fluid mechanics - ward
heat transfer - boles
thermo 2 - boles
dynamics of machines (vibrations) - h. tran or P. Ro.

Would like any information/opinions you have on the teachers. Thanks!

4/8/2010 2:12:21 PM

Tran for vibrations but that just may be that i like Tran's teaching style better. For some reason i do not understand Ro as well(not verablly just how he teaches). Both can speak English well. Tran is straight forward and blunt about his opinions about people. He will usually start class with a 10 minute rant about how some NCSU is screwing up.

IBTMTSS or locked

[Edited on April 8, 2010 at 2:22 PM. Reason : `]

4/8/2010 2:16:44 PM

okay, his class is full now and so is the wait list

hopefully i'll be able to squeeze in his classroom :/

4/8/2010 2:19:08 PM

tran's 315 class is much more practical. according to my friends, Ro is much more difficult. i had tran and he teaches a straightforward approach that you can just repeat on each problem he gives you.

boles is great for 310 and 302. you will learn your stuff. he's kinda intimidating and tries to come across like a hard-ass, but he's actually a pretty nice guy once you prove to him that you're not an idiot.

ward isn't a very good teacher, but his tests are easy and he grades easy. what are your other options for 308?

4/8/2010 2:21:25 PM

I'll sound off for my fellow MAEs!

Fluid Mech. - Ward: Alot of people don't like Ward. I had him for 308 in Fall of 2008 (his first semester here). I thought he was pretty good. A little awkward, but good. I'd hope he's improved his teaching style some. He doesn't have an engineering background, per se, so once in a blue moon he may misquote some fundamental engineering principle, but generally he's good for 308. IIRC, his background is math, physics, related to fluid mechanics. He definitely knows his fluid mechanics well. So, this is his thing moreso than say, thermal design (412). A toss up for this class really.

Heat Trans. - Boles: NRR pretty much covered Boles. He is an insanely smart guy when it comes to thermal stuff. If you want to come out knowing what you're talking about... take Boles. Do NOT take this class with Kuznetsov!

Thermo 2 - See above. If you took thermo 1 with Boles, I'd recommend taking thermo 2 with him. I didn't but I stepped it up to handle Boles, and did well.

Vibrations - Both are good teachers. BUT, one option to consider is taking Ro for both Vibrations & Controls later down the road. If you like his teaching style, then it may benefit you to take him for both of those classes. Personally, I like Tran's teaching style. The biggest thing w/ Tran is to make yourself known to him. Make sure he knows who you are and that you're working hard in his class. He appreciates that and will bend over backwards to help you learn. Yes, Tran is a very fundamental teacher. Often, his classes will cover less "material" and drill the basics of steps to solving a wide variety of problems. Tran calls this becoming "fundamentally sound" and I like that teaching style. I've taken Tran for Vibrations, senior design 415 and a special topics. I had Ro for Controls. As said above, both speak english well and are easy to approach (though both can be very difficult to track down in Broughton Hall if you need to ask a question).

Side note about Tran: what I was getting at earlier is - if Tran knows that you're a hard worker, he'll gladly help you out. Likewise, if he believes you're slack, he may avoid you and start to lose interest in helping someone who doesn't put forth plenty of effort.

4/8/2010 7:19:45 PM

Thanks guys! Great feedback.

Nrr - i have no other options for 308....I think ward's class was the only one open.

I'd like to take vibrations with Tran or ro, preferably Tran, but the classes are full and so is the wait list I'll keep an eye out for openings :/

4/8/2010 7:55:35 PM

I thought Boles was a dick, but I seem to be alone in that opinion.

4/8/2010 9:02:16 PM

Quote :

"Nrr - i have no other options for 308....I think ward's class was the only one open."

you'll be fine with ward. i had him for 308 and have him for 412 now and his teaching has improved significantly since then. when i had him for 308 it was his first semester teaching at ncsu.

^i think he tries to make you think he's a dick in thermo for some reason. he's pretty cool (for an MAE prof) in 407 and he was chill in 310. i'm not sure why he tries to make you think he's so mean in 301 and 302. best way to handle boles is kiss his ass and get on his good side, which bring me to a general piece of MAE (and life in general) advice:

Most of the time, kissing ass goes a lot further than being good.

go see teachers in office hours. act like you're very interested in the material whether or not you really care.

4/8/2010 9:52:06 PM

Tran also likes to go on 20-30 minute rants about sports for the first part of class. Very entertaining.

4/8/2010 10:46:42 PM

I had Tran for 315 and then Ro for controls (MAE435???). Tran is a lot better, like others said if you go to class and go to him if you are having trouble, he will help you out the best he can. He is very pationate about NCSU athletics.
I didn't like Ro at all. I thought he was a dick, his test were hard and his teaching methods were not very practical. Of course I had controls anyway, I had taken Lab III before taking controls, it would have helped me understand.

Boles is great, some will tell you he is a dick, but I enjoyed his classes, I had him for 301 and 302. He expects a lot out of you. If you go to class and don't screw off, he will definitely help you in his office hours.

I have no clue who Ward is, I guess he/she must have came in after I graduated.

[Edited on April 9, 2010 at 11:27 AM. Reason : :]

4/9/2010 11:26:29 AM

^^ LOL ... I remember how he compared NC State's team to a girl that you take on dates, then says she just wants to be friends.

4/9/2010 12:00:02 PM

Boles is pretty relaxed in 407. Just make sure you pay attention in his lower level classes, like Thermo 2 and Heat Transfer.

Also, for Thermo 2, if you can, I would get Echekki. His tests were easy if you knew the material, and he did an excellent job at teaching it. You would need to show up about every day, and he gives you the tools you need to do well on the test. I ended up with an A in his class.

After Echekki, I would say that Boles is a good choice, and he is your best choice for Heat Transfer.

4/10/2010 1:34:24 PM

^i'd have to disagree with you about echekki. yeah, his tests were easy, but he wasn't much of an instructor when i took his thermo 2 class. reading almost straight from the textbook during lecture wasn't particularly helpful, in my opinion.

4/10/2010 2:04:50 PM

^ agreed about Echekki

Take Tran if you can for any course, he's entertaining and still gets the knowledge across. As said above though, don't be a slacker w/ him. He rewards dedication and general effort. Act like an idiot around him and you won't get far.

Boles for anything Thermo/Heat related.

[Edited on April 10, 2010 at 4:26 PM. Reason : -]

4/10/2010 4:23:08 PM

^^ When I took Echekki, he didn't even have the book out. He had some hand written notes, and we even talked about content that was beyond the scope of the textbook.

4/10/2010 6:24:39 PM

1 PHI 214 ISSUES BUS ETHICS
02 PHI 375 ETHICS
03 STS 302 CONT SCI TECH VALU
04 STS 304 ETHICAL PROGRESS
05 STS 320 ETHICS IN ENGINEERing

turns out 315 is closed for next semester, so i'm going to get an ethics out of the way....opinions on these 5 if youve had any of them.

4/12/2010 2:37:11 PM

i'm in STS 302 distance ed with Tavakoli. one quiz and a couple discussion posts each week. a lot of reading. two easy papers.

i'd say whatever you take, make sure it's online.

4/12/2010 4:30:56 PM

I had 302 with Hamlett. He was ok. Based on NRR and some others I've talked to, anything w/ Tavakoli and/or online would be better than in-class in general, probably easier than Hamlett.

4/13/2010 9:24:22 AM