Spring 2027

Fluid Dynamics

Introduction to fluid mechanics covering velocity fields, forces, stresses, conservation laws, Bernoulli equation, boundary layers, hydrostatics, and internal/external flow solutions.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Mario Trujillo3.7/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Mario Trujillo

The material was challenging, but the instructor did not grade harshly.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Apply control volume analysis to solve fluid mechanics problems, for fluids at rest and in movement

  • Simplify the equations of fluid mechanics to solve realistic engineering problems involving fluids by making appropriate assumptions

  • Calculate losses in piping systems and other internal flows using dimensionless correlations

  • Calculate forces created by external flow on a solid immersed in a fluid using dimensionless correlations

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 361,CIV ENGR 324, or CBE 310) and (MATH 319, 320 or 375), or member of Engineering Guest Students

ME 363 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

Mario Trujillo

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.75/5 from 20 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: 3.9/5 raw quality · 4.0/5 difficulty · 15 reviews

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

No course-specific feedback yet.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

ALAN J GIACOMIN is recorded teaching in Spring 2013. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

ARGANTHAEL BERSON is recorded teaching in Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

DAVID ROTHAMER is recorded teaching in Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2012, Fall 2017. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

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

JASON OAKLEY is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JAY MARTIN is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2011, Spring 2012. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

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

MARIO TRUJILLO is recorded teaching in Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Fall 2013, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2019, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MICHAEL CHEADLE is recorded teaching in Spring 2014. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

ROMAN MORSE is recorded teaching in Fall 2019. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SCOTT SANDERS is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Spring 2007, Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2015. 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 / 2580
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 270
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 270
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 270
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 270
DIS 305Classroom Instruction0 / 270
DIS 306Classroom Instruction0 / 270
DIS 307Classroom Instruction0 / 270

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 · Mario Trujillo

Mario Trujillo taught a class focused on fundamentals and derivations that was effective despite an intimidating appearance.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 2.98 GPA, 37.4% A/AB (n=187 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.13 GPA, 46.0% A/AB (n=187 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.22 GPA, 49.0% A/AB (n=192 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Mario Trujillo

The material was challenging, but the instructor did not grade harshly.

Past student reviews · Mario Trujillo

Students found the teaching style strange but effective, noting that the instructor cared about both the subject and teaching.

Topics

  • Velocity fields, forces, stresses, and fluid particle acceleration
  • Reynolds Transport Theorem, conservation laws, and non-dimensionalization
  • Bernoulli equation, boundary layers, and hydrostatics
  • Internal and external flow solutions

Skills

  • Apply control volume analysis to solve fluid mechanics problems
  • Simplify fluid mechanics equations by making appropriate assumptions
  • Calculate losses in piping systems and internal flows using dimensionless correlations
  • Calculate forces from external flow on solids using dimensionless correlations

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 · 0.24 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 363 · Spring 2027

Fluid Dynamics

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": "1274:612:011995",
    "course_id": "ME 363",
    "course_uid": "course_feae6ebc37f0d3966d3c3359",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "011995",
    "source_subject_id": "612",
    "title": "Fluid Dynamics",
    "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": "3826abb887842caa378c6faf4ccb2dbbf163398a9f2d9c662116bfa6d253c293",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}