An introduction to probability and statistics, with applications to science, engineering, and social science. Topics include discrete and continuous probability distributions; moments; conditional probability; Bayes' Rule; point and interval estimation; hypothesis testing.

Data Science is a powerful toolkit for using data to answer questions and guide decision making. It involves skills and knowledge from statistics, software engineering, machine learning, and data engineering. In this class, students work on data science projects that involve collecting data or finding data sources, exploratory data analysis and interactive visualization, statistical analysis, predictive analytics, model selection and validation. Course work involves readings and case studies on ethical practice in data science. This course may be used to satisfy the Probability and Statistics requirement.

Bayesian statistics provide a powerful toolkit for modeling random processes and making predictions. The ideas behind these tools are simple, but expressing them mathematically can make them hard to learn and apply. This class takes a computational approach, which allows students with programming experience to use that knowledge as leverage. Students will work through a series of exercises in the book, Think Bayes, and help develop new material.

Neurotechnology falls in the intersection of engineering, data science, and neuroscience. This area involves work in how humans can use machines to understand how we think and how to make machines that can think. Advances in neurotechnology will likely lead to new treatments for brain disorders, repair and augmentation of our sensory and motor systems, and shifts in computation strategies. In this course, students will learn about cutting-edge technologies used to understand and emulate the brain, develop statistical data analysis skills to conduct and understand neurotechnology research, and discuss the cultural and ethical implications of these advances. Course work will involve analysis of data from neuroscience, reading and synthesizing articles from research journals, and project work.

It's not science unless you quantify your errors. Learn statistics and error analysis by studying our dynamic solar system. The first half of the class will provide you with a toolbox of standard statistical methods. You will learn these methods by studying data from planets, moons, and asteroids. The second half consists of student-designed projects. Your project will investigate an element of our solar system, and will include rigorous error analysis. This course will use data from NASA and ESA missions.

Mechatronics involves the synergistic integration of mechanical engineering with electronics and intelligent computer control in the design of products. In this course, we will develop topics critical to the engineering of modern mechatronic systems including electromechanical actuators (e.g., DC motors, stepper motors, and solenoids), practical electronics design including interfacing sensors and actuators to embedded processors, and embedded software design in the C programming language. During the first part of the course, students will work in small groups on a series of miniprojects to gain experience with course concepts and develop core engineering competencies. During the second part of the course, students will work in teams to engineer a mechatronic system of their choosing subject to realistic constraints. Note: This course can be used to satisfy either the ME and ECE advanced elective requirements.

This course explores the techniques for changing the dynamics of a system using feedback control. The first portion of the course covers methods for analyzing the open-loop dynamics of generic systems in the frequency-domain (transfer functions) and time-domain (state-space equations). Then we will develop feedback techniques for shaping the system response. Students completing this course will have the analytical tools for controller design (both classical and modern) as well as a fundamental understanding of the concepts behind feedback control (stability, performance, controllability, observability, etc.). Students will have ample opportunity to experiment with control design by implementing their own designs in analog and digital hardware. Examples from field robotics, aircraft, and intelligent-structures will be used for both in-class and hands-on demonstrations.

This course encompasses the fundamentals of perception, sensors, computer vision, navigation, localization, actuation, manipulation, mobility (e.g., walk, swim, roll, crawl, fly), and intelligence (e.g., control, planning, and mission execution). The course is built around the review and discussion of seminal technical papers in the robotics field with guest lecturers both from various Olin faculty and from external leaders in the robotics community. There is a significant project component to help solidify key concepts.

This course combines the components of Fundamentals of Robotics (sensing, cognition and actuation) into the testing and deployment of fully-working interdisciplinary robotic systems. There is a significant lab-based component in which teams of students compete in several main industrial robotics areas to optimize mission performance under real world time constraints. Previous projects include: the design of a robot arm and vision system that plays checkers against human opponents; the design of closed-loop-controlled unmanned ground vehicles to autonomously circumnavigate the Olin Oval, and the design of an intelligent assembly system for autonomous processing of multi-well bio-assay trays.

