Fall 2026

Engineering Problem Solving I

EP 271 teaches solving engineering problems using software tools like spreadsheets and equation solvers, with a focus on nuclear engineering applications.

offering recorded3 credits

Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Yongfeng Zhang

Summary

1 / 6

Historical reviews of Charles Hirst, Charlie Hirst: Homework assignments are described as very difficult and often completed in groups. Exams are considered easy because they consist of reworked homework problems under an open-note format.

Grade history

↗

average GPA
letter grades

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

MATH 222 and (E M A 201,PHYSICS 201, 207, 247, or concurrent enrollment) or member of Engineering Guest Students

- - MATH 222
  - take one
  take all
- member of Engineering Guest Students
take one

EP 271 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Any of
- All of
  - MATH 222
  - Any of
- member of Engineering Guest Students

Professors

Fall 2026

Yongfeng Zhang

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2025: 3.32 GPA, 64.7% A/AB (n=17 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews of Gregory Moses: Gregory Moses is a good teacher who lectures minimally, spending class time helping students with Maple and MatLab problems. He is described as a nuclear engineer who retires soon.

CARL SOVINEC is recorded teaching in Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

CHARLIE HIRST is recorded teaching in Fall 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

GREGORY MOSES is recorded teaching in Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

YONGFENG ZHANG is recorded teaching in Fall 2025. 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

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

Section	Mode	Enrolled / capacity	Waitlist
LEC 001	Classroom Instruction	32 / 34	0

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

Meeting source records

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Student experience

the class

Historical reviews for Charlie Hirst describe a tough curriculum with difficult homework, but praise his enthusiasm and accessibility. Students report learning applicable skills despite the challenging format.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 2.84 GPA, 29.5% A/AB (n=44 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.40 GPA, 70.2% A/AB (n=47 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.32 GPA, 64.7% A/AB (n=17 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Historical reviews of Charles Hirst, Charlie Hirst: Students find the instructor enthusiastic and invested in their learning, with one reviewer calling him their favorite. However, the course format is cited as a significant source of stress.

Topics

Radioactive decay, nuclear cross sections, scattering, and criticality

Skills

Solving engineering problems with spreadsheets, symbolic manipulators, and equation solvers
Applying software tools to nuclear engineering problems like decay, cross sections, and criticality

Grades

Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Fall 2026.

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

Grades over time

Through Fall 2025

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Fall 2026 in UW–Madison.

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.

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Selected offering source records

EP 271 · Fall 2026

Engineering Problem Solving I

Recorded 2026-09-07

Raw records

[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:347:013794",
    "course_id": "EP 271",
    "course_uid": "course_357e5ceed1d47248886bd716",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "013794",
    "source_subject_id": "347",
    "title": "Engineering Problem Solving I",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall"
  }
]

Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews

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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

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Model outputs & technical records

nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4

LLM outputs across runs

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Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

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Model & dataset provenance

{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "36715f084a226411fa3eb361d28a16d38856d094c3432ea30174b341933b4b58",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}