Historical instructor

MICHAEL ZINN

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.44/5 from 25 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.

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

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

ME 446
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Very dedicated, Great Lecturer, and knows what he is teaching. He cares about the successful transfer of the knowledge to the students and is very responsive to any questions. He encourages questioning rather than being rude.
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ME 446
Quality 2/5Difficulty 4/5
The course material is quite tedious, and it does not seem to be updated. Many techniques seem to be very old. I wish there are more state-space methods.
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ME 446
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
I love prof. Zinn! Amazing lectures with real world applications. He was aware that most students did not have the prereq of dynamic systems, so he spent over a month reviewing. Exams are like the homework and he is very honest about what each exam problem will entail. You can truly tell his passion for controls and teaching. Super approachable.
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ME240 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 4/5
Second half of the class was harder than the first half. Zinn gives a reasonable amount of homework. His lectures weren't always focused on the most relevant material for the class but the example problems are good. Reasonable quizzes/exams. I liked the structure of the class.
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ME240 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
Dynamics is a difficult class, but professor Zinn does lots of examples during lectures and there's lots of practice from the homework. The online homework is very hard but you get 100 tries per problem, and you cannot look at the next problem till you solve it. Tough grading, homework worth only 5%, 7 quizzes each worth 10%, and 1 final worth 25%.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with MICHAEL ZINN

ECE/ME 441

Kinematics, Dynamics, and Control of Robotic Manipulators

3 credits

ECE/ME 441 covers robotics analysis and design for serial chain manipulators, including forward/inverse/differential kinematics, dynamics, trajectory generation, and controls.

No offering record · Spring 2026 · Sources

with this instructor · course overall, matching historical terms

Michael ZinnDevansh Mishra

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2025–Spring 2026 · limited sample
ME 489

Honors in Research II

3 credits

Honors in Research II involves independent mechanical engineering research and thesis preparation under faculty guidance.

No offering record · Spring 2026 · Sources

Krishnan SureshMichael Zinn+6 more

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sample

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2026ECE/ME 441Kinematics, Dynamics, and Control of Robotic Manipulators
Spring 2026ME 489Honors in Research II
Spring 2026ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Spring 2026ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Fall 2025ME 446Introduction to Feedback Control
Fall 2025ME 489Honors in Research II
Fall 2025ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Fall 2025ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Spring 2025ECE/ME 441Kinematics, Dynamics, and Control of Robotic Manipulators
Spring 2025ME 489Honors in Research II
Spring 2025ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Spring 2025ME 990Dissertator Research and Thesis
Fall 2024ME 446Introduction to Feedback Control
Fall 2024ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Fall 2024ME 990Dissertator Research and Thesis
Spring 2024EMA 202Dynamics
Spring 2024ME 491Mechanical Engineering Projects I
Spring 2024ME 699Advanced Independent Study
Spring 2024ME 990Dissertator Research and Thesis
Fall 2023ME 446Introduction to Feedback Control
Fall 2023ME 699Advanced Independent Study
Fall 2023ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Fall 2023ME 990Dissertator Research and Thesis
Spring 2023ME 492Mechanical Engineering Projects II
Spring 2023ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Spring 2023ME 990Dissertator Research and Thesis
Fall 2022ME 446Introduction to Feedback Control
Fall 2022ME 699Advanced Independent Study
Fall 2022ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Fall 2022ME 990Dissertator Research and Thesis
Spring 2022EMA 202Dynamics
Spring 2022ME 492Mechanical Engineering Projects II
Spring 2022ME 699Advanced Independent Study
Spring 2022ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Spring 2022ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Spring 2022ME 990Dissertator Research and Thesis
Fall 2021ME 446Introduction to Feedback Control
Fall 2021ME 491Mechanical Engineering Projects I
Fall 2021ME 492Mechanical Engineering Projects II
Fall 2021ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Fall 2021ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Fall 2021ME 990Dissertator Research and Thesis
Fall 2020ME 446Introduction to Feedback Control
Fall 2020ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Fall 2020ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Spring 2020EMA 202Dynamics
Spring 2020ME 699Advanced Independent Study
Spring 2020ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Spring 2020ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Fall 2019ME 446Introduction to Feedback Control
Fall 2019ME 699Advanced Independent Study
Fall 2019ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Fall 2019ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Spring 2019EMA 202Dynamics
Spring 2019ME 446Introduction to Feedback Control
Spring 2019ME 699Advanced Independent Study
Spring 2019ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Spring 2019ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Spring 2019ME 990Dissertator Research and Thesis
Fall 2018ME 446Introduction to Feedback Control
Fall 2018ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Fall 2018ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Fall 2018ME 990Dissertator Research and Thesis
Spring 2018ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Spring 2018ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Spring 2018ME 990Dissertator Research and Thesis
Fall 2017ME 340Dynamic Systems
Fall 2017ME 446Introduction to Feedback Control
Fall 2017ME 491Mechanical Engineering Projects I
Fall 2017ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Fall 2017ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Fall 2017ME 990Dissertator Research and Thesis
Spring 2017ME 340Dynamic Systems
Spring 2017ME 699Advanced Independent Study
Spring 2017ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Spring 2017ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Spring 2017ME 990Dissertator Research and Thesis
Fall 2016ME 446Introduction to Feedback Control
Fall 2016ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Fall 2016ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Fall 2016ME 990Dissertator Research and Thesis
Spring 2016ME 446Introduction to Feedback Control
Spring 2016ME 699Advanced Independent Study
Spring 2016ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Spring 2016ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Spring 2016ME 990Dissertator Research and Thesis
Fall 2015ME 699Advanced Independent Study
Fall 2015ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Fall 2015ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Fall 2015ME 990Dissertator Research and Thesis
Spring 2015ME 492Mechanical Engineering Projects II
Spring 2015ME 699Advanced Independent Study
Spring 2015ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Spring 2015ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Spring 2015ME 990Dissertator Research and Thesis
Fall 2014ME 489Honors in Research II
Fall 2014ME 491Mechanical Engineering Projects I
Fall 2014ME 699Advanced Independent Study
Fall 2014ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Fall 2014ME 890Phd Research and Thesis

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance 
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