Signal processing - the modeling, transformation, and manipulation of signals and their content - underpins virtually all facets of our daily lives due to the coupling of computing and communications in consumer, industrial, and public sector applications. Discrete-time signals, obtained through the sampling of continuous-time signals, and their frequency domain equivalents, can undergo transformation via systems, e.g., finite-duration impulse response (FIR) and infinite-impulse response (IIR) filters. Digital filter design and analysis conjoins such topics as difference equations, the z-transform, stability, frequency response, the discrete Fourier transform, FFT algorithms, windowing, practical implementation structures, A/D and D/A conversion techniques. After researching signal processing applications during the first part of the course, students initiate and realize individual DSP projects by end-of-term.

This course teaches students design techniques for analog and digital communications, including elementary coding and information theory. Topics also include modulation schemes, data compression, error detection and correction, encryption, transmitter and receiver design, and routing protocols. Students build an operative communications link over an unreliable channel.

This course will provide an overview of mixed-signal (analog and digital) integrated circuit design in modern complementary metal-oxide (CMOS) technologies. Students will learn transistor-level design of digital and analog circuits, layout techniques for digital and analog circuit modules, and special physical considerations that arise in a mixed-signal integrated circuit. Students will design a custom mixed-signal integrated circuit that will be sent out for fabrication through MOSIS (assuming that the course funding request is approved by MOSIS) at the end of the semester if they will agree to test the chips when they come back from fabrication.

Through a series of projects, students will learn all aspects of printed-circuit board (PCB) design at the prototype scale of manufacturing, including electronic circuit/system design, component selection, schematic capture, PCB layout, assembly, and testing. Familiarity with circuits, electronics, and firmware development at the levels of ISIM (ENGR 1125) and PoE (ENGR 2110) are required to take the course. This course satisfies the ECE elective requirement.

Through a series of project based exercises and a final project using a combination of computer simulations and software defined radios, students will learn about and implement modern wireless communications systems. The project based exercises will culminate in an assignment where students design and implement an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) system, which is the modulation scheme used in many modern wireless communications systems such as WiFi and LTE. The final third of the course will be devoted to a project where students work in small teams to design and implement a wireless communications system of their own choosing. Topics covered in the course include wireless channel modelling and characterization, synchronization, multi­antenna techniques, multiple access and OFDM.

Special Topics in Electrical and Computer Engineering classes (ENGR X499) typically cover a specific topic in Electrical and Computer Engineering and are intended to enhance and expand the selection of offerings from semester to semester.

This course provides a comprehensive overview of sustainable product design. Emphasis is placed on learning and using green design principles, methods, tools and materials. Examples include life cycle assessment, eco-efficiency and eco-effectiveness. A system perspective highlighting material and energy flows over the complete product life cycle is used to structure course material. Students complete substantial reading, investigate existing products and develop their own product ideas.

A hands-on exploration of the design and development of user interfaces, taking into account the realities of human perception and behavior, the needs of users, and the pragmatics of computational infrastructure and application. Focuses on understanding and applying the lessons of human interaction to the design of usable applications that span connected devices of different scales and interaction methods; will also look at lessons to be learned from less-usable systems. This course will mix studio (open project working time) and seminar (readings and discussion) formats.

This course introduces students to the art and science of interdisciplinary design. Students analyze the process used to develop example products that required expertise in many areas and creativity and trade-off consideration amongst all. Students learn about overarching principles that enable creators of broad interdisciplinary systems to succeed. Students will also work in teams and take on roles as design specialists in a variety of fields. Each team is given the task to design in detail a hypothetical product that can succeed only if interdisciplinary creativity is fostered and trade offs are made by every team member, as well as the group as a whole.

Medical devices can be anything from a tongue depressor to a pacemaker with a microchip to a room-sized MRI, and everything in between. In this course, we will briefly consider the range of artifacts that are considered (bio)medical devices, how they are used, and who they are used for. We will primarily focus on the unique design constraints of and methods used in developing medical devices. We will touch on topics such as regulation and approval of devices, writing user requirements, writing product requirements, manufacturing practices, bioethics, and the body's response to implanted materials and surgical interventions. The first half of the semester will be spent developing skills through a case study model. In the second half of the semester, students will complete a major design project, with an external partner, that is focused at a particular stage of product development. This course is open to students of all majors, satisfies a design depth requirement, and can be used as a mechanical engineering elective. While the examples used are from the biomedical industry, the skills developed are relevant to other highly regulated fields as well (e.g. aerospace).

