This class was set up very well for an asynchronous summer class - all of the recordings were fairly high quality, and the homework and exam logistics were pretty seamless. All of the exams were open note since it was online, and the exam difficulty reflected that, but access to all of the textbook, lecture slides, and other resources made exams pretty manageable. It's definitely easy to get behind in some ways, but the problem sets and exams were spread out far enough that you had to be watching the lectures to be successful.

Professor Goorsky and his teaching team are well versed in the content (for the most part, some of the TAs gave contradictory answers went I went to office hours), and Goorsky in particular is a clear lecturer that provides understandable explanations of complex scientific concepts. All of his slides and recordings are available online, mirror the textbook for the most part, and if you dig hard enough there are external resources that can supplement your learning if the teaching time isn't enough. The content here is not unreasonable and none of the math requires much more than introductory calculus and basic chemistry, although I'm sure there are entire classes dedicated to a week of this class that would go far more in depth with the calculations and theory. For this class, it's mostly just plug and chug when it comes to math, although there's a fair amount of explaining and theory that many lower division engineering/STEM courses don't require. I honestly do feel like I learned a lot when it comes to materials, more so with metals since there was much more of a focus in the first half compared to the end with the other material types. This is a class where you can walk away with it and have a basic understanding of an intriguing branch of science/engineering.

Professor Goorsky was fantastic! The lectures have plenty of helpful diagrams, images, and connections to the real world. He often asks review questions, which makes the class engaging.

I definitely recommend attending in person, because there are so many fun demos (and you might get homemade ice cream out of the deal...). I spent the summer hundreds of miles away, but I wished I was there to see everything live! The lectures aren't just something you could get on YouTube for free-- it seems like Professor Goorsky understands that competition is out there, and he accordingly uses active learning, live demos, and more.

There are weekly HW assignments, two quizzes, one midterm, and one final. The exams are timed and fast-paced (esp. the quizzes!), so make sure you know things well. Exams won't just have equation-based book problems-- there are lots of problems that will require you to have a full, in depth understanding, and be able to use reasoning and writing skills. Homework assignments have some book problems, and they also have more interesting questions: there'll often be at least one problem that requires you to use software (nothing too hard, but good skills to learn!) and one problem that requires a written explanation and research. The professor values deep understanding of real-world concepts, and although you'll often need to use equations, they're never the sole focus. While this might mean you have to study more than just equations, in the long run it's good-- employers don't have to pay computers, so why would they want someone who only knows how to use equations? I really appreciated Professor Goorsky's modern approach to homework and exams in this class, and I hope more professors take note.

Goorsky is fucking awesome. He's one of the few teachers to have been recognized as a distinguished teacher and he won the award last year in 2016. Also he let us play with liquid nitrogen after we made ice cream, try finding a teacher that does that.

MSE 104 is an introductory class where you will cover crystallography, mechanical properties, mechanical failure, processing materials, phase diagrams, ceramics, polymers, solid state in the realm of electrical and optical properties, and a little bit of composites and nanotech.

It's a lot of info, but it serves to introduce you to the topics and some key concepts for going forward. He uses an introductory book and complementary slides that come with it, but 80% of the time the slides throw useless formulas that Goorsky doesn't care about, so you'll see him skipping through a lot of the slides (he uploads them online so don't freak out).

On the surface, he can seem incredibly boring because he might appear as though he's reading slides to you and he fumbles around with using powerpoint. So when we got to phase diagrams and the information got a little muddled, lots of people weren't paying attention and those days were kinda dull in class, he even called out students in the back for not paying attention. However, if you want to see the true power of this man, you need to start asking him questions. He knows his shit SO well that he will always give you a satisfying answer to a question, and he always considers it. He'll tell you stories that relate to it and in general when he starts rambling things get very interesting.

I imagine you're taking this class because A) you're a mechanical engineer or B) you're materials engineer/chemistry materials . It really pissed me off to see the Mech E's sleeping in the back of the class not really paying attention nor giving him the respect he deserves. Goorsky is truly fantastic.

He's a bit scary in the start just because he'll ask super obtuse questions, but that's his style which is very different than some other teachers I've had. He'll be the one asking you the questions so you can draw the answer out on your own, which works surprisingly well.

My absolute favorite part of the class are discussion sections (or recitations as he calls it). Here, Goorsky, or the TA will do demonstrations for you. These demonstrations included making ice cream with liquid nitrogen, breaking glass, looking over 3D models for crystal structures etc. People wouldn't go, which is disappointing since they were pretty fun, but more importantly, he had a question on the final that asked about the demos done in discussion, so make sure to attend and pay attention.

My biggest problem with the class though was the pacing, but I think that's just dependent on what year you're taking it. The first week he had a conference so we had one lecture that week, and then he had another big event, so he uploaded online lectures for us to watch, and towards the end when we got to smaller topics he started ending lectures early. It was really awkward and all that dead time could have condensed the class into 6 weeks.

The most work you'll need to do is the homework problem sets, and those only cover computational elements of the test, plus a bit of conceptual stuff you should know.

Basically to succeed, just make sure to engage in the class and pay attention to what he says and pay attention the demos. The tests at the test bank are incredibly similar to the ones he gives you, if not recycled, and in general are pretty easy. His first quiz he made 1/3 of it a group quiz where we worked together to identify crystal structures. The 2nd quiz had a couple application based questions. He curves up, not down, the TA was super nice (at least in the summer I did it).

Sit down, pay attention and have fun. I very much look forward to MSE 110 with him.

YOU SHOULD TAKE THIS CLASS WITH GOORSKY. All I have to say is that it is a huge missed opportunity if you take 104 with any other professor. This was the best MSE class I ever took besides his 110 class. HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION

Honestly, he has been the best lecturer I've had so far at UCLA. He made my first Materials Engineering course very fun and interesting. He is very knowledgeable about the material and would often make great analogies to help us grasp different concepts.

If you are a 1st year Materials Engineer I would recommend taking MSE 104 with Goorsky over summer. The class size is really small, he is helpful, curves well, and you gain a solid foundation with the subject. I ended up with an A.

Excellent lecturer. Enough said.