ENME E3106: Dynamics and Vibrations

Course Overview

This course explores fundamental concepts in motion and behavior of mechanical systems, emphasizing the principles of kinematics, dynamics, and vibration analysis. You will cover the analysis of rigid bodies, momentum and energy principles, as well as the study of vibration in both discrete and continuous systems, with attention to eigenvalue problems, natural frequencies, and mode shapes. Through hands-on use of MATLAB and Python, you will develop computational models to simulate and predict dynamic responses. By the end of the course, you will be equipped to model, analyze, and design systems with an understanding of their dynamic and vibrational performance. These methods are used across a wide range of engineering applications including mechanical, civil, aerospace, robotics, automotive, manufacturing engineering and beyond.

Course Instructor

Andrew Smyth

Robert A.W. and Christine S. Carleton Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics

Andrew Smyth is the Robert A.W. and Christine S. Carleton Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia University. He was the founding Co-Chair of the Smart Cities Center at the Columbia Data Science Institute. He specializes in structural health monitoring, using sensor information to determine the condition of critical infrastructure. Recently his interest in sensor network monitoring has expanded to large fleets of vehicles in urban environments. Smyth has been involved with the sensor instrumentation and vibration analysis and remote monitoring of a large number of iconic long-span bridges and landmark buildings and museums. His research interests include the development of data fusion and system identification algorithms to derive maximum information from large heterogeneous sensor networks monitoring dynamical systems, nonlinear system dynamical modeling and simulation, and natural hazards risk assessment.

He is the PI and Director of a $26M NSF Engineering Research Center for Smart Streetscapes. He is an NSF CAREER award recipient, 2008 ASCE Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize recipient, and in 2013 was elected as a Fellow of the ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute. In 2007 he was a Visiting Researcher at the Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chausées, Paris, in 2014 a Visiting Researcher at KU Leuven in Belgium, and in 2019-20 a Visiting Professor at Trinity College, Dublin. In 2018-2019 he served on NY State Governor’s 6 member L-Train Tunnel Review Panel which proposed a rehabilitation redesign obviating the need for a 15-month shutdown. In 2018 received the Great Teacher Award from the Society of Columbia Graduates, and in 2023 received the USC Distinguished Alumni Award. 

Smyth received his ScB and A.B. degrees at Brown University (1992) in Civil Engineering and Architectural Studies respectively. He received his MS in Civil Engineering at Rice (1994), an MS in Electrical Engineering (1997) and his PhD in Civil Engineering (1998) at the University of Southern California.