We will study wonders like these to appreciate the beauty and sophistication of life by investigating the biological mechanisms and functions of organisms as well as the dynamics of whole ecosystems.

This course will cover how stories are built and how to craft your own, exploring communication design in multiple forms of media: print, images, film, music, and more.

The engineering design process can often be completed more quickly and efficiently by applying quantitative analysis at various points. In this course, students will apply their existing skills and knowledge and learn new tools to perform quantitative analysis in the context of the design process, including techniques for validation and verification of results and communicating those results to support and effectively guide design decisions. Introductory modules will involve computation simulation tools (e.g., commercial FEA software), optimization, and system integration. In the later part of the semester, students will define and carry out the full design process, starting and ending with a user, on their own multidisciplinary projects (e.g., electromechanical system or product).

This course equips students with an interdisciplinary set of tools to design, build, and critique technologies that mediate access to physical and digital worlds. We will use disability as a lens to examine the ways in which technology (e.g., assistive, medical, consumer) can both enhance and diminish access to economic, social, and informational resources. Students will examine the history of such technologies and analyze modern trends. Building from this perspective, students will learn about design processes and implementation strategies for maximizing the accessibility of the technologies they build. During the course, student teams will work with a community partner to design a technology to enhance accessibility (along some dimension) for a user group with a disability. Students will learn and employ user-centered approaches throughout the course.

Design for Manufacturing (DFM) will build the specialized design skills needed to professionally redesign a prototype in order to meet target price, reliability and functionality goals, whether the final market requires a single unit per year (i.e. space systems, like satellites) or fifty thousand units a week (i.e. consumer products). This course will be heavily team and project based and will involve the re-design for manufacture of several products, devices and services at the discretion of the instructor. The overall course projects will incorporate a significant mechanical, electronic and software components (but perhaps not all three in any one project) and will be drawn widely from the consumer, industrial, and sustainable market sectors. Course will potentially involve field trips to manufacturing facilities and invited DFM lecturers as appropriate to support the particular projects offered in a given semester.

This course engages students in community-based, participatory design and action. Teams partner with communities and organizations to achieve positive social and environmental impact with a strong justice framing, working for change in areas like air quality, community development, food processing, global health, and rights and privacy (addressing mass incarceration) over several semesters. Guided by an experienced faculty advisor, teams make change through design for impact, social entrepreneurship, community organizing, participatory research, political advocacy and other practices. All teams practice social benefit analysis, theory of change, assumption testing, cross-cultural engagement tools, dissemination of innovation methods, and ethical norms. Students regularly engage stakeholders in inclusive processes, in person and virtually, to observe, strategize, plan, co-design, prototype, test, and implement approaches supported by a significant project budget. There are often opportunities to travel locally, nationally, or internationally to work with partners. Students are exposed to mindsets and dispositions for working with integrity and responsibility in their stakeholders' contexts through guided exercises, case studies, guest speakers, readings, and reflections. Students learn and apply change-making practices through project work, and gain essential experience building relationships across difference and developing their own self- and cultural awareness. This course is part of the BOW collaboration, offered jointly between Olin and Babson, and open to Wellesley students. Olin students can elect ADE to fulfill the Engineering Capstone requirement by registering for ENGR 4290 for two consecutive semesters beginning in the second semester of their junior year or the first semester of their senior year. Alternatively, students can take this course for one semester to fulfill the Design Depth requirement by registering for ENGR 3290. Students that take ENGR 3290 in their second semester junior year can opt to switch to ENGR 4290 for capstone credit.

