Spring 2027

Computer-aided Engineering

Introduction to Computer Aided Engineering covering CAD/CAE fundamentals, modeling, manufacturing (NC/3D printing), and structural/thermal analysis.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Ramathasan Thevamaran3.6/5Kiffer Creveling

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Jason Oakley

Homework assignments took a long time to complete and were sometimes changed halfway through the deadline window, requiring students to start early.

What you’ll be able to do

  • comprehend Computer Aided Design (CAD) concepts such as 3D transformations, parametric curves and surfaces

  • comprehend Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) concepts such as structural loads, restraints, and finite element analysis

  • demonstrate ability to use CAD software for designing curves and surfaces

  • demonstrate ability to use CAE software for structural and thermal analysis

  • demonstrate ability to use CAE software for optimizing mechanical components

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

M E 231, (MATH 320, 340, 341, or 375), (M E 306 orE M A 303 or concurrent enrollment), (M E 240 orE M A 202), and (COMP SCI 200, 220, 300, 301, 310, or placement into COMP SCI 300), or member of Engineering Guest Students

ME 331 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

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.00/5 from 1 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

No course-specific feedback yet.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

JASON OAKLEY is recorded teaching in Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JEFFREY ROESSLER is recorded teaching in Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

KRISHNAN SURESH is recorded teaching in Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Spring 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

VADIM SHAPIRO is recorded teaching in Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Fall 2011. 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 002Classroom 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 · Krishnan Suresh, Jason Oakley

Students described the course content as useful and applicable outside of class, though opinions on lecture quality were sharply divided, with some finding them pointless.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.26 GPA, 54.5% A/AB (n=134 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.39 GPA, 61.1% A/AB (n=162 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.43 GPA, 64.9% A/AB (n=131 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Jason Oakley

Homework assignments took a long time to complete and were sometimes changed halfway through the deadline window, requiring students to start early.

Past student reviews · Jason Oakley

One student reported that several projects were mis-graded and the instructor refused to fix the errors, which was a frustrating aspect of the course.

Topics

  • CAD concepts: 3D transformations, parametric curves and surfaces
  • CAE concepts: structural loads, restraints, finite element analysis
  • Shape processing for manufacturing, NC machining, 3D printing

Skills

  • Use CAD software for designing curves and surfaces
  • Use CAE software for structural and thermal analysis
  • Optimize mechanical components using CAE software

Grades

Historical instructor

Spring 2027 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.16 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Spring 2027

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
ME 331 · Spring 2027

Computer-Aided Engineering

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": "1274:612:011946",
    "course_id": "ME 331",
    "course_uid": "course_054e190102b9b5bab9f66bad",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "011946",
    "source_subject_id": "612",
    "title": "Computer-Aided Engineering",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, 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": "2333bef4768a29834e064296946a782ac53dcc1acee9040fc1ed699dd5739a09",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}