Spring (3) Mr. Hinders: (Prerequisite: Applied Science 723 or by instructor’s permission). This course is intended at the graduate level for second-year students in NDE as well as interested Physics graduate students. The application of this material is to both materials characterization and remote sensing where acoustic and/or electromagnetic wave scattering is employed to extract information about the system of interest. Subjects to be covered are:
Classical electricity and magnetism is a prerequisite, and all students are expected to have taken two semesters of undergraduate E&M and perhaps a graduate course also. Background in acoustics is not necessary although some exposure to continuum mechanics would be helpful. Acoustics is introduced initially as a ``scalar version'' of EM theory. Text for this course will be ``Field Representations and Introduction to Scattering'' by Varadan et al. Computer programming is required in this course, but not significant numerical analysis. There is no formal laboratory portion to this course, but application of the techniques developed to experimental techniques of interest to the members of the class will be explored in some detail.
Although exercises designed to reinforce the material in the lectures and readings will be assigned, they will not be collected and graded. Students will be expected to work together in a collaborative fashion to master this increasingly complex and sophisticated material. Regular class time will be set aside each week for discussion of the material and exercises under study, in addition to on-going informal discussions of the work outside of class time. Examinations will be given at mid-term and the end of the semester. In addition, each student will be required to prepare and present to the class a 25-page research proposal following the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) guidelines from an appropriate Federal agency. This can be either a $100,000 Phase I proposal describing proof-of-concept R&D for an idea generated in the class, or a $750,000 Phase II proposal culminating in a commercializeable prototype if based on preliminary proof-of-concept research done during the previous summer and fall. In many cases these proposals will be shared with one or more of our industrial partners for consideration for actual submission for funding.
The course meets Mondays and Wednesdays 4:30 -- 6pm in Wren 301.