Introduction to MATLAB

2 ECTS

Summary
This course is an introduction to the elements and practicalities of computer programming through the MATLAB mathematical computing environment. No previous programming experience is required. At the end of the course students will have the basics for using MATLAB in their own project work.

The course is organized in four sessions, each of them include one hour of theory and two hours of hands-on exercises. The topics are organized as follows:

Session 1

• Course description
• Introduction to Matlab
• User interface
• Path directory and ‘Help’
• Vectors and Matrices
• Arithmetic operators and basic functions
• Miscelaneous (case sensitive, displayed numbers)
• Examples of what Matlab can do for you
   

Session2

• Reminder of basic functions
• Other more complex functions
• Basic programming (if-else-end, for-end, while-end)
• User interaction (disp, input)
• Hands on session with exercises
   

Session 3

• Structures & cells
• Importing / exporting data (reading / writing text files, csv & xls files)
• Saving / loading data (MAT files)
• Hands on session with exercises
• Define and analyze needs of your own project

Session 4
Students present the MATLAB projects they would like to implement for the final exam in the context of their research interests and needs.
 

Session 5

• Plots
• Scripting (use of comments %%) and M-files
• Share of code and scripts in Mathworks
• Hands on session with exercises
• Start to develop your own project (1 hour)
   

Session 6
Develop your own project. This is a hands-on-session where students develop their matlab project with the help of the organizers.
 

Sessions 7 & 8
Exam session.

Location
The course will take place in the room Micropolis, Rue du Bugnon 23, Lausanne. This is number 4 in this map:

Schedule 2013
From 9h-12h, on these dates:

• 17 and 24 April
• 1, 8, 15 and 21 May
• 27 and 28 June

Evaluation
Participants will be requested to develop a short project using MATLAB, related to their own research activity.
Evaluation criteria:

• Clear and precise definition of the research context and goals of the project
• Students should be able to run completely the program and discuss the results
• Students must present their code and results in a presentation format and should be able to explain all steps of the code
• Both presentation and code quality will be evaluated (code should be clear and commented)

The participation to Session 1 to 6 (included) is mandatory to be accepted for the exam Session.

Registration
The course is limited to 20 participants. Please register by sending an e-mail to the LN Coordinator by Friday April 12h.