The Department of Applied Physical Sciences (APS) is developing a variety of courses that will integrate into our undergraduate academic programs and make engineering and making concepts accessible to all UNC students. Students will be able to minor in Applied Sciences and Engineering. An undergraduate major will be offered beginning Fall 2024.*

*The undergraduate division of the Applied Physical Sciences department timeline is tentative.

APPL 89.001 – Tree, Timber & Totems
3 Credits. Sample Syllabus.
Trees, through their biology, meaning and uses, create an arc of understanding that spans what it means to be human. Ultimately, we will explore the meaning of trees and wood and why we seek happiness in nature, cherish wood and the creation of objects of wood. Tree: What is a tree from a biological perspective? How do they represent a complex community and play a vital role in life on the planet? Timber: What is the economy of wood internationally and in the state of NC? What are biophysical and material properties of trees that allow them to grow so large and be so useful to human society? Totem: Why do we respond emotionally to wood and choose it as a material in our lives and surroundings? How do we design and create objects of meaning from wood? We will walk in the woods, meet “wood people” from across the state and country and learn woodworking with projects of the students’ design and creation.

APPL89.002 – Convergent Research: Solving the grand engineering challenges of the future
3 Credits. Sample Syllabus.
Convergence research focuses on addressing complex problems in science, engineering, and society. Today’s and tomorrow’s grand challenges will not be solved by one discipline, but by the integration of knowledge, methods, and expertise from across various disciplines.

This first-year seminar will introduce students to the new scientific language of convergence research. Through surveying the grand challenges of engineering, we will learn how through pursuing a common research challenge, experts from various fields intermix their knowledge, theories, methods, data, and research communities, enabling new discoveries to emerge. Students will participate in various in-class activities, group discussion and problem-solving coaching to enhance understanding of how chemistry, physics, materials science, biology, math, and computer sciences are applied to engineering.

Seminar will host guest lecturers with expertise on a particular topic, allowing the students to gain a true interdisciplinary view of the subject, instead of an isolated view of each.

APPL 101 – Exploring Engineering
3 Credits. Sample Syllabus.
Engineers help to design and build solutions to the world’s problems. This course will explore some of the fundamental skills and tools in engineering. You will get experience using engineering tools, and you will also develop a mindset so that you can “learn how to learn” because technology changes rapidly and the tools that you use today may be obsolete in 20 years. There will be an emphasis on developing strong professional skills, including work in a group setting and effectively communicating your efforts.

In addition, a goal of this class is to help you develop an entrepreneurial mindset so that you will understand the bigger picture. For example, while it may be easy to develop an engineering solution to a problem, what are the economic and ethical considerations of various solutions? These concepts are important to help engineers build a better world.

This will be an “”active learning”” class in which we spend much of our class time working. For example, we will write computer programs to model and simulate real world systems. We will debate the ethical issues that are associated with engineering innovations. Students should be prepared to come to class and participate in these activities!

APPL 110 – Intro to Design and Making: Developing Your Personal Design Potential
3 Credits. Sample Syllabus.
Students work in flexible, interdisciplinary teams to assess opportunities, brainstorm, and prototype solutions. Design thinking and physical prototyping skills are developed through fast-paced, iterative exercises in a variety of contexts and environments.

APPL 240 — Developing Your Sixth Sense: Designing Sensors and Electrical Circuits to make Measurements
4 Credits. Sample Syllabus.
How can you measure temperature, pH, heart rate, movement, distance or anything else in the physical world? First, you need a sensor! In this class, we will learn how to analyze, design, and build systems for the entire sensor to measurement process. We will use a variety of sensors that measure physical and environmental parameters. We will model these sensors and understand how they work and interact with electrical circuits. We will learn the basics of circuit design and analysis so that we can amplify and “clean up” the signals with filters. Finally, we will learn how to acquire these signals to a computer through data acquisition hardware and LabView software.
Requisites: ONE of the following – PHYS 105, 115, 117, or 119.

APPL 260 — Materials Science and Engineering: Living in a Material World
3 Credits. Sample Syllabus.
An introduction to a broad range of topics in materials science and with a strong focus on how materials, processing and engineering come together in design and vice versa. Why are some materials hard and others soft? Why can certain plastics be lighter than steel and at the same time be stronger? How do I select materials for a sustainable design?
Requisites: CHEM 102 and PHYS 116 or 118

APPL 285 – Fluid Relationships: An Intuition Building Approach to Fluid Mechanics
3 Credits. Sample Syllabus.
Fluids are literally all around us. The air we breathe, the water we drink, our bodies themselves — all primarily fluid. The purpose of this course is to lead you to an intuitive understanding of the fundamental properties and behaviors of fluids. This is an immersive treatment of the concepts and methods of fluid mechanics – the study of behavior of fluids at rest and in motion.

