Engineering

Test Manager, $100-115K salary + benefits, Richardson, TX Looking for a career with a company that values and rewards engineering talent? Join this blazing-hot company deploying products and services to enable wireless solutions for their clients. The ideal candidate will be a confident and action-oriented engineer with both a test engineering and an engineering management background, who can adjust quickly to changing conditions and provide practical plans to assist this growing, fast-paced firm. Responsibilities include setting project and department goals for test strategies to handle…

Mechanical Engineer, Thermal Testing Expert, $45-55 per hour, N Dallas Suburbs Bring your Mechanical Engineering and Thermal Testing skills to a rapid-growth company raising the bar of excellence in the data communications arena. You may be either an ME who has thermal testing experience, or an ME who is knowledgeable enough about thermal testing to project manage a vendor relationship with an outsourced testing firm. The company would prefer to hire a salaried employee but will also consider a contract-to-hire arrangement. This exciting corporation provides the stability of many years in…

Software Engineer, GUI and SW controls Automation, North Dallas Suburb Seeking a fast paced, experienced C#, .NET software engineer with software automation experience. Project is projected for a short term assignment and we need someone who is available immediately. A good problem solver and eager to take ownership of the in-house application which is about 90% complete. Dive into existing code as well as developing new code as conditions change. Will be involved mostly in a short project aimed at answering urgent technology and business need. For immediate consideration, please send your MS…

Alliant Energy (NYSE: LNT) has an excellent reputation, a track record of success and a solid foundation for aggressive, intelligent short and long-term growth plans.  We have announced plans to construct over 900 MW of additional electric generating capacity from both traditional and renewable sources as well as significant environmental improvements to existing facilities in the near future. Alliant Energy is currently hiring for a Distribution Engineer II (posted as Electric Distribution Engineer) to be located in Mason City, Iowa.  This position may be filled at a higher level based on…

Contract RF Design Engineer, to $55/hr DOE, Richardson TX Bring your RF Design Engineering expertise to a global company in this important contract role. You will research RF component and RFIC vendors, analyze their products for applicability to the femto-cell and pico-cell transceiver requirements, and conduct lab evaluations. Take responsibility for development of the hardware requirements related to the RF front-end circuits and RFICs. This is a four to six month contract opening. If you meet the requirements listed, send MS Word resume to resume [at] alynpatrick [dot] com Requirements:…

Petrochemicals company Sasol has approved R558-million to complete basic engineering for a two-phase project to double hard wax production at its Sasol Wax operation, in Sasolburg, the company announced on Friday. Sasol added that the money would also be used to order long-lead items for the first phase of expansion at the operation.

The much-anticipated programme of action that would govern the so-called ‘Energy Champions’ initiative, announced by South Africa President Thabo Mbeki in his State of the Nation address at the start of the year, was unveiled at a press briefing in Cape Town this week. Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said the initiative would seek to inform, educate and mobilise the entire societal spectrum towards the efficient and sustainable use of electricity. She said that the priority was to help support plans that would lower the national consumption of energy by between 10% and 15% over…

The government of Canada on Friday announced that it was sending an electricity capabilities mission to Johannesburg. South Africa is Canada’s strongest commercial partner in Africa, and two-way trade reached an estimated 15-billion in 2007. High commissioner for Canada to South Africa, Ruth Archibald, said that the prospects for expanded cooperation in the energy sector were excellent. “The Canadian electrical energy industry is highly developed, being both massive in the scale and highly diversified in its capabilities. We have much to offer each other.”

The SA navy's new state-of-the-art frigates and submarines took centre stage on Friday at the first presidential fleet review of President Thabo Mbeki's term of office. Led by one of the new frigates, the SAS Mendi, the fleet sailed in formation past the review ship, the SAS Protea, carrying Mbeki and other VIPs. The other three new frigates followed. Then came two strike-craft and two mine sweepers and two of the three new type 209 MOD South African submarines.

South African weapons systems manufacturer Denel said on Friday that it had invested an estimated R12-million on employee skills development, including R2-million for employee bursaries in the 2007/8 financial year. This, the company said, significantly exceeded the benchmark set in the Skills Development Act, which demanded a 1% investment of the salary bill. The statement was made after trade union Solidarity appealed to Denel earlier this week to foster skills and introduce training plans in an effort to prevent a skills gap brought on by an ageing work force.

