}\left(55-40\right)+\left(2.485\times10^{-4}\right)
\\ & =1.264\times10^{-4}\: m^{2}/s
\\ Pr & =\frac{1080-2962}{60-40}\left(55-40\right)+2962
\\ & =1551
\end{alignedat}

Now to find out the behavior of the flow (that is whether it is Laminar, Transitional or Turbulent), we need to find the Reynolds number, which is a dimensionless constant given by $\text{Re}_{L}=\frac{VL_{c}}{v}}=\frac{(2.5\:m/s)(10\:m)}{1.2664\times10^{-4}\:m^{2}/s}=1.978\times10^{5}$.
We are told that the critical Reynolds number is $5\times10^{5}$, since this is less than that we have a Laminar Flow.

Now to find the rate of heat transfer, we need the heat transfer coefficient, $h$, but to find this we need to find another dimensionless constant, the Nusselt Number, Nu. The relationship between Nu and Re, Pr will change depending on the flow. We look at the formula sheet which has three relationships for Laminar, Transitional and Turbulent flows, which as we know the flow is turbulent comes out to be $\text{Nu}=0.664\text{Re}_{L}^{\frac{1}{2}}\text{Pr}^{\frac{1}{3}}=\frac{hL_{c}}{k}$ given that $\text{Pr}\geq0.6$, which is true.
\begin{alignedat}{1}\text{Nu} & =0.664\left(1.978\times10^{5}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}\left(1551\right)^{\frac{1}{3}}
\\ & =3418
\\ \text{Nu} & =\frac{hL_{c}}{k}
\\ h & =\frac{\text{Nu}k}{L_{c}}
\\ & =\frac{1551\times0.1414\: W/m^{\circ}C}{10\: m}
\\ & =48.33\: W/m^{2\circ}C
\end{alignedat}

Now we can find the rate of heat transfer, using $\dot{Q}=hA_{s}\left(T_{\infty}-T_{s}\right)$.
\begin{alignedat}{1}\dot{Q} & =48.33\: W/m^{2\circ}C\times10\: m^{2}\left(80-30\right)^{\circ}C
\\ & =24.2\: kW
\end{alignedat}

Heat Transfer Sample Question 2
A long $8$-cm-diamter steam pipe whose external temperature is $90^{\circ}C$ oasses through some open area that is not protected against the winds. Determine the rate of heat loss from the pipe per unit of its length when the air is at $1$ atm pressure and $7^{\circ}C$ and the wind is blowing across the pipe at a velocity of $50\:km/h$.

Solution:
We'll use the same method as above, except that our relationship for flow around a sphere will be different, and the characteristic length, $L_{c}$ is the diameter of the cylinder, rather than the length of the plate. Since we have a sphere we will assume the flow is turbulent around the back end of the sphere, and so turbulent throughout.

Properties of air at $1$ atm.
\begin{alignedat}{1}k & =0.02724\; W/m^{\circ}C
\\ v & =1.784\times10^{-5}\: m^{2}/s
\\ \text{Pr} & =0.7232
\end{alignedat}

Finding the Reynolds number.
\begin{alignedat}{1}\text{Re} & =\frac{VD}{v}
\\ & =\frac{\left(50\div3.6\: m/s\right)\left(0.08\: m\right)}{1.784\times10^{-5}\: m^{2}/s}
\\ & =6.2287\times10^{4}
\end{alignedat}

Finding the Nu number. We have a correlation for flow around a cylinder.
\begin{alignedat}{1}\text{Nu} & =0.3+\frac{0.62\text{Re}^{\frac{1}{2}}\text{Pr}^{\frac{1}{3}}}{\left[1+\left(\frac{0.4}{\text{Pr}}\right)^{\frac{2}{3}}\right]^{\frac{1}{4}}}\left[1+\left(\frac{\text{Re}}{282,000}\right)^{\frac{5}{8}}\right]^{\frac{4}{5}}
\\ & =0.3+\frac{0.62\left(6.228\times10^{4}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}\left(0.7232\right)^{\frac{1}{3}}}{\left[1+\left(\frac{0.4}{0.7232}\right)^{\frac{2}{3}}\right]^{\frac{1}{4}}}\left[1+\left(\frac{6.228\times10^{4}}{282,000}\right)^{\frac{5}{8}}\right]^{\frac{4}{5}}
\\ & =159.1
\\ \text{Nu} & =\frac{hD}{k}
\\ h & =\frac{\text{Nu}k}{D}
\\ & =\frac{159.1\times0.02724\: W/m^{\circ}C}{0.08\: m}
\\ & =54.17\: W/m^{2\circ}C
\end{alignedat}

