Spring 2020-21
Prof. Asim Tewari
Author: Navjit Debnath
Pre-requisite courses: None(however, having taken AE 102 puts you at a slight advantage)
Pre-requisite skills: Basic proficiency with Python(having experience with OpenCV in Python and Maple is a bonus, though you can easily pick up the level of proficiency required as the course goes along). At least one assignment will be a coding assignment requiring OpenCV and another where the Professor prefers you use Maple(no marks for that, just for your own learning).
Course Content: Concepts and language of stereology; geometrical probability; fundamental operations in stereology; averaging with respect to orientation; basic stereological parameters on true 2-D sections and thick sections; topological parameters of microstructure; error analysis; applications of analysis of optical, scanning and transmission electron micrographs; numerical density and size distribution of particles and grains of various shapes and sizes; stereological analysis of anisotropic microstructures; fractal description of various microstructures; fractal dimensions and its significance; applications to characterization of martensitic, polycrystalline and other structures and fracture surfaces. Application of digital image analysis for quantitative analysis of microstructures and mathematical models in stereology
Motivation to take up the course: I was denied registration for a DE course(as I had already registered for a minor course SC 202) and was looking for an interesting course to take up as ALC. A senior suggested me this course and I read up a bit about stereology and its applications and loved what I saw!
Information about Projects/Assignments: There were five assignments planed, however we got only three. The first assignment was intended as application of OpenCV and involved fairly basic programming in Python(Ae 102 and AE 225 should more than prepare you for that). The second was a simple assignment designed only to get the student familiar with Maple but could just as simply be done by hand. The third was a little more involved theoretical derivation based on a paper and the preceding lecture but very doable. The Professor also expects you to explore ImageJ, however there wasn’t any assignment testing that.
Quizzes/Midsem/Endsem papers Difficulty: 5/5
Overall Course Difficulty: 3/5
Evaluation Structure: There were 3 assignments, one mid-semester examination and one end-semester examination. The assignments had extremely lax deadlines, midsem was a 3-hour open notes, open book, open internet exam(extended to 3.5 hours, and the Professor had shared some previous years’ papers as well for preparation) and the endsem was a take-home paper with around two weeks’ deadline(full syllabus). The marks breakup was as follows: 5% attendance, 25% assignments(planned to be five), 30% midsem, 40% endsem. Grading was extremely liberal and the exams were meant to be for intellectual challenge, not strict evaluation. For audit grade, more than 80% attendance and submission of all assignments were required.
Lecture Style and Delivery: The lectures were simply great! However, as the course went on, the Professor was disappointed at the low attendance and lack of discussion; but to his credit, maintained his enthusiasm till the last lecture. The Professor starts from the very basics(some mathematical preliminaries would seem rushed but he shares resources and you can work on them after class) and builds up to advanced results all by hand, so it’s very lucid and visual. There are also a lot of examples across fields sprinkled in between the slides to inspire the varied applications of stereology. However, due to there being no TA, there weren’t any tutorials(which the Professor was informed about and may change in the next offering) and lag in sharing slides and recordings. Overall, a great course if you want to explore a new field/technique or just enjoy learning!
Attendance Policy: None
General funda: Be curious, be interactive as much as possible and it really helps if you register with at least one more person you know well.
Should you do this course?: Any sophomore or above(the class included an Aerospace sophomore and an MEMS post-doc)