This course will provide students with solid grounding in the fundamentals and applications of fluid mechanics through extensive use of hands-on exercises. Areas covered will include pressure, pressurized flow, gravity flow, viscous flow, boundary layers, system losses, microfluidics, and measurement techniques. Equations of state for both liquids and gases will be explored as well as conservation of mass and momentum for moving fluids.The course will include exposure to standard fluid appurtenances such as pumps, blowers, gauges, valves, ducts, pipes, and fittings.
Prerequisites: APPL 110 and PHYS 118.

APPL 295 – Research in Applied Physical Science
1-3 Credits.
A research experience provides students with practical experience in a research lab, performing work that is relevant to their UNC education. The research internship will develop and enhance the students’ professional skill set and involve experiences that allow students to have responsibility for results that are of value to the research laboratory.

Research interns are mentored by a faculty member and other members of their lab. The implementation and evaluation of the internship are a collaborative effort between the student and their research mentor. If the research mentor is not a member of the APS faculty, then the students should also have an APS faculty advisor. Oversight is also provided by the APS Research and Internship Coordinator and/or Director of Undergraduate Studies (the same person may be serving both of these roles). Internships are typically 150 hours in duration (10 hours per week during an academic semester). However, internship time frames can be flexible to match the needs and interest of the student with the opportunities offered by the research lab. Faculty approval must be obtained before enrollment.

APPL 296 – Independent Study in Applied Sciences and Engineering
1-3 Credits.
Through independent study, students gain practical experience in an independent project either on campus or off campus, performing work that is relevant to their studies in Applied Physical Sciences. The independent study will develop and enhance the students’ professional skill set and involve experiences that enhance their entrepreneurial mindset.

Students are mentored by a faculty member and others at UNC who have relevant expertise. The implementation and evaluation of the independent study is a collaborative effort between the student and their mentor. If the mentor is not a member of the APS faculty, then the students should also have an APS faculty advisor. Oversight is also provided by the APS Research and Internship Coordinator and/or Director of Undergraduate Studies (the same person may be serving both of these roles). Independent study projects are typically 150 hours in duration (10 hours per week during an academic semester). However, time frames can be flexible to match the needs and interest of the student.

APPL 385 — Flow of Force, Matter and Energy Through the Biosphere
4 Credits. Sample Syllabus
Flow and movement of matter, force and energy are ubiquitous in every aspect of life on our biosphere, from our motile cells that transfer chemical energy to motion to the flow and mixing of air and water in the atmosphere and the oceans. Underpinning all these transport processes are three fundamental laws of nature: conservation of mass, momentum and energy. Although these processes can occur over vastly different length scales, the equations and physical principles that describe them are in fact very similar. By studying different examples, we will see throughout the course that the flow of mass, momentum and energy can be analyzed in a single framework known as Transport Phenomena in science and engineering.
Requisites: MATH 233, Calculus of Functions of Several Variables

APPL 412 — Design and Making: Turning Your Entrepreneurial Ideas Into Reality
3 Credits. Sample Syllabus.
Do you have an entrepreneurial idea and you would like to make a prototype to turn your idea into reality? Or do you want to experience the design and making process? In this class, you will go through this process for a semester-long project. The final outcome will be a prototype that meets an entrepreneurial need. Students from any major are welcome to take this class.
Requisites: Prerequisites, ECON 125, Introduction to Entrepreneurship. Orientation in the BeAM makerspace is also required.

APPL 430 — Optical Instrumentation
3 Credits. Sample Syllabus.
This course introduces principles of optical system design, covering a broad variety of imaging and microscopy instruments. The material will include computational methods for optical signal processing and basic principles governing light-matter interactions. The course will include theory and hands-on experience to implement and test methods. We will discuss recent publications and state-of-the-art optical systems which are task-driven, controlled by computers, tailored to specific applications, and optimized to monitor or manipulate complex systems.
Requisites: No prerequisites

