CEE 4795 - Sensors for the Built and Natural Environments

Spring. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

Prerequisite: CEE 3040, CEE 3200. Co-meets with CEE 5795.

G. McLaskey.

Sensors are the link between the physical world and engineering decision making. This course introduces students to a wide variety of sensors with a specific focus on civil and environmental engineering applications such as material testing, structural health monitoring, traffic engineering, air and water quality monitoring, structural testing, watershed engineering, and geotechnical and subsurface energy applications. This course is intended to teach students how to implement sensors to measure physical quantities, conduct experiments, and develop monitoring tools for the natural environment and our engineered systems. Course topics include general introduction to different classes of sensors, data acquisition, signals, noise, system calibration, and uncertainty.

Outcome 1: Use information theory to design an optimal data acquisition procedure.

Outcome 2: Calibrate or characterize the sensor/acquisition process with respect to underlying physical quantities, and quantify uncertainty associated with those measurements.

Outcome 3: Design and assemble a sensing system for a specific measuring/monitoring application