A lawsuit has been filed against the crane owner, operator and manufacturer in connection with a July 24 Oklahoma City accident in which an elderly church patron was crushed under the weight of a falling crane while his spouse watched him die.

Though structural and building code experts agree with the federal finding that the local trigger for the global progressive collapse of the 47-story Seven World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, was thermal expansion, many oppose the report's recommendation for change.

A chart developed by the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force in its investigation of Hurricane Katrina shows storm-surge potential as an interaction of factors...

Storm surge was big enough to stress but not overwhelm new designs and systems.

The National Center for Construction Education and Research pushes training into new arenas.

MIT researchers may have found a way to overcome a key barrier to the advent of super-fast quantum computers, which could be powerful tools for applications such as code breaking.

Electronic fingerprinting, iris scans, and signature recognition software are all becoming commonplace biometrics for user authentication and security. However, they all suffer from one major drawback -- they can be spoofed by a sufficiently sophisticated intruder. Researchers now describe a new approach based on a person's reflexes that could never be copied, forged, or spoofed.

Applied scientists have developed a new technique for fabricating nanowire photonic and electronic integrated circuits that may one day be suitable for high-volume commercial production.

US regulators have ignored expert safety advice in an attempt to cut corners and fast track the completion of a $4 billion nuclear fuel facility currently under construction near Aiken, South Carolina. The accusation is reported in The Chemical Engineer magazine, published by the Institution of Chemical Engineers.

The secret of electron heating in low temperature plasmas has been discovered. Scientists found the answer to a question which has been puzzling scientists for decades -- why electrons in such plasmas are so hot.

Company lines up $500 million in cash, but Hexion scoffs

State's new laws on chemicals could presage federal action

Federal officials look for cause of fatal explosion

Hurricane shuts down power, downs trees on campus

Harnessing enzymes could lead to improved conversion of biomass into fuels

Wondering how old that dusty bottle o’ wine is? Why just send it off to the particle accelerator for testing! Yahoo News Happy 205th Birthday, atomic symbols. Wired Germans fire up the oxyfuel burner for the world’s first complete demonstration of carbon capture and sequestration technology. Guardian Hot metal, a sieve, a hydraulic lift, and a fish tank: Everything you need to make your own ammo. Popular Science DNA suggests woolly mammoths in Europe and Asia were American ex-pats. ScienceNOW Monkey study brings more bad news about Bisphenol A. Washington Post If you’re…

Spice up your packaging materials. Cinnamon-infused wrapper keeps the mold away. NY Times Synthetic trees: new strategies of carbon dioxide sequestration. San Diego Union-Tribune As autumn approaches, scientists link brain chemistry to the seasonal blues. BBC Go greased lightening! The Grease to Greece race is on. Guardian Slimmer waistlines and a smaller carbon footprint. Portland gym runs on people power. LA Times Climate change experts go one element beyond carbon to gauge the effects of its neighbor, nitrogen. NY Times Can Democrats blame a mix of altitude and alcohol for any antics at…

Alfred and Isabel Bader are longtime supporters of the American Chemical Society’s Project SEED. Alfred Bader made the following comments at a reception following the presidential symposium “Project SEED 40th Anniversary: Crossing Generations and Energizing Minds” at the recent ACS national meeting in Philadelphia. Isabel and I have tried to help students in many fields of learning and in different parts of the world. Perhaps the most satisfying has been our involvement with Project SEED, an effort by the American Chemical Society conceived 40 years ago by Alan Nixon to…

Lost on a farm? Google Earth images reveal cows make great compasses. LATimes A dynamic (and ongoing–place your vote now!) debate over energy and technology. Economist Assessing the Arctic’s carbon budget. Christian Science Monitor One teacher’s efforts to straddle the line between faith and science. NYTimes France grapples with severe PCB pollution in the Rhone. BBC

