As a preface, I really enjoyed this class; the discussions we had in class were really intriguing, and I would definitely take it again. The prerequisite for this class is MAE 105A; however, you can also take this class if you've taken CH ENGR 102A before. The only information you need to know before coming in is how to model Carnot and Rankine cycles, as well as use the First Law and Second Law.
Your grade in this class comes in four sections: homework (10%), midterm (20%), final (40%), and project (30%).
Homework is very variable. Sometimes it's very straightforward and easy, but other times it requires you to make certain assumptions you wouldn't know to do normally. Homework is assigned seven times over the entire quarter, and takes about four hours to complete.
The exam content consists of Part A, a multiple choice section, and Part B, a short answer section. Part B is extremely easy; the questions are lifted almost entirely from the homework, and if you're capable of doing the homework, you'll be able to ace this section. The problem comes in Part A; the multiple choice questions range from simple (what is energy?) to obscure trivia covered in the class. The class gives a lot of different graphs and charts for you to look at; I highly recommend studying those as exams approach.
The project is to create a PowerPoint presentation on a topic of your choosing, related to renewable energy, alternative energy, or applications of concepts learned in class. There's not much information or guidelines given, and there's a lot of freedom in how you could tackle this project. However, I think that too much freedom was given; because it was so broad, it's difficult to whether you've covered all the required information. I would suggest talking with your TA on that to verify that you meet the specifications.
Finally, I want to give a shout out to my TA, Eylul Simsek. She singlehandedly carried me through the entire class, and was always helpful in both emails and office hours. She gives a lot of information and walks you through the homework, as well as giving hints on what will be on the exams. If you see this class open with Eylul as the TA, definitely take it!

Dr. Marner is a genuinely great professor. Out of my three years at UCLA, I feel he was one of the best professors I've had.

He posts unfinished lecture notes online to print out for class, so that you don't have to constantly write during lecture. This was a very effective way of learning the material taught in the class. Also, there are weekly problem sets consisting of 5 problems each, as well as two team projects. For MAE 136, there is one midterm and one final. They both had two parts: one multiple choice section (~30 questions) and one problem section (~3 problems). The multiple choice section could get a little tricky, but the problem section is just like the problem sets. Not bad if you understand the homework.

Overall, I found this class to be well-organized and interesting. If you like thermodynamics, then you'd probably enjoy this class, since there is a lot of Rankine cycle analysis in the class. There is some heat transfer stuff, but Marner will teach it to you and make it very understandable. Also, it was nice to see the practical uses of thermodynamics and heat transfer for solar panels, ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), geothermal energy, etc.

Lastly, the speech he gives on the last day of the quarter is great! He gives a lot of life lessons that you won't get in other classes. Great professor!

I've had the pleasure of having this professor for MAE 105A and 136. I will have him next quarter for 133A and I wouldn't doubt if I'll have him again for 131A. He is such a great professor and genuinely cares about his students. Sometimes I'd go to his office hours just to talk. If you have the chance, take him. You won't regret it.