ME311
Mechanical Measurements

General Information

Wheeler, A. J. and Ganji, A. R., Introduciton to Engineering Experimentation, 2nd Ed., Prentice Hall, 2003. (If you have the first edition of this text, don't worry about it.)

• Emphasis of the course will be on practical measurement techniques and familiarization with a variety of measuring devices and instruments by actual usage.
• The technique, design, and purpose of measurements will be revealed through the lab and lecture sessions.
• The lab sessions will consist of simple and often familiar measurement experiments. In addition to the lab experiments, students will be responsible for the design and execution of a measurement experiment of their own choosing, the analysis of the output of that experiment, and oral and written communications of the results.

• To achieve familiarity with and experience in the use of commonly available measuring devices and instruments in a variety of applications
• To develop an awareness and understanding of more extensive and elaborate measuring systems
• To acquire a reasonable level of competence in the design, construction, and execution of a mechanical measurements project

• A knowledge of how to take data and competence in plotting graphs
• Familiarity with the elements of statistics and probability
• A basic understanding of the principles and applications of physics, chemistry, statics, dynamics, mechanics of materials, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, materials science, and electrical science
• A command of the English language as a vehicle for communicating experimental results

• Each week there will be a common lecture and one three-hour lab session. The lectures will be devoted to various mechanical measurement topics as listed on the section entitled LECTURES. Each lab session will be preceded by a brief explanation of what is to be done. Students in each lab session will be organized into groups of three or four. The same groups will be retained throughout the entire quarter.
• During six weeks of the quarter each group will perform practical measurements with various devices and equipment. Each member of a group is to acquire "hands on" experience in all aspects of the experiment, including the taking of data.
• During four weeks of the quarter each group will work on a reasonably challenging project of their choosing. They will be responsible for designing and executing the experiment, and analyzing and reporting upon it in written and oral form.
• Each group is to submit at the 3rd week lab session a brief written description of their measurements project and give an informal oral presentation of their proposal to the instructors in the course.
• At the 4th week lecture meeting each group will submit a formal project proposal. During the 4th week lab session each group will check-out their measuring system and perform a test run.
• Peer evaluation will be used to adjust the grades on the final project.

The final grade¹ will be based on the following:

Notes:

1. Completion of all six experiments, the written project proposal and final report, and participation in the group oral presentation is required to receive credit for this course.
2. Your interactions with your classmates, your instructors and Rose-Hulman's technical staff, as well as your conduct in general should reflect that of an engineering professional at all times.

Any act of academic misconduct is grounds for discipline in accordance with the most recent edition of the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Academic Rules and Procedures.