MEAM 502
Energy Engineering
Fall 2012

Syllabus     Homework     Slides     EES     Project     Reference Materials and Links    Typos   

Instructor
Dr. Jennifer Lukes
jrlukes@seas.upenn.edu
247 Towne
Office hours: After class or by appointment

Teaching Assistant
Mr. David Gagnon
dgagnon@seas.upenn.edu
Office hours: Wednesday and Thursday 4:30-5:30 p.m.
B12 Towne (basement of Towne)

Location and Time
Tuesday and Thursday, 3:00-4:30 p.m., Moore 216

Course Description
This course provides a quantitative introduction to the broad area of energy engineering, from basic principles to applications. The focus is on the science and engineering, and includes a review of energy consumption, use, and resources, power cycles, nuclear energy, solar energy, wind energy, and other energy technologies.

Prerequisites
Thermodynamics (MEAM 203 or equivalent) and Heat Transfer (MEAM 333 or equivalent).

Required Textbook
MEAM 502 Coursepack. The coursepack costs $65 and is available at Campus Copy Center, 3907 Walnut Street.

Project
There will be a final project for this class. Students can choose either a research based or modeling based project.

  • Research project: The research project will involve surveying the state of the art in a particular energy area and identifying a well-defined problem that needs to be solved in that area.

  • Modeling project: The modeling project will involve performing an in-depth computer simulation of the performance of a realistic energy system in an area of the student's choice.

    For both types of project, review of a journal article or published technical report, a final written project report, and a final project presentation are required of each student. Student presentations will be held during the last class period and during the scheduled finals period, Wednesday December 12, 12-2pm, in Skirkanich Auditorium.
    All students are expected to attend both student presentation sessions. Absences will result in point deductions from your project grade.

    Homework
    Assignments will be due approximately every 1-2 weeks. These assignments include homeworks based on the coursepack readings (due Fridays at 10:00 a.m.) and also work related to the project (due at various times). Due dates for the various assignments will be posted on the class web page under "Homework". Homework will be deducted 25% for each business day late. All equations used for the homework calculations must be clearly written on the homework assignment. Printouts of any programs that you may have used for the calculations must also be included (e.g. printouts of Excel spreadsheets, copies of Matlab or EES code, etc). Points will be heavily deducted if answers are given with no supporting calculations/data.

    Quizzes
    Quizzes on selected reading assignments will be given in class. About 5 quizzes will be given.

    Grading
    The grading breakdown will be: Cheating
    Students are expected to abide by Penn's Code of Academic Integrity. Working together on homework or in performing research for projects is allowed (and encouraged!), and students may use any resources at their disposal to help understand the material and complete the work. However, all work turned in must be the student's own. Each student must understand the work being turned in and must acknowledge any other students worked with and any sources (beyond the lecture notes and coursepack) used in completing the work. Direct copying from another source is considered cheating. In instances of cheating, students will be given a zero and referred to the Office of Student Conduct.


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