3 of 3 reviewers: Proctored exam 3 of 3 reviewers: Recorded lectures 2 of 3 reviewers: Group work 2 of 3 reviewers: Weekly quizzes 1 of 3 reviewers: Practical labs/tutorials
MCEN1000 student reviews
Most recent review covers Semester 2, 2026
Workload, assessments, and whether students would take it again. Verified Curtin Student means the reviewer confirmed a @student.curtin.edu.au email address.
Taught by Andrew Lacey (1 review), Dr Andy Lacey (1 review)
Verified Curtin Student Top Reviewer Appreciated Semester 2, 2025 • Aug 2026
★★★☆☆
I found some of this unit pretty difficult, but I also had a lot of fun with the main assignment, which was building a bridge out of pasta to test the integrity of truss design.
Other groups I've heard from use slightly different materials like pop sticks or skewers, but the idea is the same. Very physics heavy workload, make sure you pay attention to the core principles!
Verified Curtin Student ContributorSemester 2, 2026 • Prof. Dr Andy Lacey • Aug 2026
★★★★☆
Many people found the labs quite easy which was nice, the exam having no minimum score was nice, but would not help students in the future (easy to slack off)
Verified Curtin Student Top ReviewerSemester 2, 2025 • Prof. Andrew Lacey • Sept 2026
★★★★☆
1 final exam and 1 bridge building assessment & labs.
For the assessment we got to form groups of 4-5 and build bridges out of dried spaghetti - and made a report with calculations & analysis afterwards. I think the material changes each semester as one semester they used pop sticks to build their bridge.
The content can honestly become challenging to learn - very physics heavy. You go from statics, to dynamics then to fluid dynamics. Try not to be too behind on week to week content since the final in person exam has all 3 being tested.
