Catalog Course Description

Class Information

My web page: http://www.engineering.usu.edu/ece/faculty/rjost

My email address:

Please put the following => [3870] (exactly as shown, with square brackets) into your subject line, as well as an indication of what you are sending me. This will help me to better manage the large number of emails that I will be receiving this semester, from the three classes I am teaching. Also, because of SPAM and security issues, be advised that I always delete emails with no content in the subject line, so at least get the [3870] into the subject line. Additionally, it is an extremely good idea to include your NAME in your emails. I realize that some of you have secret identities to keep the evil supervillains from finding out who you are, but I promise not to tell them, and I really would like to know to whom I am responding when I get an email. Your university-provided email address does not always tell me who you are, and you don't want me to have to remember the email address of everyone in the class, because it will make me cranky. And cranky professors do not give out liberal amounts of partial credit.

Lecture Time and Location: 1:30 - 2:20 MWF, Room Engr. 101

Prerequisites:
     Math 2210, 2250, Phyx 2220

Required Text:

"Electromagnetics for Engineers with Applications", C.R. Paul., John Wiley & Sons, 2004, ISBN 0-471-27180-2. I chose this text because it has enough material for a single semester course and is application-oriented enough for engineers, yet with a little supplemental material provided by me, theoretical enough for the physics students in the class to go on to their second semester course. Additionally, the applications are oriented toward EMC and digital systems, making it suitable for computer engineering students who might only choose to get one semester of EM. Plus it provides a very good foundation for those planning on taking my Spring EMC course.

Recommended Supplements:
     While these books are not required, it's often a good idea to have access to a couple of other texts whenever you are studying any topic area. No one text has everything that you may need, or will best fit your learning style. Also, each author tends to come at a topic with a slightly different approach. When you are having trouble understanding key concepts in new discipline, another author/text may provide a different perspective that helps you understand the concept. Plus, if you intend to do an extensive amount of work in an area, then it is always a good idea to have several texts on your shelf to start building up your professional library. Introductory EM texts tend to fall into two broad classes - texts containing enough material for one semester and those containing enough material for two semesters. Alternately, texts also can be roughly divided up into engineering (applications) oriented texts and physics (theoretical) oriented texts. The text we have chosen for this course falls into the engineering-oriented / one semester, but a few of the recommended texts are two semester texts, because of the greater depth of the material presented.