Signal processing - the modeling, transformation, and manipulation of signals and their content - underpins virtually all facets of our daily lives due to the coupling of computing and communications in consumer, industrial, and public sector applications. Discrete-time signals, obtained through the sampling of continuous-time signals, and their frequency domain equivalents, can undergo transformation via systems, e.g., finite-duration impulse response (FIR) and infinite-impulse response (IIR) filters. Digital filter design and analysis conjoins such topics as difference equations, the z-transform, stability, frequency response, the discrete Fourier transform, FFT algorithms, windowing, practical implementation structures, A/D and D/A conversion techniques. After researching signal processing applications during the first part of the course, students initiate and realize individual DSP projects by end-of-term.

This course teaches students design techniques for analog and digital communications, including elementary coding and information theory. Topics also include modulation schemes, data compression, error detection and correction, encryption, transmitter and receiver design, and routing protocols. Students build an operative communications link over an unreliable channel.

SCOPE is one of the two Engineering Capstone requirements for all Olin students. It incorporates formal, team-based, year-long engineering projects done in conjunction with 10 to 14 external companies. Each project will be executed by a single student team, supported by a dedicated faculty member, in partnership with one of these companies. Each student team will have between four and six members from the senior class. Students may conduct advanced research, perform market analysis, develop experimental prototypes, design new products or redesign existing products in the execution of this project. As SCOPE is an 8 credit, year-long, fall/spring offering, a single grade will be given upon completion of 8 credits of SCOPE. After completion of the fall semester, a TBG grade will appear upon a student's transcript until a grade is assigned at the end of the spring. The single grade assigned will appear in both the fall and the spring on transcripts. Students not completing a second semester of SCOPE will receive a grade for the fall and will therefore not satisfy the requirement of engineering capstone with the SCOPE program. Note that students not performing adequate work in the fall semester will receive an end-of-semester notice of concern (see the Grading at Olin section of the Olin College Catalog for more information). Note: Cross-registered and Exchange students must obtain permission from the SCOPE Director to enroll.

This course engages students in community-based, participatory design and action. Teams partner with communities and organizations to achieve positive social and environmental impact with a strong justice framing, working for change in areas like air quality, community development, food processing, global health, and rights and privacy (addressing mass incarceration) over several semesters. Guided by an experienced faculty advisor, teams make change through design for impact, social entrepreneurship, community organizing, participatory research, political advocacy and other practices. All teams practice social benefit analysis, theory of change, assumption testing, cross-cultural engagement tools, dissemination of innovation methods, and ethical norms. Students regularly engage stakeholders in inclusive processes, in person and virtually, to observe, strategize, plan, co-design, prototype, test, and implement approaches supported by a significant project budget. There are often opportunities to travel locally, nationally, or internationally to work with partners. Students are exposed to mindsets and dispositions for working with integrity and responsibility in their stakeholders' contexts through guided exercises, case studies, guest speakers, readings, and reflections. Students learn and apply change-making practices through project work, and gain essential experience building relationships across difference and developing their own self- and cultural awareness. This course is part of the BOW collaboration, offered jointly between Olin and Babson, and open to Wellesley students. Olin students can elect ADE to fulfill the Engineering Capstone requirement by registering for ENGR 4290 for two consecutive semesters beginning in the second semester of their junior year or the first semester of their senior year. Alternatively, students can take this course for one semester to fulfill the Design Depth requirement by registering for ENGR 3290. Students that take ENGR 3290 in their second semester junior year can opt to switch to ENGR 4290 for capstone credit.

Most of the course material is concerned with our current understanding of the fundamentals of life at the molecular and cellular level. Concepts and information from the disciplines of biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, evolutionary and cell biology contribute in different ways to provide a coherent view of the components, processes, interdependencies, and other properties common to all organisms. The structure and regulation of genes, properties and synthesis of proteins, and the organization and communication between cells and multi-cellular organisms are essential elements for cellular growth and differentiation that will be studied in detail. Special topics to be considered include, but are not limited to, human genetics, molecular medicine, cancer biology, evolution, genomics, synthetic biology, and ethical implications of the applications of biological research. Students will gain experience with research methods and scientific reasoning through laboratory section experiments, written laboratory research summaries and from other project work.