At the ACS meeting last week, Rudy attended a session called the “Task Force on Enhancing Innovation & Competitiveness: A Hearing to Gather Input for the Final Report.” Says Rudy in his editorial: “The panels discussed a number of practical issues and concerns surrounding advocacy for science and technology, but all agreed that to remain relevant in the public policy arena scientists need to continue to make their voices heard strongly and clearly on Capitol Hill.” The folks at the ACS Office of Policy and Legislative Affairs even put together a training video on how to…

I don't pretend to do breaking news in this blog, although timely events do make it in here on occasion. A little over a year ago, on Aug. 1, 2007, to be exact, a major bridge carrying I-35W over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed, killing 13 motorists and drawing attention to the generally poor state of highway infrastructure nationwide. At the time, there was speculation that neglected maintenance might have been a factor in the collapse. But last January, the National Transportation Safety Board issued an interim report which pointed to a design flaw as the possible culprit.

A few days ago, I found out that my university ID card has an RFID chip in it. A new floor of our building has labs equipped with RFID locks on the doors: little black boxes that light up red or green when you pass the right card next to them. I figured I'd have to go get some special new key fob or other to use the locks, but I was told, "Just hold your ID card near it." I did, and open sesame! I didn't even have to take the card out of my wallet. Some guys, like technicians with an armload of equipment, will just do the "butt-pass"—twist around so their back pocket gets close enough, and…

In case you hadn't noticed, we're going to elect a president here in a few months, and that means voting. Eight years ago, the humble machinery used to register ballot counts got dragged into the national spotlight when the Florida presidential election count uncertainties cast doubt on who would be sitting in the Oval Office on Jan. 20, 2001. Reports of hanging chad and other voting-system flaws motivated many local governments (which are the entities that deal with the nitty-gritty of running elections nationwide) to invest in shiny new all-electronic voting systems. But in recent years,…

Does the principle of freedom to share technical information about computer system vulnerabilities mean that you can tell folks how to get free rides on Boston's MBTA? A federal judge doesn't think so. And the way all this came about raises some interesting questions in engineering ethics.A bunch of students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology spent some time finding security flaws in the subway system: things like doors and turnstile boxes left unlocked and ways to duplicate the magnetic-stripe and RFID cards to get a free ride. That they did so is not surprising: any time you put…

Trust is a fragile thing. But it's also the mortar that holds organizations together. Two ongoing news items have brought to mind the critical role trust plays in engineering and what can happen when it's betrayed.Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, envelopes containing a white powder that turned out to be anthrax spores showed up in the offices of several Congressmen and elsewhere, killing a total of five people and shutting down an entire Congressional office building for a time. The FBI investigation of the incidents progressed largely out of public view until a scientist at the U.

Yesterday, while doing some research on the internet, I came across some new terms/terminology: "Kerogen". I found that word while searching some information about "pyrolysis" in the famous Wikipedia. Curious on the term Kerogen, I click at the word and it brought me to a new Wikipedia page. OK, so the following is the description (adopted from wikipedia, off course...) :Kerogen is a mixture of organic chemical compounds that make up a portion of the organic matter in sedimentary rocks.[1] It is insoluble in normal organic solvents because of the huge molecular weight (upwards of 1,000…

Do you know how crude oil is processed ore refined? If no, then I recommend you to check out this video. Even if you know, it's good to see it to learn other plants. It shows us how crude oil is refined. The video shows an American Refining Group, Bradford, Pa., which is the world's oldest and continuously operating refiner of Pennsylvania crude oil. Take a tour of the "Barrell House". It's like a 9 minutes technical plant visit. You don't see the oil but at least you learn something about the basic process. Perhaps, later we can have more of this type video technical plant visit to enrich…

As an engineer, I experienced a lot of sweet and enjoyable moment. I also did tasted some sad and bitter moments as well. I'm no longer experiencing them because now I'm no longer a practicing engineer. However, once in a while I still contact my fellow counterparts (engineers) and also visited few plants / projects under official duties as an academician / researcher / consultant, or as a member of the Institution of Engineers (IEM). This is to ensure my continuous engineering education and training relevant to the industry needs.Reflecting to my passed experiences, I would like to share 3…

