16.842  Fundamentals of Systems Engineering

Final Exam graded

The final exam in 16.842 has been graded. You should each have received an email with your grade and some comments. A master solution has also been posted in the homework/exams folder.

The average score was: 8.7 Points out of 10

Standard Deviation was: 0.8 Points

Generally I was very pleased with your performance. One question that a number of people got wrong (which surprised me a bit) was that it is at PDR that a concept/architecture should have been chosen. Also the NPV question (correct answer: $2.2M) assumed that you are already discounting in year 1.
I was most pleased with the intelligent self-reflections that most of you provided regarding your team's performance in the design competition.

So, you are now done with all your obligations with respect to 16.842. Your grades in HW4 should be posted in the next few days and your final class grade will be available on WEBSIS in a few days.

I hope you enjoyed this class. As I said at the beginning it is simply a "door opener" to systems engineering. If you are interested to learn more I recommend 16.888/ESD.77 which will be taught next time in Spring 2012.

Happy Holidays and I hope you get some rest and relaxing time with family and friends. Lets hope for some snow.

Cheers

Prof. Olivier "Oli" de Weck

Announced on 12 December 2010  10:47  p.m. by Olivier L de Weck

HW4 Master Solution posted

The master solution for HW4 in 16.842 has been posted to stellar. Also available is a spreadsheet that shows the calculations for problems 3 and 4.

The final grades for the class as a whole will be available next week.

Your answers to the final exam are due in one hour at 6PM Eastern Time.

Cheers

Prof. Olivier "Oli" de Weck

Announced on 11 December 2010  4:57  p.m. by Olivier L de Weck

Final Exam Q8

I received a number of questions about Q8 in the final exam. All I can say is that there is no error in the way the question is written. Trust your calculations and judgment.

Cheers

Prof. Olivier "Oli" de Weck

Announced on 10 December 2010  10:44  p.m. by Olivier L de Weck

Questions about 16.842 Question 8 - response

Question:

Oli,

Two quick questions about Question 8 of the SE final:

1. Should we add a 2 km/s for atmospheric and gravity gradient losses to the delta-v requirement of 11.2 km/s?

2. When you write structural mass fraction, I am assuming you mean [structural mass / (structural mass + propellant mass + payload mass)] as suggested by SMAD. Is that correct?

Thanks!

Howard

- - -

Answers:

1. I did not want you to add an extra 2 km/sec for losses, so use the straight 11.2 km/sec in your calculations. However if you did add 2km/s already I will try not to penalize you.

2. The structural mass fraction I had in mind was m_struct / (m_struct+m_fuel), so keeping the m_payload separate. But again f you included payload in the denominator I will try to be generous.

Cheers

Oli

Announced on 09 December 2010  10:38  a.m. by Olivier L de Weck

16.842 - Final Exam is now open !

The final online exam in 16.842 is now open. Please go to the following URL:

http://bit.ly/dF4qwk

It is recommended that you prepare your answers offline and enter them in a single session (it may not be possible to close your browser and save intermediate answers).

The site will be open until Saturday, December 11, 2010 at 10PM.

Results from the final and your final class grade will be available by December 17 at the latest. Please check WEBSIS for the final class grade.

Good Luck

Prof. Olivier "Oli" de Weck

Announced on 09 December 2010  8:06  a.m. by Olivier L de Weck