Measurement & Instrumentation (2.671)
2.671 Measurement & Instrumentation is one of the flagship undergraduate courses in MIT Mechanical Engineering. It trains students to collect, interpret, and communicate data with accuracy, integrity, and critical insight, integrating experimental design, data analysis, and scientific communication.
Building on my experience as Teaching Assistant, I was invited to serve as Lab Professor and Lecturer for this course. In this role, I lead 24 undergraduates through weekly labs on data acquisition, time- and frequency-domain analysis, and statistical methods. Students are guided through the process of experiment design, measurement interpretation, and professional presentation.
Course structure
2.671 integrates theory and practice through four key pillars:
- Design — planning experiments and defining measurable objectives.
- Experiment — executing hands-on laboratory exercises using sensors, actuators, and data-acquisition systems.
- Interpret — analyzing time- and frequency-domain data using MATLAB and quantitative uncertainty estimation.
- Communicate — presenting findings through reports, posters, and oral presentations.
Weekly labs build a foundation in the theory and practice of experimental measurement, introducing core topics such as uncertainty propagation, signal conditioning, and spectral analysis. Each lab connects mathematical principles with physical intuition to prepare students for independent experimentation.
- Measurement Uncertainty and Error Analysis — propagation of error, precision vs. accuracy, and the concept of confidence intervals.
- Sensor Calibration and Data Acquisition — analog-to-digital conversion, sampling theory, and the relationship between voltage and physical quantities.
- Dynamic System Response — time-domain analysis of first- and second-order systems, system identification, and transfer functions.
- Frequency-Domain Methods — Fourier analysis, Bode plots, and filtering techniques for noise reduction and signal interpretation.
- Experimental Design and Hypothesis Testing — formulation of measurable objectives, statistical hypothesis evaluation, and result reproducibility.
Independent student project — “Go Forth and Measure”
A central component of 2.671 is the Go Forth and Measure project, where each student designs and executes an independent experiment. As Lab Professor, I advise students on experimental design, data analysis, and communication strategy. The projects culminate in a scientific paper and public poster presentations, where students present their findings to faculty and peers.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Dr. Barbara Hughey and Kevin DiGenova for leading this outstanding course and mentoring the teaching team.