Engineering Design with Polymers

Engineering design with polymers, covering polymer structure, rheology, and mechanical behavior for plastics part design.

no offering record for this termCredits unavailable
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 No instructors listed

Summary

1 / 5

Historical reviews of Tim Osswald: Reviewers characterize the workload as manageable, with easy homework and tests. Notes are useful for exams, and the online format allows for flexible lecture viewing, though the textbook is required for tables and charts.

Grade history

average GPA
letter grades
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Senior standing, declared in Capstone Certificate in Polymer Processing & Manufacturing, or member of Engineering Guest Students

    • Senior standing
    • declared in Capstone Certificate in Polymer Processing & Manufacturing
    • member of Engineering Guest Students
    take one
ME 418

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • Any of
    • Senior standing
    • declared in Capstone Certificate in Polymer Processing & Manufacturing
    • member of Engineering Guest Students

Professors

Fall 2026

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews of Tim Osswald: Tim Osswald is described as passionate and respectful, with reviewers noting he fosters interest in polymers through engaging lectures and lab work. Students report straightforward tests and helpful instruction, though one reviewer mentions his speaking pace is slow.

TIM OSSWALD is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Spring 2007, Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023. 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

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No records available.

Student experience

the class

Historical reviews for Tim Osswald describe him as a passionate, highly respected professor who inspires interest in polymers. Students report straightforward tests and an engaging, humorous teaching style that makes the subject matter accessible and enjoyable.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.79 GPA, 89.3% A/AB (n=56 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.94 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=9 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.88 GPA, 93.8% A/AB (n=16 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Historical reviews of Tim Osswald: Reviewers characterize the workload as manageable, with easy homework and tests. Notes are useful for exams, and the online format allows for flexible lecture viewing, though the textbook is required for tables and charts.

Historical reviews of Tim Osswald: Students appreciate the engaging history lectures and the fun lab work, though some note that lectures can be slightly dry. One reviewer reported that the class inspired them to consider a career in polymers.

Topics

  • Polymer classification, structure, and rheology
  • Functional properties of plastics (electrical, optical, acoustic, barrier)

Skills

  • Plastics part design considering polymer properties and processing
  • Designing plastics for specific functional properties

Grades

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

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
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Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

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.

Selected offering source records

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Raw records
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Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

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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
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": "bd6c51ca2ad996002c1daa63c24c5fcb32f2491b28c3a8ae7afa4102d9d26f19",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}