Principles of Modeling and Systems in STEM

Catalog description

The course introduces students to the practices of modeling and systems thinking in the context of the STEM disciplines. Models are simplifications of more complex systems that are used to test predictions, refine explanations, and make the invisible visible. Students will investigate links between biology and physics via case studies of biomimicry, do hands-on, lab-based investigations involving turbulence in liquids, stability of structures, and wind tunnel tests of air foils. They will use computer simulations to explore gas diffusion, emergent behaviors of flocks of birds in flight, factors impacting the spread of epidemics. System modeling software will enable the study of static vs dynamic equilibrium with feedback. Artificial neural network systems will enable students to train machines to learn and to understand how Large Language Model and Generative AI programs work.