The heat transfer rate then becomes
\begin{alignedat}{1}\dot{Q} & =hA_{S}\left(T_{s}-T_{\infty}\right)
\\ & =54.17\: W/m^{2\circ}C\times\pi\left(0.08\: m\right)\left(1\: m\right)\left(90-7\right)^{\circ}C
\\ & =1130\; W\:\left(\text{per unit length}\right)
\end{alignedat}

« Last Edit: January 28, 2014, 12:19:38 pm by b^3 »
2012-2016: Aerospace Engineering/Science (Double Major in Applied Mathematics - Monash Uni)
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#### TommyLie

• Victorian
• Trendsetter
• Posts: 118
• Respect: +11
• School: Warrnambool College
##### Re: Monash University - Subject reviews & ratings
« Reply #132 on: November 06, 2013, 08:22:56 pm »
+6
Subject Code/Name: MTH2010 - Multivariable Calculus

Workload:  Three 1-hour lectures and one (non compulsory) 2-hour tutorial per week

Assessment:  Starting from week 3 I believe, we had an assignment every second week, and a 25 minute test every other second week, which were done in tutorial classes.

Recorded Lectures:  Yes. Steve uploaded everything he wrote down in lectures.

Past exams available:  1 with solutions, 1 without

Textbook Recommendation:  Stewart Calculus: Early transcendentals - basically a must in my opinion. Although Steve's lecture slides were excellent and he also uploaded a hand written summary of every topic in the unit on Moodle at the beginning of sem, the textbook is extremely well written and the unit follows it word for word basically. Another reason the textbook is a must is that your weekly problem set is a list of questions which are in the textbook, however I believe they photocopied these questions from the textbook and put them on Moodle anyway. Also, Steve pu up handwritten solutions on Moodle to all the selected textbook questions.

Lecturer(s): Steven Siems

Year & Semester of completion: 2013, semester 2

Rating:  4.9 Out of 5

Comments: I really enjoyed this unit. The content I found to be thoroughly interesting, it began with extending derivatives and integrals from single variable calculus into xyz space - partial derivatives and multiple integrals - then we moved onto Vector Calculus which is essentially a generalization of all calculus. Steve is a brilliant lecturer, he kept everyone interested with his enthusiasm and self proclaimed loud American voice, and is never afraid to crack a joke or to rip on engineers just for being engineers (For some reason he likes 'swearing at engineers' lol ).

The tutes are not compulsory but are well worth it, basically my tutor would go over all the content that Steve did in lectures but in a fair bit more detail and depth. I would highly recommend always showing up to tutes for this unit. Every second week there was a test which ran for 25 mins in tutes. They had generally 3 or 4 questions on them and were worth 5% each. They were always very doable, and if you had done all the problem sets before hand then there is no reason you couldn't get close to 100% on them every time - the questions were never anymore difficult than what was in the problem sets (sometimes it was even the same question). The assignments were every other second week and also worth 5% each.

If you enjoy Calculus - particularly if you enjoyed specialist maths - then you I think you will really enjoy this unit, as it basically completes elementary calculus and generalizes it quite nicely - although you will only do it for xyz space. If you want to do it for n space you will have to take real analysis and do some pure maths.

Also, I highly recommend anyone studying calculus use Pauls Online Maths Notes, its a fantastic resource and helped me a huge amount in this unit. I wish I had discovered it earlier. http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/
« Last Edit: January 28, 2014, 12:41:43 am by alondouek »
2011:|Further Math (34)|
2012:|Methods CAS (35)|Physics (38)|Specialist Math (35)|English (33)|
2012 ATAR: |91.45|

2013 - 2017: |Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering & Science @ Monash, Clayton|

#### ShortBlackChick

• Victorian
• Part of the furniture
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##### Re: Monash University - Subject reviews & ratings
« Reply #133 on: November 06, 2013, 09:37:06 pm »
+5
Subject Code/Name: ATS2626 - Global Disasters: Impact, Inquiry and Change (Recoded in 2014 as ATS3626 - Global Disasters: Catastrophe and Social Change)

Workload: 1x 90 min Lecture, 1x 1 hour tutorial

Assessment: 1000 word Disaster report, (20%) 2500 word Research Essay, (50%) In-class test, (20%) Tutorial Attendance and Participation. (10%)

Recorded Lectures:  Yes, with screen capture etc.

Past exams available:  No, the In-class test doesnt really count as an exam.

