Spring 2027

Intermediate Problem Solving for Engineers

This course uses computational tools to solve engineering physics problems through modeling, algorithm selection, and validation.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Hong Qin

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Robert Witt

Homework assignments were time-consuming and difficult, with one student estimating each took over eight hours to complete. Assignments comprised 75% of the final grade.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Numerically solve systems of ordinary differential equations (ODEs)

  • Numerically solve 1-D boundary value problems

  • Numerically solve eigenvalue problems

  • Apply the basic techniques of Monte Carlo methods

  • Apply the basic techniques of numerically solving partial differential equations (PDEs)

  • Apply techniques from outcomes 1-5 to multi-step engineering problems

Source: UW Guide 1 UW Guide 2

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

(E P 271 or COMP SCI 220) and (MATH 319, 320, 376 or concurrent enrollment), graduate/professional standing, or member of Engineering Guest Students

EMA/EP 471

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027

No course-specific feedback yet.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

GREGORY MOSES is recorded teaching in Spring 2009. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

ROBERT WITT is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2010, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2016, Spring 2017. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 1000
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 1000

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Gregory Moses, Robert Witt

Students described the course as a challenging, self-directed computer lab where they wrote MATLAB code based on complex documentation. Feedback on instruction varied, with some finding the professor helpful while others felt unsupported.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.33 GPA, 61.5% A/AB (n=39 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.30 GPA, 58.3% A/AB (n=48 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.81 GPA, 93.4% A/AB (n=61 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Robert Witt

Homework assignments were time-consuming and difficult, with one student estimating each took over eight hours to complete. Assignments comprised 75% of the final grade.

Past student reviews · Gregory Moses, Robert Witt

Some students found office hours useful for clarifying material, while others felt the class lacked direct teaching and relied heavily on independent study.

Topics

  • Orbital mechanics, structural vibrations, beam and plate deformations, heat transfer, neutron diffusion, and criticality
  • Modeling, choice of appropriate algorithms, and model validation

Skills

  • Numerically solve systems of ordinary differential equations (ODEs)
  • Numerically solve 1-D boundary value problems
  • Numerically solve eigenvalue problems
  • Apply the basic techniques of Monte Carlo methods
  • Apply the basic techniques of numerically solving partial differential equations (PDEs)
  • Apply techniques from outcomes 1-5 to multi-step engineering problems

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1280 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
EMA/EP 471 · Spring 2027

Intermediate Problem Solving for Engineers

Recorded 2026-10-14
EMA/EP 471 · Spring 2027

Intermediate Problem Solving for Engineers

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:346:022642",
    "course_id": "EMA/EP 471",
    "course_uid": "course_55ae909a6cff408f13a2a78e",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "022642",
    "source_subject_id": "346",
    "title": "Intermediate Problem Solving for Engineers",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Spring"
  },
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:347:022642",
    "course_id": "EMA/EP 471",
    "course_uid": "course_55ae909a6cff408f13a2a78e",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "022642",
    "source_subject_id": "347",
    "title": "Intermediate Problem Solving for Engineers",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1Download part 2
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "58cfa6fe5843fd351c7abce1bae87cc18b9623041f83e203f2d14e71eabdaa69",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}