This seminar focuses on the cognitive science of moral reasoning. Philosophers debate how we decide which moral actions are permissible. Is it permissible to take one human life in order to save others? We have powerful and surprisingly rich and subtle intuitions to such questions. In this class, you will learn how intuitions can be studied using formal analytical paradigms and behavioral experiments. Thursday evening, meet to learn about recent advances in theories of moral reasoning. Overnight, formulate a hypothesis about the structure of moral reasoning and design a questionnaire-based experiment to test this. Friday, present and select 1-2 proposals and collect data; we will then reconvene to analyze and discuss results and implications for the structure of the moral mind.

The aim of the Portfolio Seminar is to assist in developing a critical position in relationship to their design work. By engaging multiple forms of representation, written and visual, students will explore methods that facilitate describing and representing their design work. Through a critical assessment of their existing portfolios, students will first be challenged to articulate design theses and interests in their past projects. Different mediums of representation will then be studied in order to hone an understanding of the relationship between form and content, and more specifically, the understanding of particular modes of representation as different filters through which their work can be read. Some of the questions that will be addressed are: How does one go about describing an image? How does one theorize representation? How does one articulate a design thesis in writing verses visual media? How can the two interact to enhance each other? How do different media, printed verses web publishing, affect the representation of work? How is your work best communicated.

This course covers basic topics in autonomous marine vehicles, focusing mainly on software and algorithms for autonomous decision making (autonomy) by underwater vehicles operating in the ocean environments, autonomously adapting to the environment for improved sensing performance. It will introduce students to underwater acoustic communication environment, as well as the various options for undersea navigation, both crucial to the operation of collaborative undersea networks for environmental sensing. Sensors for acoustic, biological and chemical sensing by underwater vehicles and their integration with the autonomy system for environmentally adaptive undersea mapping and observation will be covered. The subject will have a significant lab component, involving the use of the MOOS-IvP autonomy software infrastructure for developing integrated sensing, modeling and control solutions for a variety of ocean observation problems, using simulation environments and a field testbed with small autonomous surface craft and underwater vehicles operated on the Charles River.

" This course is an introduction to chemical oceanography. It describes reservoir models and residence time, major ion composition of seawater, inputs to and outputs from the ocean via rivers, the atmosphere, and the sea floor. Biogeochemical cycling within the oceanic water column and sediments, emphasizing the roles played by the formation, transport, and alteration of oceanic particles and the effects that these processes have on seawater composition. Cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, and sulfur. Uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide by the ocean. Material presented through lectures and student-led presentation and discussion of recent papers."

The structure of the course is designed to have students acquire a broad understanding of the field of Marine Chemistry; to get a feel for experimental methodologies, the results that they have generated and the theoretical insights they have yielded to date.

In this course the fundamentals of fluid mechanics are developed in the context of naval architecture and ocean science and engineering. The various topics covered are: Transport theorem and conservation principles, Navier-Stokes' equation, dimensional analysis, ideal and potential flows, vorticity and Kelvin's theorem, hydrodynamic forces in potential flow, D'Alembert's paradox, added-mass, slender-body theory, viscous-fluid flow, laminar and turbulent boundary layers, model testing, scaling laws, application of potential theory to surface waves, energy transport, wave/body forces, linearized theory of lifting surfaces, and experimental project in the towing tank or propeller tunnel.

Provides an understanding of the distribution of organic carbon (OC) in marine sediments from a global and molecular-level perspective. Surveys the mineralization and preservation of OC in the water column and within anoxic and oxic marine sediments. Topics include: OC composition, reactivity and budgets within, and fluxes through, major reservoirs; microbial recycling pathways for OC; models for OC degradation and preservation; role of anoxia in OC burial; relationships between dissolved and particulate (sinking and suspended) OC; methods for characterization of sedimentary organic matter; application of biological markers as tools in oceanography. Both structural and isotopic aspects are covered.

This course discusses the selection and evaluation of commercial and naval ship power and propulsion systems. It will cover the analysis of propulsors, prime mover thermodynamic cycles, propeller-engine matching, propeller selection, waterjet analysis, and reviews alternative propulsors. The course also investigates thermodynamic analyses of Rankine, Brayton, Diesel, and Combined cycles, reduction gears and integrated electric drive. Battery operated vehicles and fuel cells are also discussed. The term project requires analysis of alternatives in propulsion plant design for given physical, performance, and economic constraints. Graduate students complete different assignments and exams.

15.810 Marketing Management is designed to serve as an introduction to the theory and practice of marketing. Students will improve their ability to develop effective marketing strategies and assess market opportunities, as well as design strategy implementation programs. In addition, students will have the opportunity to communicate and defend their recommendations and build upon the recommendations of their peers. We will explore the theory and applications of marketing concepts through a mix of cases, discussions, lectures, guest speakers, individual assignments, and group projects. We will draw materials from a variety of sources and settings including services, consumer and business-to-business products.

