E7: INTRODUCTION TO

COMPUTER PROGRAMMING FOR

SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS
Instructor:
Professor Mohammad-Reza Alam

Department of Mechanical Engineering

University of California at Berkeley
Copyright 2016, Horowitz, Packard, Alam. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons AttributionShare Alike License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ or
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send a letter to Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA.

E7: INTRODUCTION TO
COMPUTER PROGRAMMING FOR
SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS
Instructor:
Reza Alam

Office Hours:
M 10:0011:00,
W 12:0013:00
6111 Etcheverry Hall

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E7: INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER

PROGRAMMING FOR SCIENTISTS AND
ENGINEERS
Lecture Outline
1. Course organization
2. Textbook, grading and software
3. About Matlab and course instructors

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Course organization

Two 50-minute lectures per week

Two 2-hour laboratory sessions per week
Labs begin Monday 8/29 next week
One 50-minute discussion session per week
Discussions begin Friday 8/26 this week

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Course organization

Lectures:
Monday and Wednesday, 9:00-10:00 AM in 105
Stanley Hall
MANDATORY Discussion
Fridays, 9:00-10:00 AM 105 Stanley Hall
Laboratory assignments are introduced and
discussed
IMPORTANT: Midterms (2) will take place during
the discussion section times.
Tentative midterm dates: 10/07 and 11/11
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Course organization

Two 2-hour laboratory sessions per week

1109 Etcheverry Hall (34 computers in the room)
Open lab times: M-Th 6-8pm; F 8am-5pm

Labs start next week on Monday 8/29 (HW 1)

First assignment will be due on Friday 9/2.

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Instructors and head GSIs Office Hours

Professor Reza Alam (6111 Etcheverry Hall)

M: 10:00-11:00am
W: 12:00-13:00pm
Bo Yang (136 Hesse Hall)
M : 2:00 - 3:00 pm
Tu: 2:00 - 3:00 pm

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Directions to Professors office

* = building entrance

*
*
*

*
*

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E7 recommended textbook

Applied Numerical Methods with Matlab (Custom) by

Steven C. Chapra, 3rd edition McGraw-Hill
Derivation and
description of the
numerical methods
covered in E7
Sample of matlab
codes, functions,
semantics, etc.
Problems

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Introduction to MATLAB for Engineers (3rd

edition)

Book Store

$35 (national pricing $99)

Amazon Price (before tax)

Paper back : $114.12

e Textbook: $94.38

Numerical Methods for Engineers (7th edition)

Book Store $75

(national pricing $147)
Amazon Price (before tax)

Hard copy: $222.84

e Textbook: $187.57

by Steven C. Chapra

MATLAB Help

12

Extensive help on all matlab commands

Many demos and examples
Help also available at

http://www.mathworks.com

Click here

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Piazza

13

Help from your peers

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Other help

14

Engineering Student Services

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15

Matlab Software
Download and Install
Free Student Version
from Berkeley Software
Central

MATLAB & Simulink

Student Version
Version R2016a
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E7 Course website is at bCourses

16

bCourses (CalCentral.berkeley.edu)

Course handouts
Course reader
Lecture material
Announcements about the course
Laboratory assignments
Laboratory assignment drop box (due Fridays noon)
Exam information
Grades

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iClicker

17

Used during lectures and discussion for feedback

Register your iClicker on bCourses

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Grading

18

Grade computation is based on:

40% Laboratory assignments (~ 12) + Quizzes
15% Midterm examination 1
15% Midterm examination 2
30% Final examination
Straight or curved grading scale?
Probably curved
Typical class GPA is around BE7 L1

Weekly Laboratory Assignments

19

Posted Friday Morning

Due the following Friday at Noon (12 PM).
UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, YOU MUST
1. Download auto-grader (matlab p file) from bCourse.
2. Run the auto-grader on your current assignment directory
3. Upload file generated by auto-grader to the bCourses E7
drop box BEFORE Friday NOON
Labs begin Monday 8/29

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Weekly Laboratory Assignments

20

Posted Friday Morning

Due the following Friday at Noon (12 PM).
Nothing is accepted after 2pm.
FRIDAY, DURING DISCUSSION :
Explain how laboratory assignments must be
prepared, auto-graded and turned in.

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Weekly Laboratory Assignments

Posted Thursdays afternoons
Due the following Friday at Noon (12 PM).
Work individually and with the GSI during the lab
sections to complete lab.
DO NOT COPY CODE (we will probably catch you)
It is OK to discuss with fellow students, but not to

copy code or allow your code to be copied.

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E7 Honor Code
The student community at UC Berkeley has adopted
the following Honor Code:
"As a member of the UC Berkeley community, I act
with honesty, integrity, and respect for others."
Your E7 instructors join you in pledging to adhere to
this code.

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E7 Final Exam
Exam group for both E7 lecture sections is:
Exam group 16
Thursday, DECEMBER 15, 7-10 pm.
This group includes all courses that are taught
MWF at 9:00 and MTWTF 9:00.
always independently check all dates, and keep an
eye on announcements and emails you get

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About Reza Alam

Email:

reza.alam@berkeley.edu
(include E7 in your header)

From Yazd- Iran

BSc, MSc, Applied Mechanics, Sharif University, Tehran, Iran.
MSc, PhD, Mechanical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA.
At Cal since July 2011
I am in love with waves, particularly ocean waves. I work on
Ocean Renewable Energy, Mitigating Tsunamis, and Viscous
Flow Swimmers.
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GSI Teaching Team

Bo Yang,
Head GSI & Autograder

GSI Team

Yong Liang

Ninh Hai Do

Bradley Harken

Mysterious
Invisible GSI

Course Objectives

26

1. Write, read and execute Matlab code

2. Understand basic fundamentals of computer
programming
If/else, loops, user input etc. (see syllabus for
topics)
3. Solve simple and complex engineering problems
using Matlab

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About Matlab

27

A 30 year old language that has evolved into a programming

environment for scientific software development.
Its a user-friendly but powerful integrated environment, that
includes:

programming language
programming tools (profiler, debugger, editor, publisher)
graphics
high-performance numerical computations
symbolic computations
interfaces to Java, C and Fortran
real-time interfacing
more
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Lets start!

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