This book grew out of my experience teaching MATLAB® and other computing languages to freshmen engineering students at Salt Lake Community College. I was frustrated by the lack of a text that “started at the beginning.” Although there were many comprehensive reference books, they assumed a level of both mathematical and computer sophistication that my students did not possess. Also, because MATLAB® was originally adopted by practitioners in the fi elds of signal processing and electrical engineering, most of these texts provided examples primarily from those areas, an approach that didn’t fi t with a general engineering curriculum. This text starts with basic algebra and shows how MATLAB® can be used to solve engineering problems from a wide range of disciplines. The examples are drawn from concepts introduced in early chemistry and physics classes and freshman and sophomore engineering classes. A standard problem-solving methodology is used consistently.

The text assumes that the student has a basic understanding of college algebra and has been introduced to trigonometric concepts; students who are mathematically more advanced generally progress through the material more rapidly. Although the text is not intended to teach subjects such as statistics or matrix algebra, when the MATLAB® techniques related to these subjects are introduced, a brief background is included. In addition, sections describing MATLAB® techniques for solving problems by means of calculus and differential equations are introduced near the end of appropriate chapters. These sections can be assigned for additional study to students with a more advanced mathematics background, or they may be useful as reference material as students progress through an engineering curriculum.