The development and verification of three Matlab analysis applications programmed specifically for Engage team projects

by Huber, Jonathan W.

This thesis outlines the development of three analysis applications for use in the freshmen Engineering Fundamentals Program (engage) at the University of Tennessee. Engage teaches freshmen engineering mechanics concepts through a set of integrated components including Lecture, Analysis and Skills, Problem Session, Physical Homework, and Team Projects. Presently, the students have limited access to any software analysis tools to aid the design process. The students have little experience writing the types of complex programs needed to analyze a particular project. Even more, they do not have the time. The applications provide a means for the students to perform an accurate analysis on their designs within the timeframe of the project deadlines. The contents of this thesis outline the statics and dynamics team projects, a comparison of existing applications that model similar problems, an explanation of why Matlab was chosen as the programming language, a description of each application’s features, verification problems, and application walkthrough tutorials. 316 ii