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A course in modeling and computer simulation of dynamic systems uses three methods to introduce students to these topics. Core studies, the consideration of the theoretical fundamentals of modeling and simulation, and the execution by students of a project are employed. Taught in the Electrical Engineering Department at Michigan Technological University, the course is broadly based with regard to both subject matter and simulation methods, and students are free to select a project in any area and to use the computer and language of their choice. Societal, scientific, and engineering models are studied, and digital, analog, and hybrid computer simulations are considered. The course is intended to increase the students' awareness of the possibilities of quantizing problems associated with dynamic systems and to inform them of the potentials of computer simulation. Design, rather than analysis, is emphasized and student projects aim at utilizing computer simulations to determine control strategies. Evaluation to date indicates that the course is both successful and popular, but also that students require additional training in generating project problems and in writing technical proposals. (Author/LB)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert