Harry Dankowicz | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Harry Dankowicz ENES221 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 04/08/2025	Professor Dankowicz is very kind and personable in conversation after class or in office hours. His lectures are not the best, but he does eventually get the content to the students, even if it takes him a series of incorrectly solved example problems to do so. He is also very particular about the way he solves his problems, reducing every dynamics problem into a math problem. While this may work well for some people, it is not an ideal solution for people who like to visualize what is going on physically in a problem. If your way of approaching a problem does not align with Prof. Dankowicz, he has a lot of trouble explaining it in a different way, even in office hours. One time in office hours, I was halfway through a problem, asking for an explanation of the second half solution, but instead the professor had me write out an entire page of calculus to derive an equation that I had already written down and was provided on the equation sheet. This is an obvious example of his failure to explain the content from different angles, and he ends up forcing students to approach problems "his way," which effectively turns each problem into a math problem, rather than relying on physical principles. This is also reflected in how he grades exams, as I had to ask for points back on many exams because my solution was marked as incorrect because it was not the way he solved it, even though I got the right answer. If you can, try to take this class with a different prof, but if you are stuck with Prof. Dankowicz, just try to get comfortable with his solution methods as quickly as possible in order to make the class go smoother.
Harry Dankowicz ENES221 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/15/2024	Professor Dankowicz is a great guy. He’s super friendly and passionate, and cares a lot about his students. His teaching, though? That’s where things get a little hairy. He has a very distinct way of explaining things, which mostly involves proofs that are way too complicated for this class. Integrals and abstract concepts galore. His teaching is…oddly, TOO correct. He refuses to simplify things to help us understand, and takes the most rote, conceptual, and abstract approach possible. There was one week where we had a fairly simple quiz, but everyone was so confused by the lecture that preceded it that the majority of people didn’t finish. I think professor Dankowicz expected it to be easy as well, judging from his comments after the quiz. I don’t hold it against him, but I studied the content out of the textbook the whole year and everything was so much clearer than it was in lecture. This class isn’t hard, but Dankowicz sure makes it seem like it is sometimes. That being said, he’s a good guy and willing to help. He’s not the worst professor to take for this class, especially with the right approach. If you do take his class, try to tune out the mind-bendingly complicated explanations and focus on the concepts and practice problems.
Harry Dankowicz ENES221 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/05/2024	While his method of solving seems strange at first if you trust in the process it will end up being extremely helpful. He was extremely engaging and liked to learn our names to call on us in class. While it is scary, if you get stuck he helps you, and he takes what you say and edits it a little, unless he is looking for a specific answer. I really enjoyed his teaching and I would highly recommend him for dynamics.

Harry Dankowicz
ENES221

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
04/08/2025

Professor Dankowicz is very kind and personable in conversation after class or in office hours. His lectures are not the best, but he does eventually get the content to the students, even if it takes him a series of incorrectly solved example problems to do so. He is also very particular about the way he solves his problems, reducing every dynamics problem into a math problem. While this may work well for some people, it is not an ideal solution for people who like to visualize what is going on physically in a problem. If your way of approaching a problem does not align with Prof. Dankowicz, he has a lot of trouble explaining it in a different way, even in office hours. One time in office hours, I was halfway through a problem, asking for an explanation of the second half solution, but instead the professor had me write out an entire page of calculus to derive an equation that I had already written down and was provided on the equation sheet. This is an obvious example of his failure to explain the content from different angles, and he ends up forcing students to approach problems "his way," which effectively turns each problem into a math problem, rather than relying on physical principles. This is also reflected in how he grades exams, as I had to ask for points back on many exams because my solution was marked as incorrect because it was not the way he solved it, even though I got the right answer. If you can, try to take this class with a different prof, but if you are stuck with Prof. Dankowicz, just try to get comfortable with his solution methods as quickly as possible in order to make the class go smoother.

Harry Dankowicz
ENES221

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/15/2024

Professor Dankowicz is a great guy. He’s super friendly and passionate, and cares a lot about his students. His teaching, though? That’s where things get a little hairy. He has a very distinct way of explaining things, which mostly involves proofs that are way too complicated for this class. Integrals and abstract concepts galore. His teaching is…oddly, TOO correct. He refuses to simplify things to help us understand, and takes the most rote, conceptual, and abstract approach possible. There was one week where we had a fairly simple quiz, but everyone was so confused by the lecture that preceded it that the majority of people didn’t finish. I think professor Dankowicz expected it to be easy as well, judging from his comments after the quiz. I don’t hold it against him, but I studied the content out of the textbook the whole year and everything was so much clearer than it was in lecture. This class isn’t hard, but Dankowicz sure makes it seem like it is sometimes. That being said, he’s a good guy and willing to help. He’s not the worst professor to take for this class, especially with the right approach. If you do take his class, try to tune out the mind-bendingly complicated explanations and focus on the concepts and practice problems.

Harry Dankowicz
ENES221

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/05/2024

While his method of solving seems strange at first if you trust in the process it will end up being extremely helpful. He was extremely engaging and liked to learn our names to call on us in class. While it is scary, if you get stuck he helps you, and he takes what you say and edits it a little, unless he is looking for a specific answer. I really enjoyed his teaching and I would highly recommend him for dynamics.