CE 4610/5610 Civil & Environmental Engineering Systems Analysis

           

Meets: MWF 2:05 – 2:55 PM in Dillman 214

 

Instructor:                  David W. Watkins, Ph.D.

                                    Associate Professor

                                    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

 

                                    Office Hours:  T 3-4 pm, F 10-11:30 am.  Also by appointment

                        Location:  Dow 806

Telephone: 487-1640 

                                    E-mail: dwatkins_AT_mtu.edu

 

Teaching Asst.:          Erin Satchell

                                    Graduate Student

                                    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

 

                                    Office Hours:  W 12-2 pm

                        Location:  Dow 847

Telephone: 370-5891 

                                    E-mail: emsatche_AT_mtu.edu

 

 

Resources

Syllabus                                              

Web Resources                                  

 

Course Objectives & Means

This course introduces students to the "science of design" (Simon 1969), also known as the "theory of problem solving" (Liebman 1989).  Upon completion, students should be able to do the following:

 

·         Describe a civil/environmental engineering design problem in terms of decisions, objectives, and constraints.

·         Simplify the problem, if necessary, and formulate the decisions, objectives, and constraints in mathematical terms.

·         Select an appropriate mathematical programming tool to solve the problem (most likely using a computer).

·         Understand the solution procedure.

·         Interpret the solution and perform sensitivity analysis.

·         Explain the solution, solution sensitivity, and limitations of the approach to someone unfamiliar with math programming.

 

Students will become familiar with optimization techniques such as

·         Linear programming

·         Dynamic programming

·         Non-linear programming

·         Integer programming

·         Genetic algorithms

 

with applications in a broad range of civil/environmental engineering disciplines, including

·         Water resources planning

·         Water/wastewater treatment design

·         Solid/hazardous waste management

·         Transportation planning

·         Structural design

·         Geotechnical design

·         Construction management

 

Computer-based case studies will require the use of spreadsheets and math programming software.   Students may also use a programming language of their choice (MATLAB, Visual Basic, etc.) for one or more of the assignments.

 

Prerequisites:

            Calculus III

            Linear Algebra recommended

            Applications of Computers or the equivalent recommended

            Intro. to Numerical Methods recommended

Probability & Statistics recommended

 

 

 

Last modified: September 2, 2008