2015 Fall Outline CIVE 4500

CARLETON UNIVERSITY
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

CIVE 4500/5602 Computer Methods in Civil Engineering
Fall 2015
Lecture:
PA:
Instructor:
Wed. 11:30-14:30
ME 2256
Mon. 11:30-14:30 (Even Weeks)
ME 2256
Holtz, N.M.
Room 3368 ME
Phone 520-2600 Ext. 5797
[email protected]
Office Hours:
Open Door Policy, with some regular times
http://holtz3.cee.carleton.ca/~nholtz/office-hours.cgi
Objective:
This course is an introduction to computer programming methods for civil engineers.
Course Webpage:
https://culearn.carleton.ca/
Calendar Description (CIVE 4500):

Advanced software development for Civil Engineering applications. Examples may be chosen from
surveying, transportation, geotechnical and/or structural engineering. Software technologies include
object-oriented programming, data base management, Internet-based applications and graphical
user interfaces. Also offered, at the graduate level with additional or different requirements, as CIVE
5602 for which additional credit is precluded.
Prerequisite(s): ECOR 2606 and fourth-year status in Engineering.
Lectures three hours a week, problem analysis three hours alternate weeks.
Who Should Take This Course:

You should take this course only if you have found previous courses in computer programming (such
as ECOR 1606 and the Matlab portion of ECOR 2606) interesting and not difficult - or if you have
self-taught yourself considerable programming skills. The course is mostly about computer
programming, for which you will learn a new programming language Python. You will be given
time to learn the details and peculiarities of Python, but it is assumed that you already know, or will
quickly learn on your own, general programming concepts such as looping, decisions, and
procedures and the ability to understand and express algorithms in programming language form..
Object oriented programming will be important, but it will be covered quickly as part of the course
material.
What You Will Learn:

It is expected that students taking this course will have some interest in developing software for
engineering applications. You will learn advanced programming techniques in the Python
programming language, applied to common problems in structural engineering. These are useful in
their own right, but are easilly transferable to other programming languages in other application
areas. Much application programming these days deals with gluing existing applications together
to solve different problems, or to solve problems differently. Python is an exceptionally good glue
language and what you will learn will make it easier for you to program in this enviornment.
References:
1. http://www.python.org/
(General Python info).
2. https://store.continuum.io/cshop/anaconda/ (Download Anaconda Python version 2.7)

3. Course notes (to be provided see cuLearn)
Tentative Course Outline Subject to Major Revision during Week 1:

Use of object oriented computer programming techniques, and the Python programming language,
to develop software for Civil Engineering applications, such as those encountered in structural
engineering. Some of the computing techniques studied may include:
Introduction to the Jupyter (Ipython) notebook.
Working with tabular data.
Modelling and processing of Civil Engineering networks.
The Python programming language will be used for all implementations. Familiarity with, and interest
in, computer programming is essential, but knowledge of Python is not.
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Week
Date
Topics
Sep. 2
Introduction to the notebook (Jupyter); examples. Introduction to the Python

programming language. Variables, expressions, scalar data types,
statements, decision making.
2.
Sep. 9
Python programming. Loops, functions, iteration.
3.
Sep. 16 Python programming. Structured data: lists, tuples, sets, dictionaries.
4.
Sep. 23 Python programming. Objects.
5.
Sep. 30 Numerical programming and plotting. Numpy, pylab.
6.
Oct. 7
7.
Oct. 14 Symbolic programming. Sympy. Midterm Examination.
8.
Oct. 21 User interface design, interactive notebooks.
9.
Nov. 4
10.
Nov. 11 Stiffness analysis (matrix methods).
11.
Nov 18. Tabular data processing. Pandas.
12.
Nov. 25 Tabular data processing; time-series data.
13.
Dec. 2
PAs:
Numerical programming, array and matrix arithmetic.
Stiffness analysis (matrix methods).
Civil engineering networks (structures, piping networks, project management).
1: Sep. 14, 2: Sep. 28, 3: Nov. 2, 4: Nov. 16, 5: Nov. 30.
Notes:
1. The weekly outline may be revised significantly to account for class interests and/or
difficulties.
2. The course website is important and will be used extensively: https://culearn.carleton.ca/
3. The details of the topics covered may change between now and the second lecture on
September 9. In any case, the overwhelming theme of this course is software development.
You will spend most of your time learning to develop small computer programs using the
Python programming language. We will not cover the use of existing applications software
for Civil Engineering, unless that happens to coincide with the main thrust.
Grading Scheme:
Item
CIVE4500
CIVE5602
5 Assignments.
25%
25%
Midterm Examination
25%
35%
50%
40%
100%
100%
Project
Final Exam (Written+Oral)
Total
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Academic Accommodation
You may need special arrangements to meet your academic obligations during the term. For an
accommodation request the processes are as follows:
Pregnancy obligation: write to me with any requests for academic accommodation during the first
two weeks of class, or as soon as possible after the need for accommodation is known to exist. For
more details see the Student Guide
Religious obligation: write to me with any requests for academic accommodation during the first
two weeks of class, or as soon as possible after the need for accommodation is known to exist. For
more details see the Student Guide
Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities: The Paul Menton Centre for Students
with Disabilities (PMC) provides services to students with Learning Disabilities (LD),
psychiatric/mental health disabilities, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism
Spectrum Disorders (ASD), chronic medical conditions, and impairments in mobility, hearing, and
vision. If you have a disability requiring academic accommodations in this course, please contact
PMC at 613-520-6608 or [email protected] for a formal evaluation. If you are already registered
with the PMC, contact your PMC coordinator to send me your Letter of Accommodation at the
beginning of the term, and no later than two weeks before the first in-class scheduled test or exam
requiring accommodation (if applicable). After requesting accommodation from PMC, meet with me
to ensure accommodation arrangements are made. Please consult the PMC website for the deadline
to request accommodations for the formally-scheduled exam (if applicable).
You can visit the Equity Services website to view the policies and to obtain more detailed information
on academic accommodation at http://www2.carleton.ca/equity/accomodation/.
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CARLETON UNIVERSITY

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Calendar Description (CIVE 4500):

Who Should Take This Course:

What You Will Learn:

(General Python info).

2. https://store.continuum.io/cshop/anaconda/ (Download Anaconda Python version 2.7)

Tentative Course Outline Subject to Major Revision during Week 1:

Introduction to the notebook (Jupyter); examples. Introduction to the Python

Python programming. Loops, functions, iteration.

Sep. 16 Python programming. Structured data: lists, tuples, sets, dictionaries.

Sep. 23 Python programming. Objects.

Sep. 30 Numerical programming and plotting. Numpy, pylab.

Oct. 14 Symbolic programming. Sympy. Midterm Examination.

Oct. 21 User interface design, interactive notebooks.

Nov. 11 Stiffness analysis (matrix methods).

Nov 18. Tabular data processing. Pandas.

Nov. 25 Tabular data processing; time-series data.

Numerical programming, array and matrix arithmetic.

Stiffness analysis (matrix methods).

Civil engineering networks (structures, piping networks, project management).

1: Sep. 14, 2: Sep. 28, 3: Nov. 2, 4: Nov. 16, 5: Nov. 30.

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