Computational methods and tools
ENG-270
Media
This file is part of the content downloaded from Computational methods and tools.
Links
- Course book: https://edu.epfl.ch/coursebook/en/computational-methods-and-tools-ENG-270
- Wednesdays 13-14h: GCC330, GRB001, GRC002
- Wednesdays 14-16h, Fridays 10-13h: CO021
- 50% project (5% proposal, 45% code + report). Individual or with up to two additional partners (three maximum). Each team member will be asked to state their contributions to the project.
- 50% final exam. Based on exercises and lectures. Exercises will not be submitted or graded, but solutions/corrections will be provided for them. You may bring two A4 sheets filled front and back with hand-written or printed content to the exam. No electronic devices. Monday 26.01.2026 from 09h15 to 12h15 (CM 1 105)
Course language: English; some course materials will be in French.
- Schedule (URL)
- Project (Page)
- Announcements (Forum)
- Project assistants (URL)
- exam practice questions (File)
- exam practice answers (corrected 23.01.2026) (File)
- git repository template (URL)
Format
- Lecture Wednesday 13h-14h: GCC330 - introduction
- Lecture Friday 10h-11h: CO021 (NOTE NEW ROOM) - input/output (Zoom link)
Topics
- Introduction to course
- Introduction to MATLAB
- MATLAB access through VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) or local installation
- MATLAB Onramp self-paced tutorials (approx. 2 hours)
- Éolienne exercise
- CO2 exercise (if you get to it)
Resources
- EPFL - VDI and MATLAB access
- MathWorks - install MATLAB using your @epfl address and Switch-ID
- MathWorks - Onramp
- MathWorks - getting started with MATLAB tutorials
- MathWorks - getting started with MATLAB video
- MathWorks - getting started with MATLAB docs
- MathWorks - more tutorial videos
- MathWorks - MATLAB for Python Users
- MathWorks - MATLAB Basic Functions Reference
- Jean-Daniel Bonjour - tutorial from past courses (focus on MATLAB portion)
- Course notes - crash course on MATLAB
Format
- Lecture Wednesday 13h-14h: GCC330
- Lecture Friday 10h-11h: CO021 (Zoom link)
- Exercise Wednesday 14-16h, Friday 11-13h: CO021
Topic
- Introduction to projects
- Discussion of éolienne exercise
- CO2 exercise
Format
- Lecture Wednesday 13h-14h: GCC330 (Zoom link)
- Lecture Friday 10h-11h: CO021 (Zoom link)
- Exercise Wednesday 14-16h, Friday 11-13h: CO021
Topic
- Discussion of CO2 exercise
- Data models
- Inactivation exercise
Format
- Lecture Wednesday 13h-14h: GCC330 (Zoom link)
- Lecture Friday 10h-11h: CO021 (Zoom link)
- Exercise Wednesday 14-16h, Friday 11-13h: CO021
Topic
- Discussion of inactivation exercise
- O3 trends exercise
Format
- Lecture Wednesday 13h-14h: GCC330 (Zoom link)
- Lecture Friday 10h-11h: CO021 (Zoom link)
- Exercise Wednesday 14-16h, Friday 11-13h: CO021
Topic
- Discussion of O3 trends exercise
- CFC exercise
Format
- Lecture Wednesday 13h-14h: GCC330 (Zoom link)
- Lecture Friday 10h-11h: CO021 (Zoom link)
- Exercise Wednesday 14-16h, Friday 11-13h: CO021
Topic
Course notes:
Lessons in sieprog.ch:- For compiler options: compiler lesson.
- For terminal: terminal lesson.
- For print statement debugging: débogage.
- For command line debugging: gdb.
Exercises
Complete lower right quadrant of sieprog.ch island: "dés", "parité", "étoiles", "lac".
Working in Windows:
- `srand` works but apparently the first dice roll is always the same. rand_s is not a drop-in replacement for `srandom` or `srand` and requires more work to integrate into code. Recommendation is to use `srand` but discard first roll and use the next two.
Fall break
Format
- Lecture Wednesday 13h-14h: GCC330 (Zoom link)
- Lecture Friday 10h-11h: CO021 (Zoom link)
- Exercise Wednesday 14-16h, Friday 11-13h: CO021
Topic
Course notes:
Lessons in sieprog.ch:Exercises
Complete lower right quadrant of sieprog.ch island: "cryptographie", "seismes", "GPS".
- C intro part 3 (File)
- C intro part 4 (File)
- cryptogramme exercise solution (alternate) (URL)
- séismes exercise solution (alternate) (URL)
- GPS exercise hint (URL)
Format
- Lecture Wednesday 13h-14h: GCC330 (Zoom link)
LectureFriday 10h-11h: CO021(Zoom link)Exercise, no lecture (independent time)- Exercise Wednesday 14-16h, Friday 11-13h: CO021
Topic
Exercise
Complete exercises on island: "terrain", "pollution".Format
- Lecture Wednesday 13h-14h: GCC330 (Zoom link)
- Lecture Friday 10h-11h: CO021 (Zoom link)
- Exercise Wednesday 14-16h, Friday 11-13h: CO021
Topics
- Automation - combining C and MATLAB (or Python)
- Version control with git (repository and report template)
Format
- Lecture Wednesday 13h-14h: GCC330 (Zoom link)
- Lecture Friday 10h-11h: CO021 (Zoom link)
- Exercise Wednesday 14-16h, Friday 11-13h: CO021
Topics
- Automation - working with code and data (shell scripting)
- Text processing
Format
- Lecture Wednesday 13h-14h: GCC330 (Zoom link)
- Lecture Friday 10h-11h: CO021 (Zoom link)
- Exercise Wednesday 14-16h, Friday 11-13h: CO021
Topics
- Writing better code
- Visualization
- Citations and writing reports (last lecture)
Format
- Projects (independent) Wednesday 13h-14h: GCC330
- Projects (independent) Friday 10h-11h: CO021
- Projects (with assistants) Wednesday 14-16h, Friday 11-13h: CO021
Format
- Projects (independent) Wednesday 13h-14h: GCC330
- Projects (independent) Friday 10h-11h: CO021
- Projects (with assistants) Wednesday 14-16h, Friday 11-13h: CO021
Format
- Review for final exam Wednesday 13h-14h: GCC330 (Zoom link)
- Projects (independent) Friday 10h-11h: CO021
- Projects (with assistants) Wednesday 14-16h, Friday 11-13h: CO021