undergraduate education

I am an undergraduate student conducting a research project involving the design of a tool to aid astronauts to perform experiments on lunar surfaces and would like to request some direction about which analytical tools would be best suited for this application (i.e. FEA or DEM software/techniques). The specific scenario of interest is to design a tool that can act as an anchor in a sand-like medium (regolith) on the surface of the moon.

Given below is a sequence that might properly address the question of what to teach in the first (and the only) UG couse on strength of materials or solid mechanics.

0. Note: It's a mistake to believe that the contents for such a course can be covered in a linear fashion. Apply the spiral theory of knowledge and revisit certain concepts again and again: e.g., the concepts of stress, strain, fields, BV problems, theoretical structure, etc.

1. Introduction: