What are /r/engineering's favorite Products & Services?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

Oh man, I have a whole list saved of my favorite books. But here are some engineering related (and some not) books worth at least checking out:

Skunk Works (especially for Aeros)

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

The Existential Pleasures of Engineering

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions

To Engineer Is Human

Stick and Rudder (especially for pilots)

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

The Right Stuff

The Martian

The Art of Strategy

Thinking, Fast and Slow

The Signal and the Noise

And I have another list of books I want to read but haven't gotten around to yet. I won't post those because I don't know if they are any good yet.

Onshape https://www.onshape.com/ , free accounts, similar interface and workflow to SolidWorks

I've written tutorials on it and taught classes in public libraries using it, since it runs in the browser, it's very accessible for the general public. Onshape has called me and thanked me, which was super cool.

I was on r/solidworks and people are complaining that Onshape took their best devs lol

I was happier than a clam reviewing for the ME FE with an FE manual. Covered damn-near everything I did in undergrad in one textbook. Equations, practice problems, the whole shabang. Here’s the one I bought:

FE Mechanical Review Manual New edition by Lindeburg PE, Michael R. (2014) Paperback

FreeCAD dev here, just wanted to chime in and say that development has really been accelerating lately and to make sure to get at least version 0.17 when you download it! When I first found the project around 2012 it was extremely rough around the edges, but things have been getting significantly better.

(We also just redesigned our homepage for anyone interested: https://www.freecadweb.org/)

(Oh, and just a quick plug for the subreddit: /r/FreeCAD)

I liked "Hackers and Painters" by Paul Graham A LOT!!!: https://smile.amazon.com/Hackers-Painters-Big-Ideas-Computer-ebook/dp/B0026OR2NQ/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=hackers+and+painters&qid=1593111717&sr=8-2

I also liked "Faraday, Maxwell, and the Electromagnetic Field": https://smile.amazon.com/Faraday-Maxwell-Electromagnetic-Field-Revolutionized/dp/1616149426/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=faraday+maxwell&qid=1561906303&s=gateway&sr=8-3

My experiences from trips to Shanghai:

• Google services (Gmail, Maps, etc.) won't work without a VPN. I paid for a month of Private Internet Access VPN because it had an Android app so I could use my phone as normal.
• You can get cheap SIM cards pretty widely that will have data, including at the airport. Recharging them can be tricky if you don't speak Chinese though.
• If your company is any sort of reasonable size it will have an IT policy that you should follow to CYA for data security.

Every Circuit!

It's an amazing app to quickly simulate small electric circuits, I'm recommending it to every EE student out there!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.everycircuit.free

Radioactivity Monitor turns your phone into is a relatively accurate gamma and high-energy beta counter. Its function has been verified by testing.

Engineering life hacks = Excel tips & tricks = Learn all of the search and lookup functions like vlookup, match, etc., learn how to array formulas and learn how to use VBA

Also http://www.launchy.net/ with presets to all of your commonly used folders

Also, this? www.msworddit.com

Using google for unit conversion: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=convert+1+meter+to+feet

Thought of another: www.wolframalpha.com for a variety of things (see the the examples)

Sure, let me redact some identifying info first :)

Google Docs Link - PID Tuning White Paper

EDIT: PDF

What you have here is a high security bolt, shown here:

http://www.instructables.com/id/When-a-Phillips-is-not-a-Phillips-Plus-So-Much-Mor/step114/Shouldered-Security-Keys/

And here is a link to the key mentioned in the text:

http://www.newelectronx.com/proddetail.php?prod=n-usa-m

It's the third result for "dale emch 427" on google:

https://www.google.com/search?q=dale+emch+427&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

A course number and professor's first name are very unique identifiers. If a course roster is posted online somewhere, we could probably figure out your team too.

The faster you go the more resistance (Drag) you encounter and the more power it takes. There is a reason the speed limit was set to 55 back in the 1970's Fuel economy: Save money on gas

Edit: http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/transportation/consumer_tips/speeding_and_mpg.html

Have a read.

How to invent everything

It’s a fun read that takes you from prehistoric times to more modern inventions, with all of the discoveries along the way. Granted, it is rather superficial as it needs to be given the amount of material it covers. I found it fun and fascinating!

The premise is that it’s a handbook for a stranded time traveler and tells you what you need to do to rebuild civilization.

Lots of truth in that - I sucked at maths in high school whereas I'm a straight high distinction student now. (Those are A's for you Americans).

At the start of last year one of my lecturers said maths is easy - and somehow it just sunk in that it is.

I think in many ways the reason that I struggled in high school was not being taught the whole of a method, or at least enough that you can understand its properties.