Textbook Recommendation:  Unit reader, available from bookshop for ~\$26

Lecturer(s): Dr Susie Protschky

Year & Semester of completion: 2013, Semester 2

Rating:  3.5 of 5

tl;dr This unit is awesome, do it peeps.
« Last Edit: January 28, 2014, 12:44:21 am by alondouek »
2010: History Revolutions 35
2011: English 3/4, Accounting 3/4, Economics 3/4, Mathematical Methods 3/4, International Studies 3/4.

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#### TommyLie

• Victorian
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• Posts: 118
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##### Re: Monash University - Subject reviews & ratings
« Reply #134 on: November 07, 2013, 01:05:48 am »
+5
Subject Code/Name: MAE1042 - Introduction to Aircraft Structures and Dynamics

Workload:  3 hours of lectures per week and one 2 hour tutorial. We had a one hour lecture on Monday and a two hour lecture on Tuesday. Personally I the workload in this unit very manageable, there was nothing revolutionary in the content that required hours of study to understand so it was just a matter of doing the tutes Q's and attending lectures and a bit of study to write up some notes. Quite a reasonable workload in my opinion.

Assessment:  We had a field trip that was worth 10% (It was easy to get 100% on this, all you had to do was walk around a museum and answer a multiple choice question sheet. All the answers were in the museum). The then tutorials were worth 10% in total as well - each being worth 0.5%. Further, all you had to do in order to get 100% in the tutes was ATTEMPT 70% or more of the questions. The exam was worth 80%.

Recorded Lectures:  Yes. But I never used them.

Past exams available:  There were none because at the time I took this unit, it had just been completely restructured in terms of content. So old MAE1042 exams were not relevant. However, Wenyi provided many worked examples in lectures, and there was the tutorial Q's. Also, much of the content was the same as Engineering Dynamics and Engineering Structures, so you could use these exams as practice.

Textbook Recommendation:  To be honest, most people probably won't need the textbook. Wenyi had all relevant theory on the lecture slides. This unit was much more about being able to solve the problems - there really wasn't that much theory to go with it. However, if you want to learn things in as much depth as possible (As I did), then I would recommend any Engineering Dynamics and statics textbooks (I used the ones by Meriam and Kraige, but Wenyi recommended the ones by Hibbler. It doesn't really matter though, as these these subjects are very traditional and wont really change from textbook to textbook). For the small airframe analysis component, a recommended reading is Understanding Aircraft Structures by Jeremy Liber.

Lecturer(s): Wenyi Yan

Year & Semester of completion: 2013, sem 2

Rating:  4.9 out of 5

Comments: Personally, I was very impressed with the way this unit was executed. This was the first time Wenyi had taught it, and he had changed the content quite drastically. But his lecturing was of a high caliber and he presented everything concisely and clearly. He did many examples in each lecture, which for the topics being taught is a must.

The tutes were always pretty straight forward and always drawn from the textbook. Although spending 2 hours of your life each week obtaining 0.5% may not sound fun, you will likely learn a lot from going. The tutors are also very helpful and Wenyi was at every one of them.

The content taught in this unit was, as the title suggests, introductory Engineering Statics and Dynamics with a small component of aircraft structure nomenclature and history. Its nothing all that exciting, but its is necessary to have a good foundation in these topics as an Aerospace & Mechanical Engineer.

For the aircraft structure and history part, we basically were taught about the famous pioneers of aerospace engineering and their contributions (About 1 - 2 lectures in total), then we spent 1 lecture on the anatomy of aircraft airframes - basically just nomenclature and nothing more.

For the statics component, we studied:
• Vector Algebra review.
• Two & three dimensional force systems.
• Couple and moments.
• Static Equilibrium.
• Distributed forces & centroids.
• Structural Analysis: Plane & space trusses, method of sections & method of joints, and beams.

For the dynamics component, we studied:
• Kinematics of Particles: Rectangular, Polar, and Normal & Tangential coordinate system representations, and relative motion.
• Kinetics of Particles: Rectangular, Polar, and Normal & Tangential coordinate system representations. Work & energy, potential energy.
• Space Mechanics: Linear & angular impulse & momentum, central force motion, Newton's Law of Gravitation, trajectory of space vehicle (Uses differential equation analysis).
• Systems of Particles: Impact analysis (Oblique and central impacts), mass transfer analysis in rocket propulsion systems.
« Last Edit: January 28, 2014, 12:44:50 am by alondouek »
2011:|Further Math (34)|
2012:|Methods CAS (35)|Physics (38)|Specialist Math (35)|English (33)|
2012 ATAR: |91.45|

2013 - 2017: |Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering & Science @ Monash, Clayton|