369 days ago, I made entitled "Learning Process From Cleaning Plate Heat Exchanger" which was a follow up entry from "Some Updates". You can refer to the 2 posts for reference. From that post, I received some interesting response and questions from few engineers asking more detail about the cleaning of heat exchangers. The questions are taken from the comment section of that Learning Process From Cleaning Plate Heat Exchanger post without any editing. I answered the questions but I add more of my answers here after thinking about it...Questions:I'm a process engineer and your article is very…

Since I started this blog in July 2006, I have received a lot of interesting comments and emails. Some asked general chemical engineering questions while a few others asked a more detail technical questions. I'm so busy but I try to answer all of the questions if I know the answer. I'm very sorry if I miss out answering some of emails or comments.I thought of sharing some of the questions with all of you for the benefit of all of us. A few days ago, I received a comment from one of my recent post entitled I Resigned From My Engineering Job. The commenter name is Archana Khode and he is from…

Hello GeoPrac.net readers!  I am Robert Thompson, a geotechnical engineer (P.E.) living in Alabama and working all over the U.S. as a partner in Dan Brown and Associates.  My first contribution to this site (besides this post!) is an article on a project that I started working on at my previous employer, TTL, Inc., but completed after I joined DBA.  Randy has added the article to the downloads area.  Read on for a brief summary and the download link.

A report has been released by the NYSDOT on the Scoby Hill Landslide which has impacted a 4.2-mi improvement project of Route 219. The report, dated May 20, 2008 was headed to an FHWA peer  review panel. The Feds were call in to help because of the unusual nature of the landslide. The slip surface is very deep, approximately 30-m (100-ft) below the surface and below all of the design phase investigations. And the remolded shear strength of the silty clay forming the slip surface was only 12-14 degrees. Read on for more details of the slide. (Photo by NYSDOT)

The Progressive Engineer website has an interesting article profiling Colwyn Sayers, a geotechnical engineer with the Lexington, Kentucky office of Stantec. His specialty is inspecting underwater bridge foundations which requires either wetsuit or drysuit diving using topside air sources. Occasionally a hyperbaric chamber is required as well. (Photo credit: Progressive Engineer) On a typical dive, Sayers looks for signs of deterioration that may cause instability or even collapse of the bridge. This includes scour, undermining from flowing water that erodes the streambed, deterioration,…

I stumbled across this video for the geotechnical engineering centrifuge at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Centrifuge testing is a popular way to economically test models at much higher loads and pressures than you would normally be able to in the laboratory. The goal is to more accurately represent the real world conditions. Click through for the video.

A new study published in the current issue of Geoarchaeology claims that earthquake-prone areas along the edges of tectonic plates were far more likely to give birth to great ancient civilizations than less dynamic landscapes. The author of the paper, Eric Force, a (U of A Wildcat!) says that 13 of 15 ancient civilizations sites aren't the product of chance. Instead, ancient people appear to have chosen to settle close to a tectonic plate boundary. The exceptions were in ancient China and Egypt. [Image Adapted from Eric R. Force, Geoarchaeology: An International Journal, 23 (2008)]

In Part 2 of Engineering TV's interview with Eric Tremblay, researcher at the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering, Eric discusses the Montage, a new camera design derived from a "slice" of the original full aperture symmetric lens, which features a much greater depth of field and a USB interface, all in a package about the size of a domino. "This type of miniature camera is very promising for applications where you want high resolution images and a short exposure time. This describes what cell phone cameras want to be when they grow up," says professor Joseph Ford in the…

Most camera lenses refract light, leading to the familiar cylindrical tube geometry. In some cases, where extended focal length or reduced track length are required, concentric mirrors can be used to effectively reduce barrel length. Recent advances in diamond machining and image processing make it possible to take this approach to a new extreme. With up to 8 reflections, large ray angles, and a lens shaped more like a lens cap than a tube, so-called Origami Optics allowed researchers at the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering to squeeze long focal lengths into a thin package and still collect…

The Turbine Technologies PT-50 turboshaft engine offers a new heavy fuel solution for UAV’s requiring a 50 HP class engine. With its minimal volume and a complete flight ready weight of only 30.6 pounds, the engine exhibits excellent power density. The free power turbine design entails three primary sections: a gasifier core, an accessory section and a power module. The gasifier core contains a radial flow compressor stage, a reverse flow annular combustor and an axial flow turbine stage. Six high pressure atomization nozzles allow for routine starting and operation on heavy fuels. The…