Maths is a subject you can get great grades in just through practice. It now seems easier to me than writing creatively for instance.

So in essence, just keep at it. If you are struggling watch some lectures on youtube or through khan academy.

Chemical Engineer.

Worked 2.5 years for a small environmental testing company (field testing, research, consulting/report-writing). Lots of travel, ~10-15% below average pay, but promotionis came really quickly so my job title was really nice for the resume (and I got to file a patent!).

Then, I left to join a tech startup (Fitocracy). No pay for 6 months but got an equity stake. Completely unrelated to my previous job, but the fundamental engineering skills I gained in college have been invaluable. I was a self-taught programmer, but engineering hopefully teaches you very good Google-fu, so you can look up most anything. Learn fast, read docs, and don't be afraid to dig into something you don't understand. Isolate what you know and don't know, then start hacking away at the stuff you don't know. In a few hours, you'll probably have a working understanding of how to do something. it's truly amazing.

So I don't use the flow equations I learned in college, but I do use the analytical logic for breaking problems down and solving them piece by piece.

Engineers who make over 100k (cost-of-living adjusted from Chicago, IL, USA to your local city), what do you do?

• Cost of living adjustment calculator (US)

• Cost of living adjustment calculator (World)

LaTeX is completely different. You type out what is essentially code, and it will render what you type as excellently formatted and beautifully rendered text. If you've ever read a scientific journal for mathematics or any hard science, you've seen the product of LaTeX. It's very easy to begin and there's a huge amount of documentation out there. you can get it here.

For an introduction, look here. Hope I helped! LaTeX is great, and it makes your life 10x easier if you're involved in any field where you need to typeset mathematical functions.

The books that are most like mine are The Martian and We are Legion (We are Bob). I’m also a really big Philip K. Dick and Stanislaw Lem fan. You can check out my book here

• The Goal, E. Goldratt,
• Antifragile, N. Taleb,
• Thinking, Fast and Slow, D. Kahneman,
• Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman, Feynman

and many more. But really, you should try to read the classics as well, even though you don't see an immediate reason to. It will make you a more well-rounded person. Read Dostoevski, Tolstoi, Seneca, Steinbeck, Camus, Kierkegaard, Orwell, Huxley, Borges, García Márquez, Unamuno, any of the Greeks, Kafka, Montaigne, Hemingway, Feyerabend, Popper. You have more than a life's worth of reading here.

I actually like this idea a lot it is super simple and effective and relatively low cost.

You could also just put a magnet on a harness and have pullies to each of the 4 corners (think getting drawn and quartered) then have 4 steppers take up the string in the correct amount to move it. somethign like this depends on what you have for materials. If you wanted to go bargain basement you might be able ot rig the strings to a stylus and a duplicate board to make an analog version.

The other answers have nailed it, but I have two things to add:

First, Sighard Hoerner wrote a compendium that is essentially the drag bible (r/nocontext would have a field day...). It's available here on Amazon.

Second, understanding all of the factors that affect drag can help you appreciate why there isn't a simple calculation for C_D.

• What is the viscous friction between the air and the object's surface?

• What path does the air take around the object?

• How does the air's velocity vary as it travels around the object?

• Where and in what direction does the air's acceleration change as it travels around the object?

• What is the variation in pressure across each point on the object as the air travels around it at varying speeds, density, and temperature?

• Does any separation of flow occur as the air travels around the object? Where and how much?

• Is the air compressed or expanded in any flow areas around the object?

• Does the air's temperature vary as it travels around the object?

All of these questions are extremely difficult to answer. As the other commenters have explained, you just want to test it; and if you can't test it, you want to simulate it using the Navier Stokes equations. The simulation breaks down the air into tiny bits, applies basic fluid dynamics equations to the bits (in differential equation form), and then iteratively solves those equations (we're talking millions of calculations, usually leaving your computer running overnight or renting time on a supercomputer) to find a solution.

>Excel

Engineers, don't let friends use Excel for data visualization!

Free alternative

Expensive alternative

For the the main selling points of Python are:

• Price
• Open source (Even if you never looked at the source)
• Licensing
• Versatility. Your skills are transferable you can do top-notch web applications and scientific computing In same language

But the important thing for me is the spirit of open source. That means that the libraries that you are using were made by people like me and you. Your set of custom function can once become a universally known library.

Just a tough of that makes me happy and eager to help.

Btw. Have you tried: http://bokeh.pydata.org/ or http://ipython.org/. There are plenty of nice project waiting for you contribution. Whatever your interest is.

Simon McBreath wrote wonderful books on this subject.

Two I would recommend are “Competition Car Aerodynamics” and “Competition Car Composites” as they are incredible resources on theory, process, and manufacturing from a world expert in this field.

