Recent recorded grades — Spring 2026: 3.12 GPA, 40.4% A/AB (n=161 letter grades).
Fall 2026
Design of Machine Elements
ME 342 teaches the analysis and design of machine elements, covering loads, stresses, fatigue, and power transmission components.
Summary
1 / 7
Reviewers describe exams as incredibly long, super hard, or unclear, with one noting sample exams are useless. The group project is reported as time-consuming, and the course relies heavily on a textbook that students find bad.
Grade history
↗ average GPA
letter grades
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F
All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course map(M E 306 orE M A 303) and (M E 331,B M E 201, or concurrent enrollment or declared in Biological Systems Engineering), or member of Engineering Guest Students
“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Professors
Fall 2026Andrew Mikkelson is frequently criticized for monotone, slide-reading lectures and low student engagement. Reviewers describe him as lacking passion and providing minimal assistance beyond basic instruction.
Some students find his lectures dull but useful for exam preparation, noting that he makes the topic manageable. One recent review praises him positively, contrasting with the prevalent criticism of his teaching style.
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2022: 3.14 GPA, 42.9% A/AB (n=119 letter grades); Spring 2023: 3.11 GPA, 48.5% A/AB (n=134 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.26 GPA, 56.2% A/AB (n=137 letter grades).
No course-specific feedback yet.
No course-specific feedback yet.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
Historical reviews of Christopher Westphal: Christopher Westphal's teaching has drawn sharply conflicting reviews. One student found him available and responsive to feedback, while another criticized his lack of subject knowledge. A third review described him as approachable and personable.
ANDREW MIKKELSON is recorded teaching in Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2015, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
CHRISTOPHER WESTPHAL is recorded teaching in Spring 2022, Fall 2023, Spring 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
GLENN BOWER is recorded teaching in Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
HEIDI-LYNN PLOEG is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
JAY SAMUEL is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Fall 2015. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
KRISTOFER DRESSLER is recorded teaching in Spring 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
ROBERT ROWLANDS is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Spring 2007, Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
RYAN KERSHNER is recorded teaching in Fall 2010. 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 2026Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | Classroom Instruction | 96 / 96 | 1 |
| DIS 301 | Classroom Instruction | 32 / 32 | 0 |
| DIS 302 | Classroom Instruction | 32 / 32 | 1 |
| DIS 303 | Classroom Instruction | 32 / 32 | 0 |
| DIS 304 | Classroom Instruction | 32 / 32 | 0 |
| DIS 305 | Classroom Instruction | 32 / 32 | 0 |
| DIS 306 | Classroom Instruction | 30 / 32 | 0 |
| LEC 002 | Classroom Instruction | 94 / 96 | 0 |
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.
Meeting source records
Student experience
the class
Andrew Mikkelson receives polarized reviews, ranging from a single positive note to consistent complaints about boring, monotone lectures and low engagement. While some find the content sufficient, many describe the teaching style as disengaging and the exams as difficult or unclear.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.32 GPA, 65.3% A/AB (n=167 letter grades); Fall 2025: 2.72 GPA, 34.2% A/AB (n=155 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.12 GPA, 40.4% A/AB (n=161 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Reviewers describe exams as incredibly long, super hard, or unclear, with one noting sample exams are useless. The group project is reported as time-consuming, and the course relies heavily on a textbook that students find bad.
Students strongly recommend securing Zhiyi Jiang as a TA, describing him as amazing and more experienced with the course material. Mikkelson is criticized for being unhelpful and poor at answering questions, with lectures offering little engagement.
Topics
Skills
Grades
Fall 2026 · 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 · 0.20 GPA average error.
Grades over time
Through Fall 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
1283 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.
Selected offering source records
Design of Machine Elements
Recorded 2026-09-07Raw records
[
{
"run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
"semester": "1272",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"offering_id": "1272:612:011979",
"course_id": "ME 342",
"course_uid": "course_b5cc447e8038efff870ea454",
"term_id": "1272",
"source_course_id": "011979",
"source_subject_id": "612",
"title": "Design of Machine Elements",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
}
]Rate My Professors
Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
Madgrades
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesModel outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
{
"model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
"model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
"task_version": "14",
"output_id": "aca646c8051cb3c83a9d8e149548cc0b3b96be3700a47fde672041ab5e67917e",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}