CE 101 Computer Applications in Civil
Engineering
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE
SPRING 2003
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Catalog Description:
Develops a
computer-based concept for problem solving and graphical presentation
of results with applications in five areas of civil engineering: environmental,
geotechnical, structural, transportation and water resources. Uses word
processing, spreadsheets, structured programming (Visual BASIC with spreadsheets),
and special purpose software packages. Lecture two hours; laboratory three
hours.
Prerequisite: ENGR 004, ENGR 030.
Number of Units: 3 units.
Course
Objetives
Students who complete this course successfully will be able to:
- Use Excel spreadsheets effectively and efficiently as a computation tool for problem solving in Civil Engineering. The students should be able to:
- Define and organize a template with input, algorithm, and output areas.
- Recognize the need to design a template based on usage.
- Incorporate Excel's computation and graphical power in solving problems.
- Import and export data from other sources and/or to Excel.
- Adopt algorithms used for solving engineering problems into Excel. The student should be able to:
- Recognize input , process, and output parts of algorithms.
- Select the most appropriate implementation of the algorithm (Excel versus Visual Basic).
- Translate the algorithm into an Excel template or Visual Basic.
- Divide the algorithm into smaller parts for implementation.
- Write simple programs in Visual Basic in Excel. Specifically, students should be able to:
- Identify type of variables (Single, Double, Integer, etc.)
- Apply conditional statement (IF statement)
- Apply repetition statements (For loops, Do While, and Loop Until)
- Develop and implement a user-defined function
Students will need an electronic mail account and computer access to the Web. All CSUS students enrolled in one or more units can create a SacLink account for electronic mail and Internet services. Although a home computer with a high speed modem running Netscape or Internet Explorer would be beneficial, students can use the Web from one of the campus student labs. Check out Computer Hardware Recommendations for CSU, Sacramento Students for more information about equipment.
Computing Recommendations
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Comfortable using the computer and browsing the Web |
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Windows compatible Pentium running Windows NT,or Windows 95/98 or Macintosh compatible with System 8 |
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32M RAM (preferably 64M) |
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28.8K or faster modem - preferably 56K |
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Microsoft Internet Explorer or NetScape 4.0 (or higher) |
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SacLink or other Internet Account |
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Word processing skills |
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Online class participation on the Web assignments and electronic discussions. |
Successful Student Characteristics
- Completes labs on time.
- Prepares for the labs by finshing reading and homework assignments.
- Devotes approximately 9 hours a week to a 3-credit course.
- Is patient and shows willingness to learn. Patience is an important trait for engineers. I am assuming that you are in engineering because you are patient and persistent.
- Flexible in dealing with technology problems.
- Please make sure to read course Overview (this page), Syllabus, and Resources very carefully. This is very important for you successfully complete the course.
- Attendance in lab sessions is mandatory. The lab exercises are designed to be completed by the end of the lab period. You are responsible to turn the completed lab by no later than 12:00 p.m. the following day. This year you will be asked to submit your lab assignment through WebCT. See item 5 in this list for more information about assignments deadlines.
- Your submittal (for each lab) include your saved files on floppy diskettes (or WebCT, if applicable). In SOME instances, you will also be required to PRINT the results on the lab printers and hand them in. This will be clearly stated in the Lab assignments. PLEASE PAY CAREFUL ATTENTION TO THE LAB PROBLEM STATEMENTS IN THIS REGARD.
- EACH OF YOU MUST purchase a 3.5-inch diskettes (double
sided high density; try to get pre-formatted ones). The diskettes must
be labeled with your name, lab section, and course number (CE 101).
I recommend that you get a back disk. That is, try to save your files
in a different place (another disk or on a hard disk if you have your
own PC). In previous semesters some students have lost files with no
backup copies.
- As mentioned above, lab assignments are due by the
end of the lab session. For each day delay, 10% will be deducted from
the lab assignment grade. After one week, minimum credit (50%) MAY be
given to a missed assignment ONLY IF YOU CAN SHOW EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES
BEYOND YOUR CONTROL.
- In Lab #1, you need to get your double-sided, high-density
3.5" disks. You need to label the disk with your name and Lab section
(W = Section 2, Th = Section 3). There will not be any disks available
in the lab.
More information is available on Dr. Ramzi J. Mahmood's homepage. You may contact the instructor via e-mail at mahmoodr@ecs.csus.edu.