Engineering Sequence Study Experience During Fall Semester of BSE
At Princeton University, the Engineering (EGR) Sequence offers a unique and valuable approach to learning engineering concepts for Computer Science BSE students. This sequence, taught by Professor Claire Gmachl among others, covers the basics of physics through lectures and labs, providing a foundation for using math and physics in real-world scenarios.
The EGR Sequence is designed to offer an applied perspective, focusing on system design, control theory, and data-driven approaches. This alignment with fields like robotics, control systems, and real-world computing problems makes it an attractive choice for students seeking a practical, system-oriented, and computational engineering education.
One such student is Shannon Yeow, who found the EGR Sequence to be more useful for their future career. In their first year at Princeton, they enrolled in EGR 151, a course eligible to fulfill the first semester of BSE physics requirements. The course began with a lab involving the use of computer-aided design software Creo to design a puzzle. The second lab focused on data-gathering and analysis, culminating in a lab report written using LateX.
The final lab in EGR 151 was a design project where students created a lecture desk extender known as the Unfold Behold. This hands-on aspect of EGR courses was extremely valuable to Shannon, who also strongly recommends going to professor or TA office hours for students currently in the EGR sequence.
EGR 152, a course eligible to fulfill the second of four BSE math requirements, builds upon the foundations laid in EGR 151. It begins at the level of Calculus II and is recommended for students who seek to fulfill their BSE requirements with an application focus. The course provides students with essential math fundamentals and features guest speakers from Princeton's Graduate School discussing engineering research.
Shannon Yeow, who is now in their second year at Princeton, considers the EGR Sequence to be an academic highlight of their first year. They mention that with essentially no background in physics, they struggled with the fast pace and conceptual aspects of EGR courses. However, going to office hours nearly every week allowed them to gain more clarity on problem sets and form bonds with classmates.
For students considering the EGR Sequence, Shannon Yeow highly recommends it as a means of fulfilling their first-year BSE requirements in application-based fundamentals courses. They found the focus on application-based learning in EGR courses to be useful in shaping their perspective on how the fundamentals of math and physics shape the world today.
In conclusion, the EGR Sequence offers a valuable and practical approach to learning engineering concepts for Computer Science BSE students at Princeton University. Its application-based setting provides a foundation for using math and physics in real-world scenarios, making it an attractive choice for students seeking a practical, system-oriented, and computational engineering education.
The EGR Sequence, with its focus on application-based learning, supports students' personal growth and education-and-self-development by shaping their perspective on how the fundamentals of math and physics apply in real-world situations. For career paths in computational engineering, the practical, system-oriented approach offered by the EGR Sequence, as demonstrated by Shannon Yeow's experience, is highly beneficial for learning and fostering personal-growth.
