Nathan Delson - University of California San Diego

Professor: Nathan Delson

Department: TBD

College: University of California San Diego

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: MAE7
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Delson is an excellent professor. He cares about each of his students and encourages participation. This particular class had no homework and no lectures, and was very fun and entertaining.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MAE3
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

He gives little direction about homework and will leave you in the dust. Best bet is to make friends in the class so that you can figure things out together. He's unclear about homework deadlines and will ALWAYS refer you to the mae 3 website instead of directly answering your questions. Boring prof, but easy to get an A if you do all the work.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MAE3
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

If you do all the work, you'll get an A, even if you bomb the midterm like I did. Lectures are basically useless and not engaging, but there are clicker questions. He talks very, very slow and doesn't explain physics well at all. 95% of your grade will come from attending lab and lab homework which will require 15+ hours a week outside of lecture.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MAE3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

MAE 3 is meant to be an intro to design and manufacturing. The way Delson teaches it leaves little time for students to actually enjoy what theyre learning. The class took up over 20 hours a week just working in the design studio alone. On top of a robot and a clock, Delson assigned hours of busy work (all of which were meticulously graded).

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: MAE156A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

What he only did is smiling during the meeting and told you to do the simulation all the time. But he personally does not even know how to do that. Also he was very stubborn and impenetrable. Wish everyone could get away with him. He does not know how to be a professor.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: MAE3
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Professor Delson is incredibly charismatic and passionate about engineering. I also took him for MAE 7 and had a wonderful time. He's extremely invested in the education of his students and I would highly recommend him.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: MAE150
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I had him for a few classes. He wasn't bad; certainly competent, good lecture topics, and good info. All you could ask for in a lecturer and grader. However, good luck ever getting a hold of him outside of class. And he always gave the aura that he didn't care about individual students. He couldn't even remember his TA's names. But, could be worse.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: MAE156
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I took his class way back when he first taught MAE156, and worked as his TA many times. His classes have always inspired me. What I learned about microcontrollers in 156 became a big part of my PhD and after graduating, my work, research, and teaching. Go to class with an open mind, interact, think about the material. Work hard - worth it. Good guy

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MAE3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

well spoken guy, who doesn't actually teach anything and expects you to learn everything on your own.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MAE3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

MAE3 with Dr. Delson is a very demanding class and takes up way more than 4 units' worth of time, but it's so worth it. He makes you excited to learn. There are pop quizzes in his class, but these are fair and straightforward. I really appreciated that Dr. Delson visits each lab section and actually looks at each project. He genuinely cares. :)

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MAE3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Dr. Delson is the man! This is my favorite class that I have taken at UCSD. Extremely hands-on and time-consuming. It is unforntunate that your happiness in this class depends upon your robot group and your willingness to put the time in but if you have both then you will have an amazing time. But seriously, ridiculously time-consuming

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: MAE3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

great teacher

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: MAE3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Dr. Delson is VERY passionate about working in the design and research field. Do not be afraid to ask him questions because he will give a thought out answer. The class WILL take a lot of time, and the project may be ridiculous (alien mothership is by the worst contest yet and I had it), but it still adds up to a good experience.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MAE3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Professor didn't seem to understand that we hardly used any information from the lectures. Attendance was only due to random quizzes he throws in there.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MAE3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

What is wrong with Delson? So I guess he's going to make us do SO MUCH work for his class yet when it's his turn to put in a little work and effort to input grades so that we just may have happy holidays, he says he's busy. It's BS if you ask me, what a role model....

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: MAE3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Often comes to the lecture unprepared, assigns lots of homework thinking you're taking this class along with 2 G.E.s. The class is overcrowded and lectures are useless. The only fun part is to build a robot, that takes LOTS of time, to compete in a contest that its winning award is a trophy cut from acrylic!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: MAE03
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

It's a fun class, but very time consuming. You learn a lot of stuff, but expect to complete 3 or 4 assignments per week. Robot is the focus of the class, and a lot comes down to the members of your group. Plan on many long hours in the workshop, and plan on learning a LOT.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MAE3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

frustrating cuz its WAY too time consuming. He changd the structure of the class too. there's a pop quiz every week. pop quizzes + midterm does have an effect on your grade. liked the class but so glad it's over too. this class took up so much of my time, my grade for another class dropped. midterm was really hard.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: MAE3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

The class itself is fun, but Delson has his way of destroying it. Homework is ok, but if you have no prior experience with stuffs, it gets pretty tough. There are pop quizzes that really have some effect on grades, so you kind of have to go to the lecture. BTW LECTURE IS BORING, but it may be helpful to the quizzes and a midterm.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: MAE3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Lectures are pointless after this one pop quiz. BUT you are going to spend lots of time in at the lab for robot designing. I put 20+ on the CAPE, and it wasn't even funny. His midterm is like less than 10% of the grade. Reports are like 30% of the grade, and there're other hw assignments every week that also kills your time a lot. Fun class though!