Introduces tools from strategy and economics to look systematically at marketing strategy. Topics include how to find profit opportunities, how to create competitive advantage, and how to challenge competitive advantage. Taught as a mix of cases and lectures. The course is aimed at helping you look at the entire marketing mix in light of the strategy of the firm. It will be most helpful to students pursuing careers in which they need to look at the firm as a whole. Examples include consultants, investment analysts, entrepreneurs, and product managers. Objectives 1. Identify, evaluate, and develop marketing strategies. 2. Evaluate a firm's opportunities. 3. Anticipate competitive dynamics. 4. Evaluate the sustainability of competitive advantages.

This course is a core requirement for the Masters in Engineering program designed to teach students about the roles of today's professional engineer and expose them to team-building skills through lectures, team workshops, and seminars. Topics include: written and oral communication, job placement skills, trends in the engineering and construction industry, risk analysis and risk management, managing public information, proposal preparation, project evaluation, project management, liability, professional ethics, and negotiation. The course draws on relevant large-scale projects to illustrate each component of the subject.

Close study of a limited group of writers. Instruction and practice in oral and written communication. Topic for Fall: Willa Cather. Topic for Spring: Oscar Wilde and the 90s.

This course is a required sophomore subject in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, designed to be taken in conjunction with the core lecture subject 3.012 Fundamentals of Materials Science and Engineering. The laboratory subject combines experiments illustrating the principles of quantum mechanics, thermodynamics and structure with intensive oral and written technical communication practice. Specific topics include: experimental exploration of the connections between energetics, bonding and structure of materials, and application of these principles in instruments for materials characterization; demonstration of the wave-like nature of electrons; hands-on experience with techniques to quantify energy (DSC), bonding (XPS, AES, FTIR, UV/vis and force spectroscopy), and degree of order (x-ray scattering) in condensed matter; and investigation of structural transitions and structure-property relationships through practical materials examples.

The goal of 3.044 is to teach cost-effective and sustainable production of solid material with a desired geometry, structure or distribution of structures, and production volume. Toward this end, it is organized around different types of phase transformations which determine the structure in various processes for making materials, in roughly increasing order of entropy change during those transformations: solid heat treatment, liquid-solid processing, fluid behavior, deformation processing, and vapor-solid processing. The course ends with several lectures that place the subject in the context of society at large.

As its name implies, the 3.042 Materials Project Laboratory involves working with such operations as investment casting of metals, injection molding of polymers, and sintering of ceramics. After all the abstraction and theory in the lecture part of the DMSE curriculum, many students have found this hands-on experience with materials to be very fun stuff - several have said that 3.042/3.082 was their favorite DMSE subject. The lab is more than operating processing equipment, however. It is intended also to emulate professional practice in materials engineering project management, with aspects of design, analysis, teamwork, literature and patent searching, web creation and oral presentation, and more.

Laws of thermodynamics: general formulation and applications to mechanical, electromagnetic and electrochemical systems, solutions, and phase diagrams. Computation of phase diagrams. Statistical thermodynamics and relation between microscopic and macroscopic properties, including ensembles, gases, crystal lattices, phase transitions. Applications to phase stability and properties of mixtures. Computational modeling. Interfaces.

Introduction to the interactions between cells and surfaces of biomaterials. Surface chemistry and physics of selected metals, polymers, and ceramics. Surface characterization methodology. Modification of biomaterials surfaces. Quantitative assays of cell behavior in culture. Biosensors and microarrays. Bulk properties of implants. Acute and chronic response to implanted biomaterials. Topics in biomimetics, drug delivery, and tissue engineering. Laboratory demonstrations.

This course provides techniques of effective presentation of mathematical material. Each section of this course is associated with a regular mathematics subject, and uses the material of that subject as a basis for written and oral presentations. The section presented here is on chaotic dynamical systems.

Scientific computing: Fast Fourier Transform, finite differences, finite elements, spectral method, numerical linear algebra. Complex variables and applications. Initial-value problems: stability or chaos in ordinary differential equations, wave equation versus heat equation, conservation laws and shocks, dissipation and dispersion. Optimization: network flows, linear programming. Includes one computational project.

Topics vary from year to year. Topic for Fall: Eigenvalues of random matrices. How many are real? Why are the spacings so important? Subject covers the mathematics and applications in physics, engineering, computation, and computer science. This course covers algebraic approaches to electromagnetism and nano-photonics. Topics include photonic crystals, waveguides, perturbation theory, diffraction, computational methods, applications to integrated optical devices, and fiber-optic systems. Emphasis is placed on abstract algebraic approaches rather than detailed solutions of partial differential equations, the latter being done by computers.