I am unable to decide between MECH ENG 4H03 (Gary Bone) and ELEC ENG 4PK4 (Schofield). I've heard/read mixed reviews about both the courses so far. The previous post too was not necessarily helpful and so I thought I'd ask again. Anybody know anything about the two courses to get some new insight (course content difficulty, profs teaching,) ?


thanks

Depends on what you want to do. PLCs or Power systems.

Frankly, I think 4PK4 is more on the money. There you get practical design experience, while 4H03 is just theory without any hands on PLC programming.

How is the difficulty in terms of understanding the course content and help from TA's if necessary for each of the courses to your knowledge? I've heard bad things about 4PK4 when Dr. hadara taught the course. Haven't had Gary Bone as a prof before so can't gauge his teaching style.

Ah, this brings back memories. You might want to take a look here.

Thanks for replies. I've gone over that post before but it wasn't necessarily helpful as it was focused more on the profs teaching style (grading and so on.) as opposed to the course content itself and the general level of difficulty. Personally I'm interested in learning a bit of both PLCs and power systems as they both seem to cover topics that may be useful, however since its an elective, I would rather take one that's relatively easier to understand. Right now im leaning more towards 4PK4 but still not convinced enough to stay !



thanks

Elec Eng 4PK4 is being taught by a PhD student named Omid Beik instead of Schofield. I've been to one lecture with him and I'd say that so far he seems to teach better than most of the professors I've had in Elec Eng. From his slides, the main topics in the course are:

- Introduction to Power Electronics, Power Computation and Definitions
- Power semiconductor devices
- Line Frequency Diode Rectifiers
- Phase Controlled Converters
- DC/DC Converters
- Inverters

There are four labs and an assignment, four quizzes, and a final exam in the course. As for practical design? Probably not in this course. But it does seem like it will be well taught.

How are Dr. Gary Bones midterms/Exams in terms of difficulty and grading? After two lectures, I've come to learn he does not hold tutorials until the day before midterms/exams which means its mostly take home practice questions. However to me, 4PK4 unlike 4H03 seems to be structured primarily around power systems (ac/dC, invertors and so on) which as a Comp Eng is less useful than PLC programming, sensors and actuators taught in 4H03 but Omid Beik seems to be a better prof than Bone. Both have pros/cons making it all the more harder to choose.

Originally Posted by Kevinabrahak

How are Dr. Gary Bones midterms/Exams in terms of difficulty and grading? After two lectures, I've come to learn he does not hold tutorials until the day before midterms/exams which means its mostly take home practice questions. However to me, 4PK4 unlike 4H03 seems to be structured primarily around power systems (ac/dC, invertors and so on) which as a Comp Eng is less useful than PLC programming, sensors and actuators taught in 4H03 but Omid Beik seems to be a better prof than Bone. Both have pros/cons making it all the more harder to choose.

He's tough as shit. I took his class in 1st term last year.

Yeah, by all means this isn't a course for you. We don't do any actual PLC programming here. This course is more of a generic introduction into mechatronics for Mechanical students, which Mechatronics students have to take because their program is shit. Everything we do here is pretty much already known to Mechatronics and ECE students. It's just a waste of time.

If I were you I'd take 4PK4 course, it will look badass on your resume and it will actually give you some solid design skill and knowledge.

Originally Posted by GeorgeLucas

He's tough as shit. I took his class in 1st term last year.

If I were you I'd take 4PK4 course, it will look badass on your resume and it will actually give you some solid design skill and knowledge.

George, If you don't mind me asking, how well did you fare on both of these courses overall (assuming you've taken both or at least one of the two) as a percentage/Grade or however you best would like to describe your final standing in the course?

I am taking 4H03, and I have friends who took both classes so I am more or less aware of what both courses offer. Also I'm familiar with how Dr. Bone teaches his classes from past years.

So it's not exactly a first hand experience, sorry. But I can't stress this enough, if I had a choice I'd go with 4PK4, it's hard not because of wacky curriculum, it's hard because they actually teach you something and you spend a lot of time in the lab.

Thanks George. Would you by any chance have a sample past midterm for MECH 4H03/ELEC 4PK4? Just trying to get an idea of how the exams are structured for the two courses. As of now however, I think i'll stay enrolled in 4PK4.

I could cook something up, but I make no promises. Most of my ECE friends have graduated, but I might be able to find 4H03.

I PMed you a link.

I'm a final year Tron student taking 4H03 this term with Dr. Bone.

Speaking strictly for this course itself, please avoid it. At all costs. He is an absolutely terrible lecturer, and quite frankly I feel like I have yet to learn anything of value from this class. If anything, this should have been a 3rd year course for Tron students, I have absolutely 0 idea why it's a 4th year last term class.

1 month into the term, his lectures have focused on nothing but theory. His notes that he uploads online are full of calculations and such, and the midterm 1 formula sheet is a page long. But he has not actually done any problems in class. His lectures (so far at least, but 1 month in I doubt it'll change much..) are very focused on exploring the different components that make up a Mechatronics system (for instance, we've spent most of this month looking at different types of sensors; we're onto actuators now), and he loves to spend a bunch of time showing us actual sensors via an overhead projector. But he doesn't actually do anything with all that theory; just teaches it.

Overall, my impression: just a terrible course, with a terrible prof. Spend your time elsewhere.

I have absolutely 0 idea why it's a 4th year last term class.

I think it's because Tron originally was designed by the same mouth breather that created Software program 10 years before that. A person that knew nothing about the field, and could not adapt it to rapid changes.

Also tron is generally treated like shit by the University (presumably because it's part of CAS). We never get to study things in the proper streams so we opt out for inferior substitutes (Eng Phys thermo instead of Mech Eng, Eng Phys electromagnetics instead of Elec Eng... etc), which causes us to have classes out of order. One of the profs said that it's because other departments want nothing to do with us, because noone knows what the fuck we learn and how well the subjects are taught. Which is weird, because from my experience, Tron could be fused with Comp Eng and noone would notice.

1 month into the term, his lectures have focused on nothing but theory.

We will not be doing PLCs in a class about PLCs, because they don't have the budget. Probably because all the money goes to grad school and the sports teams.