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Faculty Spotlight

Dr. A.J. Baker Professor and Director UT Engineering Science Engineering Graduate Course Goes Online

A.J. Baker, Professor, Engineering Science, and Director, UT Computational Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, is a pioneer on campus as he launched the course "Finite Elements for the Engineering Sciences" (MAES 551w) into cyberspace this fall. This first-level graduate course is the backbone introduction to finite element theory for scientific computing simulation. MAES 551w is delivered totally online with lectures presented in real time via streaming video to the remote students' desktop computer.

Two-way real-time communication is enabled via a chat room and interactive email. The course lectures are digitally archived, hence those missed may be reviewed at any time! And, this course is reaching beyond the physical boundaries of the UTK campus and East Tennessee to students in other geographic locations.

Some of the other online components of this course includes problem solving environments which utilize component-based software systems to convert theory to practice, e.g., MatLab. The specifically written "FEm.PSE Tutorial" is delivered to students via PDF (Portable Document Format) files that are downloaded to their computers prior to the lecture. Students report computational experiment results by posting them on the course web site, allowing full archiving of data in color.

Hands-on practical computing experience is a focus of the course, which makes it a natural candidate for online delivery. The recent advances in high performance communications, in combination with specifically developed courseware and softwares, enables Baker to reach a larger audience with diverse interests in engineering and the sciences by going online with this thoroughly practical course.

The MAES department has a few more courses slated for web delivery in 1999. Check out the web site for MAES 551w at http://cfdlab.engr.utk.edu/551w.

For more information about this course, contact Baker via email at ajbaker@cfdlab.engr.utk.edu.