Introduction to Scientific Computing & Basics of MATLAB

Introduction

This course is designed to introduce second-year aerospace undergraduate students to the MATLAB programming language. After learning the basics of coding in Python during first year, students will find that many pieces of coursework will require MATLAB. This course helps bridge the gap between Python and MATLAB, ensuring students are prepared for upcoming assignments. Additionally, the course provides an introduction to LaTeX, a valuable tool for creating professional reports and documents.

Structure

The course consists of four one-hour lectures and two two-hour lab sessions/workshops. Lectures will cover basic coding concepts, highlight syntactic differences between MATLAB and Python, and introduce some new programming ideas.

There are a series of problem sheets students can work through independently and the two labs serve as “drop-in sessions” where students can get help with these problems. For students more familiar with coding, there is a “Bonus” worksheet with more challenging problems to encourage personal development.

Additionally, for 2026, the second lab will be structured as a competition, in which students will work in teams to solve an engineering problem, whilst competing against rival teams to find the ‘best’ design.

Resources

The lecture notes and problem sheets and solution files can be found on this website.

Information can also be found on Blackboard:

Organisations -> CADE Student Handbook 2025-26 -> About Your Programme -> Aerospace Engineering Undergraduate -> Year 2

Assignments

There are no formal assignments for this lecture series. However, familiarisation with MATLAB and successful completion of the problem sheets will significantly help students in future courses.

Although no credits are awarded as part of this series, prizes are available to the winning teams in the design task presented in the second computer lab.