While the core concepts amongst the versions of Principles of Modern Biology are held in common, the emphasis in this section is on human genetics and genomics. We will explore how the mechanisms of evolution unite all of biology and this will be a common theme throughout the semester. The classical mechanisms and molecular underpinnings of genetic inheritance will be investigated as well as an in-depth study more complex events that influence the outward expression of genes. Ethical implications of genetic manipulations such as CRISPR technology and diagnostic testing will be discussed in depth. Genomics examples from the human, and canine genomes including the latest breaking findings in genetics and genomics will be studied. How geneticists think and work in the laboratory as professionals is explicitly demonstrated through actual student laboratory experience and discovered implicitly through selected case studies.

In this survey course we learn fundamental principles of biology through a journey through the field from the molecular to systems levels. We examine different classes of biological problems and interactions across multiple scales through reading and discussion of primary and secondary literature in the field. We draw on examples from the environment, microbiology, biomimicry, and current events. Through analysis of numerous examples we uncover key principles of biology, a toolkit of which can be applied towards examining and solving multifaceted problems. Projects include examination of biology in the context of systems and exploration of ways in which biology informs interdisciplinary problem solving. Through projects and work in the laboratory students develop a practical and foundational understanding of biological principles and practice.

This class addresses the engineering grand challenge of 'Engineering Better Medicines'. In this class, students will learn to apply concepts and laboratory skills that are currently used in biological research to solve problems in health and disease and drug discovery and development. Students will also develop skills in technical writing and oral communication, and they will gain experience with the basics of designing, conducting and evaluating laboratory experiments. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the larger societal context in which biological concepts, tools and research play a role in everyday life and medicine, and how societal context shapes the advancement of research in biology and medicine.

Penicillium. Vibrio cholerae. Escherichia coli. Yeast. The Archaea. Microbes surround us, and impact our lives, our health, our societies, and our environment. Research with microbes, the smallest of all living creatures, has enabled discovery and understanding of the fundamental workings of life, opens up rich historical narratives of diseases and cures, and may provide sustainable solutions to problems we face from bioremediation to bioenergy. We will use six influential microbes as a window into a rich study of the interactions between science and societal context. This course connects biological concepts and historical knowledge through discussions, integrated assignments, presentations, and hands-on laboratory activities. Let's explore the thrill of biology and history, together.

This project-based course will encourage participants to cross boundaries between art, biology and technology with hands-on projects inspired by contemporary and historical work in these fields. How might biology inform art practice and how might art inform biology? What role does technology play in advancing or restricting each field and how might art and biology inspire technological breakthroughs? What are the implications of being able to change the genome of an organism? What is art anyway? These are just some of the questions we will pursue during this course. We will begin the course with an investigation of the phenomena of climate change and consider what steps we might take individually and collectively to contribute to the sustainability of the planet. Visualization technologies such as the scanning electron microscope (SEM) will be utilized to observe and create artworks. Final student-designed projects are informed by biology, art and technology and encourage deep exploration and integration of these topics. Laboratory studies will enhance an understanding of biology and its relation to technology as well as providing a possible means to create art. We will delve into a variety of written works, films and video resources, and listen first-hand to practitioners in these areas about the challenges and rewards of interdisciplinary work in fields that most would regard as unrelated. The goal by the end of the course is to acquire an attitude that allows fluid movement from one field to the other in thinking and doing so as to garner creative strength not possible from study of each field alone.

This course introduces students to the fundamental aspects of aqueous and solid state chemistry. Topics include stoichiometry, gas laws, atomic structure and bonding, atomic theory, quantum theory, acid/base chemistry, solubility, electrochemistry, kinetics, thermodynamics, and reaction equilibria.

Paper technology is a nascent, ultra low-cost detection platform that has promise to address several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In this course, we'll learn (or re-learn!) the chemistry and material science foundations that make this technology work. This will happen through weekly laboratory experiments; about mid-course we will design a class project to advance paper technology together. The course is a means for people to learn: Foundational chemistry and materials science; Collaboration and Innovation; Laboratory skills and Self-directed and Team-based learning skills.

Special Topics in Chemistry classes (SCI X399) typically cover a specific topic in Chemistry and are intended to enhance and expand the selection of offerings from semester to semester.

This laboratory-based course introduces students to the relationships among structure, processing, properties, and performance of solid state materials including metals, ceramics, polymers, composites, and semiconductors. Topics include atomic structure and bonding, crystallography, diffusion, defects, equilibrium, solubility, phase transformations, and electrical, magnetic, thermal, optical and mechanical properties. Students apply materials science principles in laboratory projects that emphasize experimental design and data analysis, examination of material composition and structure, measurement and modification of material properties, and connection of material behavior to performance in engineering applications.

This course explores materials science through the lens of metallic materials and their environmental and social impacts. From iron and aluminum in mechanical structures, to cobalt and rare earth metals in electronics and renewable energy applications, today's technologies rely on metals and alloys for their unique physical and chemical properties. Metals are part of a larger technological system, however, with complex social, environmental, political, economic, and ethical implications. Through a series of projects, students in this class will explore the technical processing, microstructure, and behaviors of metallic materials, while researching and discussing sustainability issues related to mining operations, raw material processing, and recycling and disposal. We will critically examine the social and environmental costs of the metals industry and metallic products, and consider our professional and ethical responsibilities as scientists, engineers, designers and global citizens to address larger problems or initiate positive change. The course takes place in a studio-laboratory setting, where teams will implement self-directed project plans guided by their own interests and goals, apply a range of materials testing and analytical techniques, and produce a range of project deliverables that reflect an interdisciplinary understanding of metallic materials and their impacts.

This course explores materials science and solid-state chemistry through the lens of plastics and their environmental and social impacts. The world is creating plastic materials at a staggering rate, with annual global production approaching 400 million tonnes. While plastics play critical roles in health, food packaging, transportation, and construction, the exponential demand for plastics raises significant questions about the human and ecosystem impacts of polymeric materials. For example, only small fractions of plastics are recycled, and recent policy shifts have left many countries struggling to manage their plastics waste streams. Through a series of self-directed team projects, students in this class will explore technical and contextual issues related to plastics processing, use, and disposal, such as the rise of single-use plastics, toxic chemicals and pollutants from polymer synthesis, biodegradation and recycling, life-cycle assessment of plastics versus alternative materials, and larger systemic challenges associated with the plastics industry. The course takes place in a studio-laboratory setting, where teams will implement and troubleshoot project plans, apply a range of materials testing and analytical techniques, and conduct research and reporting that enables critical thinking and reflection on the benefits and consequences of plastics technologies.

This course provides an introduction to materials science and solid-state chemistry via hands-on explorations of the materials we encounter in our everyday lives. In a series of team-based analytical projects, students select materials products or processes, and design experiments to answer materials-related questions that are personally interesting and culturally relevant. Each project integrates concepts and questions about the impacts of materials on our world, e.g., the toxicity of materials in consumer products, the energy of material processing, the recyclability or biodegradability of common plastics, or the social impacts of extractive industries. The course takes place in a studio-laboratory setting, where we learn to implement and troubleshoot project plans, and safely apply a wide range of materials testing and analytical techniques. The self-directed project work, combined with structured assignments, enable students to think critically about the connections among material chemistry, structure, processing, properties, and impacts. A variety of project deliverables - posters, presentations, and reports - help students gain skills in synthesizing, contextualizing, and communicating ideas and insights. In short, this course enables students to explain how materials behave, why they behave that way, and why it matters for maximizing technical performance or minimizing negative impacts on our world.

How do we measure what's happening in our environment, what do we do with that information, and why do we care? This hands-on, project-based course will introduce approaches that environmental engineers and scientists use to analyze complex environmental systems in order to effectively design solutions to mitigate pollution. We will spend the semester making deep-dives into air quality and water quality, which are at the heart of the two leading causes of premature death in the world: chronic exposure to air pollution and lack of access to clean water. The class focuses on building hands-on skills with real-world data analysis, field sampling techniques and lab analysis skills through integrated projects like analyzing pollutant concentrations along the Charles River, and the course will incorporate strong communication themes as we work toward presenting our results to several diverse audiences. Throughout the course, we will study pollution in its broader social, political, and economic context, considering the complex motivations for pollution mitigation and the broader implications of water and air treatment processes.