APPL 435 — Nanophotonics
3 Credits. Sample Syllabus.
This course introduces the principles of nanophotonics – an emerging frontier at the nexus of nanotechnology and photonics that deals with light-matter interactions at the nanometer scale. The course will cover the theoretical foundations of nanoscale optical interactions, fabrication and characterization of optical nanomaterials, plasmonics, optical trapping and manipulation, electrodynamic simulations, and applications of nanophotonics.
Requisites: PHYS117 or CHEM251 or permission of the instructor

APPL 462 — Engineering Materials: Properties, Selection, and Design
3 Credits. Sample Syllabus.
This course will cover both fundamental and applied aspects of modern materials science. We will discuss how to select materials based on their properties and how they can be processed into products that you encounter in everyday life. A strong focus will be on the relationship between processing, structure (development), and properties of solid materials, such as metals, ceramics and polymers. Topics include crystal structures, imperfections, diffusion, mechanical properties, deformation mechanisms, phase diagram, phase transformations, material characterization techniques, and electrical, magnetic, optical and thermal properties of materials. In-class demonstrations and class projects will be a critical part of this course and involve the use of the UNC makerspace (BeAM) and the Chapel Hill Analytical and Nanofabrication Laboratory (CHANL). One of the goals of this class is to bridge materials science and engineering disciplines and to make connections to real-world applications.

APPL463 — Bioelectronic Materials
3 Credits. Sample Syllabus.
Developing electronic systems that can seamlessly integrate with biological systems represents a pivotal foundation for building a smart healthcare platform, advanced clinical technology, and beyond. This course will explore and discuss: i) electronic materials, mechanisms, and designs at the biotic-abiotic interface, ii) their impacts for a wide range of applications ranging from medicine, robotics, to human augmentation, and iii) the associated ethics that aim to harmonize the development pathways. Through multiple hands-on activities, this class will highlight a multifaceted understanding of materials and their integration strategies that not only improve intrinsic functionalities (sensing, stimulation, or others) of the fabricated devices, but also and more importantly innovate the ways electronics can interact with the biological counterparts at multiscale.

APPL 465 – SpongeBob SquarePants and Other Soft Materials
3 Credits. Sample Syllabus.
What kind of material is Sponge Bob made of? What about the slime of his pet snail, Gary? We are taught that there are three states of matter: solid, gas, and liquid. However, in our daily lives we encounter materials that challenge this simple description such as foams, pastes, gels, soap, and rubber, as well as our skin, hair, nails, and cells. These are Soft Materials and in this course we will learn about their special properties and how to describe them mathematically. This class is an active one, everyone participates and everyone learns from and helps one another. We will use various in-class activities to make the class more engaging. We will discuss, take quizzes, and do presentations. We will also evaluate each other’s homework. Be prepared to come to class and participate in these activities! The technical material that you will learn will provide you with a valuable skillset. In addition, a goal of this class is to help you develop an entrepreneurial mindset so that you will understand the bigger picture; draw connections between the material in this class and what you have learned in other classes; recognize opportunities; and learn from mistakes to create value for yourself and others.

APPL 495 – Mentored Research in Applied Physical Sciences
3 Credits.
An ideal research experience provides students with practical experience in a research lab, performing work that is relevant to their UNC education. The research internship should develop and enhance the students’ professional skill sets and involve experiences that allow students to have responsibility for results that are of value to the research laboratory.

Research interns are mentored by a faculty member and other members of their lab. The implementation, and evaluation of the internship are a collaborative effort between the student and their research mentor. If the research mentor is not a member of the APS faculty, then the students should also have an APS faculty advisor. Oversight is also provided by the APS Research and Internship Coordinator and/or Director of Undergraduate Studies (the same person may be serving both of these roles). Internships are typically 150 hours in duration (10 hours per week during an academic semester). However, internship time frames can be flexible to match the needs and interest of the student with the opportunities offered by the research lab.

APPL 496 – Independent Study in Applied Physical Sciences
1-3 Credits.
Through independent study, students gain practical experience in an independent project either on campus or off campus, performing work that is relevant to their studies in Applied Physical Sciences. The independent study will develop and enhance the students’ professional skill set and involve experiences that enhance their entrepreneurial mindset.

Students are mentored by a faculty member and others at UNC who have relevant expertise. The implementation and evaluation of the independent study is a collaborative effort between the student and their mentor. If the mentor is not a member of the APS faculty, then the students should also have an APS faculty advisor. Oversight is also provided by the APS Research and Internship Coordinator and/or Director of Undergraduate Studies (the same person may be serving both of these roles). Independent study projects are typically 150 hours in duration (10 hours per week during an academic semester). However, time frames can be flexible to match the needs and interest of the student.