Recent recorded 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). Includes jointly taught sections.
Spring 2027
Engineering Design with Polymers
Engineering Design with Polymers covers implications for plastics part design of polymer classification, structure, melt rheology, mixing, blends, anisotropy, solidification, mechanical behavior, and failure.
offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 David Rhoades
Summary
1 / 6
Past student reviews · Tim Osswald
Homeworks and tests were described as not very hard and straightforward. Students noted that lectures could be watched at 2x speed due to the pacing, and class notes were useful because they could be used on exams.
What you’ll be able to do
Demonstrate an understanding of the basic polymer classifications
Apply knowledge of polymer classifications to part design
Utilize the techniques, skills and modern tools necessary for polymer part design
Synthesize knowledge about polymers and use insight and creativity to better understand and improve polymer parts
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗ average GPA
1,7391,739 letter grades
A59.7%59.7%
AB25.3%25.3%
B13.7%13.7%
BC0.7%0.7%
C0.5%0.5%
D0.0%0.0%
F0.1%0.1%
All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapSenior 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
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
Spring 2027Historical instructors & teaching patterns
DAVID RHOADES is recorded teaching in Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
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
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 003 | Online Only | 0 / 18 | 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
Past student reviews · Tim Osswald
Past students found the course highly engaging, with an instructor who fostered deep interest in polymers. One student noted they might have gone to graduate school in the field because of the class.
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
Past student reviews · Tim Osswald
Homeworks and tests were described as not very hard and straightforward. Students noted that lectures could be watched at 2x speed due to the pacing, and class notes were useful because they could be used on exams.
Past student reviews · Tim Osswald
The first eight lectures covered polymer history, which one student found as interesting as a history channel show. Another student described the lectures as slightly dry but found working in the lab to be fun.
Topics
- Polymer classification, structure, melt rheology, mixing, blends, anisotropy, solidification, mechanical behavior, and failure.
- Plastics design for electrical, optical, acoustic, and barrier properties.
Skills
- Understand and apply polymer classifications to part design.
- Utilize techniques, skills, and modern tools for polymer part design.
- Synthesize polymer knowledge with insight and creativity to improve parts.
Grades
Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
A87.5%87.5%
AB6.3%6.3%
B0.0%0.0%
BC6.3%6.3%
C0.0%0.0%
D0.0%0.0%
F0.0%0.0%
Grades over time
Through Spring 2026
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 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
Engineering Design with Polymers
Recorded 2026-10-14Raw records
[
{
"run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
"semester": "1274",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
"offering_id": "1274:612:012019",
"course_id": "ME 418",
"course_uid": "course_453ca64eed29a33a46958f53",
"term_id": "1274",
"source_course_id": "012019",
"source_subject_id": "612",
"title": "Engineering Design with Polymers",
"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 gradesDataset & model
View the dataset on Hugging Face Recorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
{
"model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
"model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
"task_version": "17",
"output_id": "8935b325ace6869030ff8dd1559f96c82cb61d7e65ba9bac3a24451b24816967",
"requirements_status": "needs_review",
"dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}