Hi guys,

It's that time of the year again for course selection and I'm deciding between EE 4PK4 and Mech Eng 4H03 for technical elective. How's the course compared to 3CL4? How is the work load and concepts taught in these courses? Any help would be great

As a student that took 4PK4 last year, if its hadarra teaching it again i would advise you to stay the fuck away from it. Nothing against hadarra as he is a great prof and very friendly, but the class averages on tests were brutal, the TA's marking had no reason, and the class was quite unorganized. I would go with 4h03. PK and TM are two of the more difficult courses you can take in fourth year elec eng.

I wouldn't go with 4H03 either, Dr. Bone gives the worst lectures and it turned out to be the worst course I have taken when I thought it would be one of my favorites. I simply stopped going to his lectures. There are 3 midterms and a final exam. No assignments and labs since it's a 3 unit course. The final exam is worth 60%.

Darn I see. Guess there is no easy way out then lol. It's a guy called SCHOFIELD teaching both EE 4PK4 and 4PL4 instead of haddara this time. Will that make it better?

Oh btw how's comp eng 4ek4? Chen is teaching it this fall and he wasn't that bad in 3pi4 giving us tips and hints of the exam but it doesn't look like a popular course (4ek4) for some reason. Just wondering how's the course structured along with that term project stated in the outline.

Look into ENG PHYS 4P03, I chose that as my technical elective and it was relatively straightforward. Of course, it was a topic of interest for me.

*edit*

Whoops, I meant Faculty of Engineering technical elective.

Originally Posted by blue41

Darn I see. Guess there is no easy way out then lol. It's a guy called SCHOFIELD teaching both EE 4PK4 and 4PL4 instead of haddara this time. Will that make it better?

For 4PL4, anyone is better than Ziemann, the guy who taught it last year. he took a course with generally interesting material, and made me hate the entire course. His lack of organization was apparent in all facets of the course, and he screwed students over on the final exam by giving us material the night before the morning exam to learn, as well as telling us to focus on material (the 2003 blackout) that would for sure be on the exam, and never was. Hated the prof, wish i could have had someone better teach me the material, as it was the course i was most looking forward to

It's a different prof teaching 4PK4, so I cannot comment on how it will be. Haddara taught the course last year and he did not know what the fuck was going on (it was not in his field, and it was the first time he taught it). The course material was fairly interesting and if it is a good prof teaching it, it should be a useful course.
No one will be able to tell you how Scholfield's tests or courses are as he is a new prof at McMaster, so next years class will be the guinea pigs. However I did deal with him a bit during the course of my 4OI6 project, and he seems to know a lot about power electronics.
As for Mech Eng 4H03, the course was really boring - the material itself is very interesting, but Gary Bone had the most melancholy voice and teaching style, which made the lectures unbearable. The marking of tests in that course was very harsh (for ex. you would lose half of your marks if you forgot to include units, if you made a numerical error you would lose anywhere from a third to half your marks, etc).

Originally Posted by jupiter

*snip*

As for Mech Eng 4H03, the course was really boring - the material itself is very interesting, but Gary Bone had the most melancholy voice and teaching style, which made the lectures unbearable. The marking of tests in that course was very harsh (for ex. you would lose half of your marks if you forgot to include units, if you made a numerical error you would lose anywhere from a third to half your marks, etc).

Oh, good grief. I hate when they do that. I guess I shall prepare myself mentally, starting now.

Originally Posted by Zachary

Oh, good grief. I hate when they do that. I guess I shall prepare myself mentally, starting now.

Haha for some reason i pictured your megaman avatar being the one saying that line

Originally Posted by Chris23

Haha for some reason i pictured your megaman avatar being the one saying that line

Haha, it is rather appropriate to the phrase isn't it? It could even be canon if Dr Wily was teaching the course.

Originally Posted by Chris23

As a student that took 4PK4 last year, if its hadarra teaching it again i would advise you to stay the fuck away from it. Nothing against hadarra as he is a great prof and very friendly, but the class averages on tests were brutal, the TA's marking had no reason, and the class was quite unorganized. I would go with 4h03. PK and TM are two of the more difficult courses you can take in fourth year elec eng.

4PK4 was the most retarded course I have EVER taken

Thanks for the insight guys

Originally Posted by blue41

Oh btw how's comp eng 4ek4? Chen is teaching it this fall and he wasn't that bad in 3pi4 giving us tips and hints of the exam but it doesn't look like a popular course (4ek4) for some reason. Just wondering how's the course structured along with that term project stated in the outline.

He doesnt give an outline for the course project (40% weight). He marks it based on your peers.. so if theres one guy in your class who only has like 2 courses that term, he will most likely set the bar for your marks. Expect about a 75-80 on the project. The tests were ok, he gives you a hint (kind of...) the day before the test.