MAE 2000

Professor Thacker is a good guy and funny in an old man kind of way. He essentially skims over the book for his lectures. I would recommend reading a bunch before class and then just sit and listen. For the second half of the semester you should look at the homework before it due so you can ask Neil in your lab time for help. Neil is a helpful TA but can also be kind of rude / short with you as he is helping

This class is miserable, the tests are on an unfair amount of information

Thacker is an intelligent person but a dry lecturer. "Dead Bug Theory" and the "Christmas Bonus" are the two biggest take-aways from this class. You take this class because it's required for Mechies. The notes that are given are extremely dry and often irrelevant to the material that he will test you on.

This class was a rough one, the lectures are boring and there is so much material for the two tests. Definitely read the book!

Thacker is a horrible professor. He doesn't teach, just reads of his lecture slides. Takes attendance though so you have to go to class. Grades are very arbitrary. For one homework I got points off for not writing my name is all caps (nowhere did it say this was required). This is a required course for mechanical engineering, so you have to take it, just be prepared.

Professor Thacker as a person is pretty chill and funny but his lectures are pretty boring. You don't need to pay too much attention in class since all the information is in the book. READ THE BOOK AND DO THE Q QUESTIONS in order to be prepared for the tests. The homework takes forever, especially the drawing ones

Thacker generally keeps a light mood and frequently lets the class out early for lunch. The semester is divided into two parts: the first half is spent as an engineering drawing class followed by what is basically an overview of Materials Science 2090. There are two tests in this course, each of relative difficulty (DO THE READINGS) but the lack of a final exam makes up for that.
Although Thacker has his ''fun'' moments, he's a very boring lecturer; the notes are essentially a re-cap of the readings and are provided on Collab, however it behooves you to go to class because attendance is taken.
The lab for this class uses Inventor, which at first can be a bit frustrating but by the last week you'll be very proficient in the program. Also, Neal (fall '12's TA) is very helpful when it comes to not knowing how to do something in lab so there's usually someone to turn to if you need help.

Fairly boring material, but not too hard to learn. Drawings are easy some weeks, difficult others. His textbooks are pretty good, study them hard for tests and pay attention and class and you should be fine. Workshop is easy provided you know anything about inventor. Thacker's a pretty boring lecturer, but he's funny and a nice guy.

Thacker is a good professor and the book is written well but the lectures are very boring. The class portion is not easy and the tests are very hard and the HWs get progressively harder. The lab is really cool except the TA makes a fool out of you in front of everyone if you ask him a question.

Thacker is dry but has a hilarious sense of humor, he writes the textbook and expects you to know his textbook.

His lectures are really boring but he is actually a pretty funny (in an odd way). Just study his book hard for the exams.

Thacker is very very knowledgable but his class if very very boring. He expects you to read the chapters before class but then just regurgitates them during lecture. His tests are hard and very comprehensive. The workshop is interesting and worthwhile, though.

Extremely boring. The lab portion of the class is interesting and you learn how to use Autodesk Inventor.

Thacker is the man. This class is pretty hard though and the tests are very difficult. Only take if required for your major/minor as it is NOT a gpa booster.

Boring class, easy though

The text is too dense to read. The lecture's are quite dry. The lab's are interesting. Overall, not a fun class, but it's a requirement for the Mech major.

Good Class if interested in technical parts of Mechanical engineering

Very good TA. Not a good professor, much more workload than the credits given.

This class requires a ridiculous amount of work for two credits. Homework starts out pretty easy but then becomes disproportionately hard in the middle of the semester. The midterms are ridiculous, and each encompasses an entire book. Lectures are taken straight from the book and are terrible. Avoid unless you have to take this class for your major/minor.

Thacker's lecture's are very very dry, it's hard to pay attention and homework can be very frustrating. He is helpful in office hours though if you make the effort to go.

I would not recommend this class unless it is required.

This class is required for mechanical engineers at uva. its boring but pretty easy if you put a little time into it. Study the manuals he gives out. Theres also some solid modeling but nothing difficult

He's kind of a goofy guy -- go to class he'll hand out homework or in-class work on a random basis. He let our Tuesday-Thursday class out half an hour early most days.

For a 2 credit course, it feels like a 3 or 4. If it weren't for Gavin as TA, the lab with Inventor could have been pretty tough. Thacker's tests are known to be difficult no matter the course (these are actually easy for him with 77-83 being about right). Do the reading and SAVE THE TEXT. Despite the typo's, it is a great resource.

The amount of work due was inconsistent throughout the semester. It provided a foundation for the mechanical engineering major but the workload for the second half of the semester was not fair relative to number of credit hours (2 credits). Workshop was fun, in which we learn how to make drawings in Inventor. You will be surprised to find out how much work you can have from a 2 credit course.

200 is one of those courses that will hindsight be the most beneficial for you as a practicing engineer. Some of the material is pretty dry, but it's good stuff. The assignments for the most part is the most demanding part of the course. There are on average 3-5 a week, but they are almost guaranteed A's. The tests are very, very difficult to study for and make an A. This course needs to be a 3 credit hour class.

Thacker is bi-polar or something. He can be awfully grumpy one day but helpful the next. He means well, but he's getting old and I get the feeling that he doesn't like teaching as much as he used to. He's inaccesible out of the classroom.

He is a really nice guy, just not the most exciting lectures. If you want to be a MechE you gotta take it. Attendance is required, otherwise your grade will go down for every class you miss. No final, and as long as you do well on the hw, the tests don't really hurt your grade.

Professor Thacker had interesting lectures, even though the material was pretty boring. The first half of the class focused on properties of materials, which required a lot of memorization (and I mean a lot if you wanted to get an A or B on the first exam). If you did the homework assignments, which was answering elementary questions about the readings, you got an A on the assignment. For the second half of the class, which focused on engineering drawings, expect to spend more time on the homework assignments but no memorization is needed. At least one homework assignment was due in every class. Only homework assignments and two exams are graded. NO FINAL.