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Michael Thorburn
California State University-Los Angeles
My name is Michael Thorburn.
I recently retired from industry and joined Cal State LA as the Director of the Capstone Senior Design Program within the College of Engineering, Computer Science and Technology. In 2019-2020 the program has 48 projects and 240 students in electrical or mechanical engineering and another 25 projects and 125 students in computer science. The projects last the entire school year and most are done in partnership with industry or government clients.
I initially studied numerical analysis and applied mathematics and eventually earned a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering with a thesis in the area of computational electromagnetics. Most of my career was spent working on problems in the aerospace and space-science sectors. Based on what I have seen, I believe that it is vital that today's engineering graduates have skills in mathematical modeling and computational thinking - even more so than in the past. Computational ability is critically important in the modern engineering world.
I am happy to be participating in this conference and am grateful to Math Works for the opportunity.
Addendum (2023)
Attended workshops online in 2020-2022. Glad to be back face-to-face in 2023.
Website Content Contributions
Activities (3)
Building an Air Frame Dynamics Model in MATLAB part of Teaching Computation with MATLAB:MATLAB Workshop October 2021:Activities
This set of LiveScripts is designed to help students develop a MATLAB model of the physics of flight for a Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). It is intended to be self-paced.
SIR Model - Finding Relationship between Contact Rate and Peak Infection Rate part of Teaching Computation with MATLAB:MATLAB Workshop 2020:Activities
In this set of exercises, a script is developed that solves the coupled system of ordinary differential equations making up an SIR model of virus spread. The peak value computed for the infected population is found ...
Robot Shooter part of Teaching Computation with MATLAB:MATLAB Workshop 2019:Activities
Prepare a simple simulation using basic MATLAB tools to help students build upon their ability to use MATLAB, to create graphical outputs, to understand root finding, to understand stochastic processes, and to ...
Essays (2)
Giving Students an Introduction to Model-based Design in a Distance-Learning Environment part of Teaching Computation with MATLAB:MATLAB Workshop 2020:Essays
Michael Thorburn, , California State University-Los Angeles The College of Engineering, Computer Science and Technology at Cal State LA requires each of its graduates to complete a year-long capstone senior-design ...
Assessing Computational Thinking in Engineering Design with a Workshop Environment part of Teaching Computation with MATLAB:MATLAB Workshop 2019:Essays
Michael A Thorburn, Engineering, California State University-Los Angeles Background. My job at Cal State LA is to run the Capstone Senior Design Program for the College of Engineering, Computer Science and ...
Other Contribution (1)
Engineering Capstone Senior Design - UAV Control Workshop part of Teaching Computation with MATLAB:MATLAB Workshop October 2021:Courses
This is a workshop for a Senior Design program, servicing some needs across multiple projects.There are 200+ students in class. Perhaps 20-30 working on UAV or related technologies.