Can be found here on Amazon.

I'm not OP but here are a couple of picture I've taken while aboard ships. The first couple are of when we went through a school of fish and filled up our condenser and the rest are just random pictures from aboard an LNG

https://imgur.com/a/eqKEF

No way as far as I am aware. You can connect with customer support and see if you can come up with something. Also, you can take a loo at DraftSight. Not as complex as ACad, but manages to get most of the stuff done. Download link

Ha! Please hug it to death.

SEED: A Hard Science Fiction Novel

matthewgdick.com

http://jalopnik.com/you-can-download-and-3d-print-a-working-toyota-drivetra-1691382496

And directly to the designs:

http://www.thingiverse.com/ericthepoolboy/designs

As far as cost...it varies so much (3d printing) that it's hard to answer that directly. But if you had the printer/knew someone that had one then yeah, it wouldn't be too bad. If not, then that's where it can really vary.

I had done the math on this type of battery, turning an elevator into a kinetic energy battery. it really can't hold much, not even taking into account loss in the system.

lets be generous and say that each barrel has a cubic meter of concrete. That's 2,500 kg. next, it's lifted about 10 meters off the ground. plugging that into potential energy gives about 245k Joules, or 68 watt hours. so each barrel can "hold" just one of these or if you want to think about usage, it would power a single 60 w light bulb for a bit less then 11 hours. I can't even guess how much energy is wasted hooking up and disconnecting the barrels.

Read "How To Win Friends and Influence People" By Dale Carnegie. It'll definitely help.

In your particular situation, you've insulted their intelligence by pointing out there mistakes. The correct way is to lead them to find their own mistakes. "I saw some sketchy looking wire underground, any idea what it is?" * don't be sarcastic*

I found a little more information:

https://www.behance.net/gallery/22536831/ROBOTIC-EXTRUSION%286-Axis-KUKAABS-3D-Printing%29

It seems the advantage over a single strand of same cross sectional area is increased stiffness in bending (see figure 'Structure Simulation Before Fabrication '). It's hard to tell from the picture provided, but I would bet that there is a significant stress concentration at the nodes. They don't test or simulate any axial load cases, presumably because this is much more compliant than a single strand axially. I wish they would compare bending and axial stiffness to a single strand and an annular strand to this new structure. Perhaps a curved I or H beam would make an interesting comparison as well.

I suppose this could be useful anywhere you need a very expensive strand of stiff plastic in pure bending.

Introduction to Naval Architecture By E. C. Tupper is a good place to start:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Introduction-Naval-Architecture-C-Tupper/dp/0080982379

It’s nice to day dream, but you’ve got a lot of steps to get through. The first thing you need to do is decide on a boat, work out how much battery, solar panels and motor you need and if you can even carry it. You’ll need to consider what licences you’ll need, local regulations, insurance, etc But before you do any of that get your head around the basics of naval architecture.

Edit: If you are serious I could put you in touch with some consultants, but you'll need to spend a few thousand pounds / dollars just to get started with some meetings. There's a famous saying “A boat is a hole in the water into which you pour money”

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" - excellent collection of entertaining stories throughout his career. From giving his first lecture in front of a group of professors including Einstein to his role in the Manhattan Project.

The Design of Everyday Things

It's a book for Product Designers from many decades ago that still holds its relevance today. It gives good insight on why things are designed the way they are, and how to make products that are useful instead of just work.

Too long for a first resume. Limit it to one page. Take out his picture. I've been told black is the only acceptable text color. Last sentence of objective should be in the skills section. None of the colors in the heading (background colors). Take out the lines under each section header. Also missing a GPA.

One major thing to think about is that many job applications will be online so the companies' systems need to be able to parse a resume. Weird formatting (i.e. those lines, bullets, etc.) will mess up the system and it won't go through correctly, effectively throwing your resume away.

Edit: Might be able to be identified but oh well. This is mine. After I changed my resume to this format I started getting calls for jobs much more frequently whereas beforehand I was getting no interest from anyone.

For aerodynamics competition car aerodynamics by Simon McBeath is good starting point for aero. Amazon link Competition Car Aerodynamics 3rd Edition https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1787111024/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_LyUezbWXPXNS1

For engine design, I've found the tuning books to be good for a base point. The Books by A Graham Bell are good starting points Amazon link. Four-stroke Performance Tuning (4th edition) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0857331256/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_1BUezb9J526WQ

I'd also recommend some of the books from the speed pro series. Should be noted there are books by bell for 2 stroke engines should that take your fancy

Transmission wise I'm not to sure. I got all my knowledge of those through practical experience and engineering maths.