	"Fundamentals of Electromagnetics with MATLAB," Karl E. Lonngren and Sava V. Savov, SciTech Publishing, 2005, ISBN: 1-891121-38-3. Another very good EM text. This text covers the same topics as Paul, plus many additional ones. A good balance between an Engineering and Physics orientation, with enough material for 2 semesters. Seriously considering this for future offerings.
	"Fundamentals of Electromagnetics with Engineering Applications," Stuart M. Wentworth, John Wiley & Sons, 2004, ISBN: 0-471-26355-9. Another good EM text. This text covers the same topics as Paul, plus some additional ones, presented in the context of wireless systems, as opposed to EMC and digital systems. Engineering oriented with enough material for 2 semesters.
	"Fundamentals of Applied Electromagnetics, 2004 Media Edition," Fawwaz T. Ulaby, Prentice-Hall, Inc. 2004, ISBN: 0-13-185089-X. Another good choice for a second text, and a close contender for the course text. Engineering oriented, with plenty of material for two semesters, if supplemented.
	"Engineering Electromagnetics, 7th Edition" William H. Hayt and John A. Buck, McGraw-Hill, 2006, ISBN 0-07-252495-2. A sentimental favorite, as my first EM course was out of the third edition of this text, and I taught my first EM course out of the fourth edition. Recently substantially upgraded, and a good selection for your book shelf. Oriented toward EEs and containing about a semester and a half of material.
	"Applied Electromagnetics," Martin A. Plonus, McGraw-Hill, 1978, ISBN 0-07-050345-1. Although this book has long been out of print, I still think it is one of the better electromagnetics books out there for those that really want to know how all this theory is used. Teaches EM theory from a very practical, example-oriented fashion. Presentation and discussion are clear, and easy to understand. If you know that you want to work in the field of electromagnetics, pick up a used copy of this text for yourself. I guarantee that you won't regret it. Oriented toward EEs, yet contains much material that would be appreciated by the physicists in the class.
	"Electromagnetics : History, Theory, and Applications," Robert S. Elliott, Wiley-IEEE Press, 1999, ISBN: 0-7803-5384-6. A very nice text that clearly explains the fundamentals, while mixing in a nice selection of the history of EM. Ties EM to relativity at an early point, and shows how they both can be derived from Coulomb's Law. A definite addition to your shelf if you are at all interested in EM, especially for the physics students.
	The best way to learn most things is to practice them. For this purpose, you might want to consider getting a copy of either or the following texts:
	"Schaum's Outline of Electromagnetics, 2nd Ed." by Joseph Edminister, McGraw-Hill, 1994, ISBN 0-07-021234-1. Covers most of the topics in the text. Plenty of worked examples, and if you can work though the problems in this outline, as well as working most of the problems in the text, you'll be ready for any test I give you.
	"Electromagnetics Problem Solver," by Research and Education Association, available from Amazon.Com, 2000, ISBN: 0878915508. As above, covers most of the topics in the text. A nice thing about this book is that it provides a many more worked examples, with detailed solutions of the problems in the book.
	And when you are ready to go deeper in your study of EM, try the following texts:
	"Fields and Waves in Communication Electronics, 3rd Edition," Simon Ramo, John R. Whinnery, and Theodore Van Duzer, John Wiley & Sons, 1994, ISBN: 0-471-58551-3. A higher level EM text that covers many of the same topics that Paul does, but goes into much more detail, as well as covering additional topics of interest. One of the reasons we use it as our ECE 5800 EM II text.
	If you know all the material in the Ramo text, you will be ready to go on to a higher level text like "Engineering Electromagnetics," by Constantine Balanis, John Wiley & Sons, 1989, ISBN: 0-471-62194-3, one of my favorite EM texts at the introductory graduate level of EM.
	For those of you in the Physics department, your second EM course, PHYX 4600 - Advanced Electromagnetism, will use the following text, "Introduction to Electrodynamics," David J. Griffiths, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-805326-X; 1999. You'll be starting at chapter 7 of this text, so learn the material in this course well and you'll be in good shape.
	"Electromagnetic Waves and Antennas," Sophocles J. Orfanidis, On-line text. Just to show you the power of the web. This on-line text is at a higher level than our text, and more in line with the texts in this section. Focuses more on the material in the last few chapters of Paul, starting with Maxwell's Equations and going from there to concentrate on the applications of EM waves.
	Finally, just to show you there was reason you studied this stuff earlier, following are the two Physics texts we have used in the recent past here at USU, along with the relevant chapters that specifically apply to this class. It wouldn't hurt to go back and re-read this material, to get another perspective. I suspect you will also catch a lot more of what was presented to you, this time around.
	"Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach with Modern Physics," Randall D. Knight, Addison-Wesley. This is the current text used in our Calculus-based Physics course. Chapters 25-35 in this text cover the material we will be going over in this course. I noticed in the on-line syllabus that you skipped chapters 31 and 35. Bad idea. If you are a physics student, go back and read these chapters. The EE's in the class have had this material many times already, and I will be using lots of concepts from this material, so it would be a good idea for the physics students to pull out this text and give these two chapters a quick read. I promise it will be worth your while. Really.
	"Principles of Physics, 3rd edition," Serway & Jewett, Brooks/Cole. This was the text used in our Calculus-based Physics course before we switched to Knight. Chapters 19-24 in this text cover the material we will be going over in this course. I noticed in the on-line syllabus that you skipped the material on DC and AC circuits. Bad idea. If you are a physics student, go back and read these chapters. The EE's in the class have had this material many times already, and I will be using lots of concepts from this material, so it would be a good idea for the physics students to pull out this text and give these two chapters a quick read. I promise it will be worth your while. Really.

Recommended Software: You will be using one of the following tools, MATLAB, Mathcad or Maple, to both develop Electromagnetics tools and to work some of your homework assignments. There will also be a small programming project for the course where you will use one of these tools.

One of the smartest things you could do, if you plan on doing extensive work in Electromagnetics and data applications or Digital Signal/Image Processing is to get your own copy of one of these three programs. They all have their pros and cons, so you should try them out in our PC labs, then pick up whichever one you feel most comfortable with.

Note that as a participant in the Maple Adoption Program, students registered in this course are qualified to purchase Maple 10 at the reduced rate of $75.00 USD. You also receive FREE two study guides (Pre-Calculus & Calculus). To purchase your download copy of Maple 10 please visit the Maplesoft web store here: https://webstore.maplesoft.com/ You will also need the course promotion code which is: "AP6151U".

Note that I am not requiring you to buy this particular package, but I strongly recommend that you consider getting one of them, and given that in all cases, the cost is less than that for the typical engineering text, I believe you will definitely be glad you did so by the time you finish your degree. For more information about these packages, visit my Tutorial page, and select the MATLAB or Mathcad link. I will be putting up some links for Maple on this page, as soon as I find some good tutorials and become more familiar with the program. I also have information concerning the current prices of these packages at the USU bookstore.

Grading: Grades are going to be based upon the following components: homework (15%), a semester long software "project" (10%), 2 midterms (50%), and a final exam (25%).

Reading & HW Assignments: Reading/Homework assignments for the semester

Reference Material: Useful EM reference information Not yet active

EMC Links: EM related links Not yet active

Supplemental Material: Supplemental material for this class and links to class project

NOTE: There is tutoring available for this class, as well as other core ECE classes, in room EL 108, according to the following schedule:

NOTE: There is also a help session for this class, in room EL 109, on Tuesdays at 4:30-5:30, where I'll work a few problems and try to answer your questions.

Return to My USU Home Page

Last Updated: 12/08/2005