Spring 2027

Thermodynamics

This Thermodynamics course covers the first and second laws, properties of gases and vapors, energy-systems analysis including power and refrigeration cycles, and reacting mixtures.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Gregory Nellis4.4/5Adam Dempsey

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Gregory Nellis

Students reported a significant workload with three homework assignments per week. These assignments were described as manageable but essential, as exams mirrored the homework problems.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Define both open and closed systems using a sketch

  • Apply the first law to properly analyze open steady flow systems and closed systems

  • Apply the second law to properly analyze open steady flow systems and closed systems

  • Calculate property changes for ideal gases, incompressible substances, and real substances such as water

  • Calculate First and Second Law efficiencies of engineering devices

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

(CHEM 103 or 109) and (E M A 201,PHYSICS 201, 207, or 247), or member of Engineering Guest Students

ME 361 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

Gregory Nellis

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.74/5 from 50 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.

For this course: 5.0/5 raw quality · 2.4/5 difficulty · 26 reviews

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

Past student reviews · Gregory Nellis

Gregory Nellis teaches with a clear, no-nonsense style that makes thermodynamics understandable. Students reported doing three homework assignments per week, noting that the exams closely mirrored the homework and were generally easier or fairer than the assignments. He was described as funny and effective at answering questions, with students finding the workload manageable because it prepared them well for tests.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 3.58 GPA, 76.9% A/AB (n=143 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.35 GPA, 65.9% A/AB (n=229 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.19 GPA, 53.3% A/AB (n=105 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · David Foster, Mario Trujillo, Kristofer Dressler

David Foster encouraged questions and explained testing methods, though he assigned a high volume of homework. Mario Trujillo taught fundamentals thoroughly and graded leniently. Kristofer Dressler assigned three weekly assignments, and students found his lectures less prepared, focusing on philosophical thinking rather than material instruction.

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

FRANKLIN MILLER is recorded teaching in Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2022, Fall 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

GREGORY NELLIS is recorded teaching in Fall 2007, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Fall 2012, Spring 2014, Spring 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2022, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JAY MARTIN is recorded teaching in Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2010. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JOHN PFOTENHAUER is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2010, Fall 2013, Fall 2015, Spring 2019. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

KRISTOFER DRESSLER is recorded teaching in Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MARIO TRUJILLO is recorded teaching in Fall 2008, Fall 2009. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SANFORD KLEIN is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SCOTT SANDERS is recorded teaching in Fall 2008, Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

TOM KRUPENKIN is recorded teaching in Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2020, Spring 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

TONY GROTJAN is recorded teaching in Fall 2024, Spring 2025, 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

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 1490
LEC 002Classroom Instruction0 / 3200
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 320
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 320
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 220
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 220
DIS 305Classroom Instruction0 / 220
DIS 306Classroom Instruction0 / 320
DIS 307Classroom Instruction0 / 220
DIS 308Classroom Instruction0 / 220
DIS 309Classroom Instruction0 / 220
DIS 310Classroom Instruction0 / 220
DIS 311Classroom Instruction0 / 220
DIS 312Classroom Instruction0 / 220

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

Past student reviews · Gregory Nellis

Gregory Nellis taught the course with a clear, no-nonsense style that made thermodynamics understandable. Students found his lectures engaging and felt well-prepared for exams.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.35 GPA, 65.9% A/AB (n=229 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.25 GPA, 56.6% A/AB (n=212 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.15 GPA, 54.0% A/AB (n=248 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Gregory Nellis

Students reported a significant workload with three homework assignments per week. These assignments were described as manageable but essential, as exams mirrored the homework problems.

Past student reviews · Gregory Nellis

Nellis rarely mentioned his own textbook during lectures, though students noted it contained similar examples to the homework. Many found it helpful to consult the book when stuck on problems.

Topics

  • First and second laws of thermodynamics.
  • Thermodynamic properties of gases, vapors, and gas-vapor mixtures.
  • Energy-systems analysis including power cycles, refrigeration cycles, and air-conditioning processes.
  • Thermodynamics of reacting mixtures.

Skills

  • Defining open and closed systems using sketches.
  • Applying the first and second laws to analyze open steady flow and closed systems.
  • Calculating property changes for ideal gases, incompressible substances, and real substances like water.
  • Calculating First and Second Law efficiencies of engineering devices.

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 · 0.20 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.

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Selected offering source records
ME 361 · Spring 2027

Thermodynamics

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
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  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:612:011991",
    "course_id": "ME 361",
    "course_uid": "course_c30972f318c82dcee2e70be3",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "011991",
    "source_subject_id": "612",
    "title": "Thermodynamics",
    "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": "b9621fc4589ffb2dca09b4318fbb0591d65773115de4c05e60ad3dbb5d70dc98",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}