Hope this helps

You could get a portable A/C. You still need a window but the actual unit doesn't go in it, just a hose with a plastic insert to keep it in place.

This is pretty cool, but I'd like to point you towards my favorite engineering calculator, Qalculate. It's handles units, and also allows for the solving of equations. Here's the example from your readme:

multisolve([20'a' + −40 'b' +52 'c' = 45.6; 2.2e−6 'a' + 4 'b' + 9 'c' = −4; −1 'a' + 1 'b' + 2.23e3 'c' = 0], ['a', 'b', 'c']) [0.2759332, −1.0012888, 0.00057274531]

Hellsyea man!

Plus, the problems just keep getting better the more you learn.

I wish I could give a feel to my non-engineer or non-physics friends as to the magnitude of the joy and satisfaction that comes from studying or inventing truly elegant solutions.

From all the books I've had the chance to study from, the holy grail of awe and elegance remain:

• Landau&Lifshitz series.
• Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (and other LISP books)

Fellow redditors, any other books that you find deeply elegant and satisfying?

They don't expect you to be qualified, especially if they are hiring a sophomore. New hires aren't expected to have a mastery of the art, just enough knowledge to keep them from saying really dumb things. I got a job doing something I had taken zero classes about (airplane stability & control), but I made real contributions to the group by the end of the summer.

This was my resume at the start of my second year, perhaps it can give you some direction?

(I know it says Junior by credits, but I just came in with a bunch of AP credits)

check out drill powered water pumps and you can completely eliminate having to find broken motors. They're like $5-$15 on alibaba each

http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/New-Drill-Powered-Water-Pump_1158015471.html?s=p

If you download the Anaconda distribution, it comes with Spyder/PyCharm and the most popular 3rd party libraries, so it works "out of the box" like MATLAB.

I've really found the material is what makes an article of clothing business casual versus casual. I think a nice dark wash jean can work for business casual as well. Dressing it up with jewelry can go a long way way towards elevating the outfit. Lastly, I usually go for dark colors for my outfits with a a lighter/brighter colored accent (creams, corals, aquas, and reds are my go to options). The dark colors help formalize and the accents help feminize without being distracting.

Places to shop for business casual for me include ... Express (their Editor Pants), H&M, Kohl's, Calvin Klein, Banana Republic, and WhiteHouse/BlackMarket (especially their sale section!).

Here's a couple examples I think that may work for you... Pants outfit

The dress mainly I think the yellow accents/shoes might be a bit much. :P

www.onshape.com

The creators of SolidWorks left Dassult systems after a few years after they got bought, and created onshape. It's all cloud based, and is great. You can have multiple people working on the same project at the same time. It's a terrific tool. I use it almost daily.

We studied this book in uni, it's not only about structures and load cases, but it does have a few chapters which develop calculations for airframe forces caused by various flight manoeuvers. It's the basics. No regulation or FAR stuff, unfortunately.

https://www.amazon.com/Mechanics-Flight-Warren-F-Phillips/dp/0470539755

I see a bunch of textbooks on amazon specifically on airframe structural design, but no personal recommendation.

Depending on how much free time you have Khan academy is pretty well respected for teaching a lot of this material.

http://www.khanacademy.org/

Since you've been out of school I would highly recommend getting yourself up to speed with math.

Also brushing up on basic circuits, physics and computer science will pay off (google can help you with most of these).

As far as the detailed stuff a decent amount of that could wait until you get to your upper division, but again, depending on how much time you have i'd recommend trying to fiddle with some projects. Even if it's as simple as powering some servos with a new microcontroller.

Inkscape is a free vector art program. It works a lot like cad sketches but it has way more features for making stuff look pretty and its much more intuitive than any cad program. Plus you can import or export regular image files and just place the vector drawings on top of them.

I love arduino projects. As a side note, if you don't mind waiting a month for parts... http://www.dx.com/s/arduino?category=436

Microcenter, if you have one near you is also a good source for parts.

$750 will get you a decent machine, but by no means a powerhouse.

I'm not familiar with all those software packages, but thankfully most engineering software typically doesn't require cutting edge hardware to run well.

GPU, don't plan on a commercial grade drafting graphics card. You could spend your whole budget there with marginal improvements. Unless your doing gpu intensive things like 3D modeling, you can opt for a value graphics card. Tom's hardware can help you with bang for your buck, they evaluate "best" graphics cards in certain price ranges.

CPU, I'd go for a 3.4Ghz quad core i5 or i7. This is the heart, don't skimp here. This might help you make that choice.

MOBO, spend $100-150 on a well reviewed mobo, i like asus personally.

RAM, 8GB. Maybe 12-16GB if you can find a deal. Don't fret if you can't find the highest frequency the mobo supports.

I'm a recent fan of the SSD's. They can make an ordinary machine seem snappy, so I think you've got the storage spot on. Though, while still coming down in price, they are still fairly expensive. This might blow your budget.

Good luck.

Source: Mechanical Engineer / part time IT. I spec'd and built the engineer and drafter machines for my old and current company.

https://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/videocardtesting.html

There's more resources out there if you look as well. Solidworks officially only works on supported cards. And hint: none of them are gaming cards.

Use the ANSYS student version. Click agree at the bottom of the page and follow the instructions for install. You get a 6 month license for free.

http://www.ansys.com/Products/Academic/ANSYS-Student

A lot come with experience, so don't be afraid to make stuff in your spare time. This was posted on r/DIY a while ago and would be a good thing for you to take a look at. And never be afraid to ask the difference between X and Y from a senior. They know you're new at this and will want to help, not to mention everyone likes sounding smart from time to time and it gives them a chance to show off.

A lot of the knowledge come from seeing how a similar problem was handled or physical limitations of the piece, so just try to find the limiting factors of machining it (smallest part of the workpiece, holding position, etc).

Hey! awesome!

I did something similar a few years back (link below) and I think you might benefit from using cold-rolled steel and oil-impregnated bronze bushings rather than drawer slides for your bearings. What are you using as the router/spindle? I used a dremel, but later found out that they have LOTS of runout/deflection. Also, it appears to me that your primary structural material is... MDF? Is that correct? If so, you may find that you have too much deflection to machine anything more substantial than MDF at any considerable speed (I found this out the hard way as well) - though it does provide great bang for your buck.

http://harrisonrosecnc.blogspot.com/

(This was recently modified to produce:

http://hackaday.com/2012/05/04/chocolate-extrusion-printer-is-halfway-to-making-smores/

so know that you do have lots of options available for end-effectors that will not cause lots of deflection.

Not trying to be insensitive but depending how much beef he's packing then I'd strap a phone to his arm and run a sensors app.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wered.sensorsmultitool

Google used to have an app... They may still have something and I believe it was called journals...idk

I made one called TechTools for help with control systems/automation. It has pressure conversions, temperature and temperature element (RTD and TC) conversions, flow and flow velocities, as well as a 4-20mA/general scaling calculator.

A bit on the rough side, but comes in handy for quick checks.

• Shigley's Mechanical Engineering Design
• Machinery's Handbook
• The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman (A bit more general as per your question, but still good)

Those would be my top three. Don't give up hope on hands-on machining though, talk to your professors and ask for more time on the machines in edition to understanding chip size & feeds and speeds. I worked on campus as a machinist along with prototype & patent research (while securing my ME degree), running machines both manual and CNC was an absolute game changer for me as an engineer.

• The Unwritten Laws of Engineering by James G. Skakoon covering topics on "What the Beginner Needs to Learn at Once" in relation to work, supervisor, and colleagues as well as factors relating to engineering managers. A good quick read, dated but highly relevant.

• Universal Principles of Design by Lidwell, Holden, and Butler. Easy to digest, one principle per page. Some you know, some you never think about, some you didn't. Covers all sorts of different disciplines, but the principles can be applied to nearly every one.

The key in Excel is to customize the plots. They can be made to look quite good, they just don't default to it. But yes, I use Excel and Matlab; graphic design is one thing that open source has historically been weak at.

On my literal to-read pile is a book called "The Visual Display of Quantitative Information".

I haven't read it, so I can't make a personal recommendation, but it had high enough reviews that I bought it.

Learn 'C' and 'Python'.

'C' is the lingua-franca of computers. Start with K&R's 'The C Programming Language'.

Python as a high level language for getting things done. 'Dive into Python' is a good start.

There is this great product on Kickstarter that, I think, would be very useful when practicing a large number of math questions. I intend on buying it because I usually end up with a pile of paper written on, on both sides, and this seems to be a solution to that. It's greener too.

Looks like they're standard dell parts, seems like the part number is M92YV, though there's a few other gadgets they seem to cram in there.

Use Indeed Resume Search to look up what people who have the job you want have in their skill set. Take note of what skill is in high demand in your field when you see those job postings. Solidworks? AutoCad? FEA? I don't know your field these are just examples. Either learn what you're missing or if you have enough on the list, use Indeed Resume search to figure out how people structure information to maximize the skills you already have.

Be cautioned though, this paper is very heavily laden with engineering terminology.

Here is the paper: https://www.scribd.com/doc/250344946/Skylon-Space-Plane-Final

Here is the powerpoint: https://www.scribd.com/doc/250345294/Skylon

There's a Solidworks tool called Solidworks Composer that is focused on producing documentation. It costs extra. I don't know exactly whether it does what you're interested in but you could talk to a rep. As someone else mentioned, you could do it 'by hand' with almost any CAD package, the difference will be the amount of hassle that can be reduced.

Specifically the M-402 Zebra. I had mine for almost two years until it was stolen by a homeless man. Rest in peace, Zebra. Rest in peace.

make a CNC

machine shop skills are always useful for ME's right?

One of the most useful features you'll utilize once you get a handle on Python is the incredible extensive power offered by various libraries available. SciPy is widely used in scientific/technical computing for number crunching tools/techniques commonly used by scientists and engineers. matplotlib likewise is great for graphics and visualization jobs. If you need it, chances are the very diverse Python community has a tool that will be helpful to fellow Python users.

Python.

I graduated Civil then worked Aerospace for 3 years and Python was invaluable for the amount of data we used. I was lucky enough to have some time to learn it and apply it to my job. I've since moved back into Civil and I'm still able to apply Python to tasks here and there. I'd say any discipline can benefit from knowing a language like Python (fast development/deployment, easy to learn, scriptable).

To start I'd download:

PyCharm Community Edition (Free development environment)

Anoconda Scientific Python Distribution which is Python bundled with a ton of scientific modules. These will likely serve you through any project you would encounter.

Start by disproving that you can do this:

He points out in the article that quantum computers that can factor 15 into 5*3 exist. He also indicates that while problems exist quantum computers might be able to grow bigger. Lets call that maximum size a logic unit, gate, register, etc depending on how it is used. Just how a computer is composed of transistors formed into logic gates, a computer can be hooked together at least with electronic interfaces if not quantum with as many of these perhaps bulky logic units to build a calculating machine. Thus although it might be impractical and expensive a computer can be built. Just like computing machines built out of relays.

I have all my books in pdf format. I use PDF-Exchange Viewer to annotate (highlight) my pdfs. I can also browse through all my annotations via bookmarks that are automatically created for each one. Best of all, the free version of this software has all the features that I need and it runs great in Linux (using Wine). I highly recommend it.

http://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-viewer

ME turned sci-fi author here. I think you guys would like my first book that is a similar spirit to The Martian and Project Hail Mary. It’s SEED by Matthew G. Dick. Thanks!

There was a toy. Vortex. Like a football with a tail. Had a whistle version. Could look at that. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P29SC84/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awdb_imm_1MNRSC4SWS09D6SY4BC8?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Mine is a very niche use but I need it almost daily and it makes me happy every time. This will be fun to explain.

I work on control systems. There's a typical type of NEMA 4 control panel enclosure where the door closes with 3 latches, they have a big standard-screw slot and they turn 90 degrees. Most of the time if you're just checking inside the panel you don't have a large screwdriver on you, and you pull a dime out of your pocket, or you use the side of a smaller Master lock sized key, and you jam it in the slot and futz with it until you get it open.

Parallel story. I had this bottle opener I got as a wedding favor, it looked like an old-timey key. It was an awful bottle opener. One day I was fumbling with a bottle and decided to Amazon up a new bottle opener for myself. I ordered this guy:

Nite Ize DoohicKey Key Tool Keychain Multi-Tool, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HUC2WHA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_XHN2xbE4A47TZ

It's light, clips on my keychain like a carabiner, opens bottles, and it also has a big chisel tip that is meant to be a giant standard screwdriver. I don't know what I would use it on, except it's perfect for opening those screw latched panels with no pocket change and no futzing or bending up my mailbox key. (also sometimes electrical trough covers.)

Lay the cable in the angle slot, insert a set screw in the top and tighten to lock this block onto a cable? Here's an alternate from Amazon for under $5, although it's not a block.

I may have this wrong, but are you wanting one bolt to mount a load cell, and lock down on the cable? This may not work well, as tension will usually come from one source or the other, not both at precisely the same time.

You most certainly do not need PM software for your to-do list.

I struggled with this for a long time. I highly recommend Getting Things Done by David Allen - Amazon Link.

I ended up settling on MS OneNote to keep track of everything in my life. The desktop version is very powerful, and the mobile app is good for review and short notes on the go.

WARNING: It is very easy to go overboard with organizing with the GTD method. It took me a long time to get it running smoothly (David Allen suggests a full 2 years before you reap the full benefits), but now I have all of my Tasks, Projects, Someday/Maybe's, and various levels of Goals for work and home neatly organized and out of my head.

If that is too much here is a much more simple method for the short term. Grab a notebook and write down everything you have to do. As for prioritizing, pick 2-4 things you absolutely have to get done tomorrow and write those on a separate piece of paper. Repeat this daily.

Is that the Oontz Angle 3? If so, it's $26 on Amazon and buying a new one is almost certainly your cheapest and fastest option to getting this fixed.

Are you allowed to rewire the button? I'd replace it with some kind of smart switch that you can put on your home network. You can always keep the old button stored somewhere and put it back when you move out.

Sources at google also tell me this exists: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071V7Y864/ I think i'd still prefer rewiring the button instead of attaching a mechanical switch on top of it.

I use FrameDesign and BeamDesign from the guys at LetsConstruct, quite simple and powerful.

No, this is insane. The Dollar has done nothing but increase in strength of the last 5 years. This is short term profiting.

http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/dxy/charts?symb=DXY&countrycode=US&time=12&startdate=1%2F4%2F1999&enddate=12%2F17%2F2015&freq=1&compidx=none&compind=none&comptemptext=Enter+Symbol%28s%29&comp=none&amp...

*Sorry for link murder but just adjust that to five years.

Here you go.

Sounds like what you want is an ID printer: http://www.idwholesaler.com/card-printers.html also known as UV card printers http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/uv-card-printer.html

I highly suggest you stick to a standard form factor and size for the cards or else you are going to pay 100K+ for a custom unit. I would find a local company that has a UV printer and go in there and talk to them. Sounds like you need every card to be custom (same as ID card printer), and you want to print a lot of them? Start small spend 4K on a card printer and blank cards and figure out how long it takes per to print, then you can run everything in parallel.

If the card has to be custom size, you can use a large bed UV printer and make a custom tray that holds your custom cards. expect to pay custom prices

This sums up my issues with the visuals - http://gizmodo.com/5895235/cgi-experts-say-flying-bird-man-is-fake

Watch this test flight video as well (starts at 1:44) where the people RUN from the wings just before he takes his flight, everyone is running which is convenient for the camera man who is "forced" to look at the ground for a moment. When he looks back at the wings they have changed texture, lighting, luminescence and just look fake.

Then there is this pretty glaringly obvious mistake - http://imgur.com/PlEI7

Oh, what’s a vibroseis? It’s a truck with a big flat plate underneath it. The plate is hydraulically lowered to the ground until the weight of the truck is on it. The truck then causes the plate to vibrate, usually sweeping from around 10 hz to 100 hz. This infrasound pass through the ground until it is reflected back by underlying rock layers. A long string of geophones, think 1,000s of feet, detects the waves, which are recorded. In practice, many trucks are used to generate a synchronized signal of sufficient strength. Or, you can set off an explosion which is the technique used in water. Typically the information is used for oil and gas exploration. A video of one of the trucks in action after the break.

Credit Hack-A-Day http://hackaday.com/2015/12/01/listening-to-the-sounds-of-the-earth/

The biggest thing you need is some way to link requirements, so that when top level system requirements are changed, the changes flag all requirements decomposed from it.

​

I only have experience with DOORS, but here's a list of programs that might work:

DOORS alternatives

Yes, there absolutely is a market for sales people with engineering degrees. The idea is that it's easier to teach an engineer sales than teach a salesman engineering.

You don't need to change your major, but you might not land a "sales" job right out of college, just because most companies want their sales engineers (who represent the company) to understand the market. In addition to looking for entry level sales jobs, you should also look for jobs labelled as "applications," "technical support," or maybe some "field" engineering which have something about working with customers in the job description. Let them know you're interested in moving to a technical sales role at some point.

You should be prepared to travel a lot. Sales engineers are often asked to exhibit at trade shows or visit customers on-site.

Alibre is decent software at around 200 for a stripped down version. It lacks some of the polish and shine of Soldworks or Inventor, but the core functionality is there. I'm not a huge fan of some aspects of it, but the cost makes it impossible to ignore. If you don't already have training and expectations based on other software it'll feel perfectly fine.

I have no experience with it's CAM or FEA integration.

http://www.alibre.com/

My father studied from the 2nd edition, I studied from the 5th edition, when I graduated they were on the 6th edition and now they have an 11th edition! Jeez, they crank them out so much faster now.

I bought this a couple months ago as a travel laptop. Its the best value laptop i have come across, it can be had for $650 if you are willing to buy a "used" on from amazon(i learned that the used ones just have some packaging damage and aren't really used). The touch pad isn't great, and the screen is so-so but every thing else is top notch.

This dell was my second choice, also a great computer, has a better processer then the asus. I went with the asus because I was able to get it for $650 and people always speak bad about dell, looking back I think I would have preferred the dell.

An 89 is a "super old calculator"? Suddenly I'm feeling super old....

That said, it looks like you can get refurbished original 89s from Amazon.

edit: But hey, in the search for that I see I can also get my hands on a "like new" 81. Best calculator I ever owned (OK, not really... But I knew how to make that bitch dance!). I'm ordering one!

How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I'm the overanalytical, oblivious engineer type, so I had a tough time socially without some how-to's. The book was written decades ago, but it's based on many years of research. Most importantly, it targets two things: the basest parts of how people think and feel and the most pervasive social norms of American culture. Those two things haven't changed too much in the 80 years since it was written.

Here's what you need to know to use the book:

1) you can learn to be social. Just like your brain slowly rewires to get better at math or creative writing or throwing a ball or riding a bike, you'll only get better at socializing with practice. The type of socializing you do determines what you get better at.

2) Don't try implementing this all at once with people you know. Pick one skill to work on and improve it slowly. People get unsettled by dramatic changes in demeanor because then they're not sure how to interact around you. Slow changes over months are seen as personal growth and applauded; changes over a few days are noticed as strange.

3) find places outside of work you can practice this. Groups of people you have common interests with will make it easier to practice. Maker clubs or hobby meetups might be up your alley.

The people you see at work that do it naturally are just very experienced with these social techniques. Young people who do it naturally probably learned from their parents growing up, so the 18 year old has 18 years of experience. Books are how we learn things without having to stumble through trial and error, so you'll make up that 18 year gap pretty quickly. Learn from your successes and repeat them, and you'll improve quickly. Stick with it a few years and it'll be natural.

I listen to a lot of personal productivity books on my commute. I find that I can take that time to work on my soft skills, which are equally if not occasionally more important than hard engineering skills. Triggers by Mark Reiter and Deep Work or So Good They Can't Ignore You both by Cal Newport come to mind.

Best way is to have another job offer at hand first before you start taking about promotion and be willing to jump ship if it's not given to you. Read the book "Negotiating, Getting to Yes Without Giving In"

http://www.khanacademy.org/ www.wikipedia.org

The thing I learned at college is that math professors are often terrible. Math concepts are simple, if explained properly. I learned math from the two sources above as well as my textbook. When doing your homework and examples don't try to memorize how to do a problem but, understand how and why each step is done. It's the difference between thinking; "for this type of problem, I need to apply trick 1, then trick 2, oh Fuck, Trick 4???" verses "In order to solve this problem I have to intergrate x by applying intergration by parts for this reason" Understanding how and why each step was taken is the only way you will properly develop a systematic way to solve problems. This in the end is one of the most important skill you will learn in your entire life. Btw, everyone in first year engineering questions their major and often it's related to math. If you enjoy it, stick with it. I've been working as an EE for 4 years now, and I can honestly say I have seen and done some of the crasiest shit and meet some of the most intresting people.

With stuff like this for cheap, who cares

I just bought a generic ceramic cap, electrolytic cap, resistor and transistor kits. Stocked my kit. With resistor unless you're making something specific, it really doesn't matter as long as you're in the ballpark anyway.

This might be a good place to start - It's pretty basic and probably doesn't match your requirements exactly but it talks about some of the primary considerations and has links to some very thorough documents.

I like using a combination of Google Keep and Trello. Google Keep is my daily to do list and I use Trello to keep me organized long term. Keep is organized as more of a general to do list. Trello is organized in boards where you write down your ideas as post its and can move them around/group them as you see fit (Like a scrum board).

Check out Robotics and Mechanisms Lab (RoMeLa) at Virginia Tech. Dr. Hong's got some crazy stuff going, and has gotten alot of attention lately from Disc Channel, TED talks, and Pop Sci, so you can find cool videos and articles to check out online. His humanoid robot CHARLI-2 was the first US entry to win RoboCup: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/12/darwin-op-charli-2-humanoids-make-history-at-robocup-2011-u-s/

You can work in his lab as an undergrad from any relevant major I think. I know aerospace students who worked on some cool undergrad research there.

Difference is stall speeds of the aircraft that are refueling vs max speed of the tanker. The B-29 was pretty fast for a large piston aircraft, something like 350 mph. That sort of speed is easily maintained by a fighter jet.

Edit: For example, I think the jet in the foreground is a F-105 thunderchief (based on tail structure and the base of the wing) which had a typical stall speed of 181 knots

That's exactly what gets folks to do the work - bleeding edge technology draws 'em in. Only in this case, it sounds like the company is slavedriving (forcing the work of three people onto one) in order to get a faster return on investment for the benefit of the owners (who will cash out big time when an industry giant scoops them up).

Look at the stock trading prices for the last two years. This pricing trend is typical of a technology company on the verge of a sale.