The aerospace engineering and engineering mechanicals undergraduate controls laboratory at the University of Texas, Austin, is open to juniors and seniors who have completed a feedback controls systems course and are ready to apply their understanding of classical and state space control theory in the lab. University of Texas Lecturer and Principle Engineer of Controls and Simulation at National Instruments, Jeannie Falcon, Ph.D., shows us around and demonstrates the experimental hardware of the lab, including a linear translational plant and a control loop system that operates on linear…

The MDS 300 is an ultra high precision Materials Deposition System. It enables digital deposition of a wide range of fluids utilizing inkjet printhead technology. The MDS 300 allows the ultimate flexibility in printing capabilities. Users can input print resolution, print speed, printhead separation and curing processes. It can be utilized in both R&D and pilot line production applications. iTi’s MDS 300 is a highly precise materials deposition system for analyzing and printing UV inks, biological fluids, polymers and a wide range of printable electronic materials. It is used…

As some scientists predict that hurricanes will grow stronger and more frequent over the next century, Greg Kopp, a researcher and civil engineering professor at the University of Western Ontario, is engineering a way to lessen their destructive impacts. Oftentimes, during a hurricane, the roof of the house is the first part of the house to fail. Their project, dubbed “Three Little Pigs”, aims to discover what is responsible for this, and to engineer a solution. To conduct their research, engineers constructed a steel hanger, containing a full scale house and pressure boxes capable of…

Perhaps you noticed that a merry-go-round spins like a motor, except instead of electricity, children provide the torque needed to make it turn. However, unlike a regular motor (which often operate at peak efficiencies of about 20-30%), the merry-go-round is 100% inefficient (in a mechanical sense). Why not harness the power the merry-go-round produces? After all, it’s as close to a free, renewable and waste free energy source as you can get. Engineers realized this untapped energy source by creating The PlayPump, a simple machine powered by kids at play. The Playpump propels water up from…

How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built is a three hour television series which originally aired on the BBC in 1997. It is based on the book of the same name by Stewart Brand, a scientist, artist and veteran of the environmental movement. Brand is also the creator of the well known The Whole Earth Catalog and the Long Now Foundation. The television series features Brand explaining how different buildings were or were not built to withstand time and change. He looks at how buildings adjust to having new residents with new needs for the space. Buildings that provide people…

Engineering Students from the U.S. had a chance to work with other engineering students from Japan in a cross-cultural classroom setting. The students meet to learn about innovation in the field of glass science. The International Materials Institute (IMI) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored the pioneering program. Experts in the field from the U.S., Japan, Brazil and France taught the classes U.S. and Japanese students participated in. The students meet for two weeks in Kyoto, Japan. Students looking to go abroad to do research in Asian countries also have the opportunity…

As future generations turn through the pages of books at the Monroe Street Library in Madison, Wisconsin, they will have the students of Mike Oliva’s “Special Topics in Engineering” class to thank. Earlier in the year, in response to rising energy costs and a budget shortfall, library officials suggested closing or reducing the open hours at the nearly 50 year-old library. Enter Oliva’s University of Wisconsin engineering class. The students looked at the building, and found numerous areas where energy efficiency could be improved, ranging from fluorescent light bulbs and double…

An end to spaghetti power cables by Maggie Shiels, BBC News Mr Rattner envisaged a scenario where a laptop’s battery could be recharged when the machine gets within several feet of a transmit resonator which could be embedded in tables, work surfaces, picture frames and even behind walls. Intel’s technology relies on an idea called magnetic induction. It is a principle similar to the way a trained singer can shatter a glass using their voice; the glass absorbs acoustic energy at its natural frequency. At the wall socket, power is put into magnetic fields at a transmitting…

Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder is a great engineer and full of wonderful quotes for engineers to take to heart. The autobiography of the Woz is certainly a good read for any engineer. Woz urges engineers to follow their hearts Wozniak talked about a life driven by his passion for the electronics and computing. And passion can be a more important incentive than money, he said. … “Sometimes when you’re short of resources it forces you to do better work,” he said. To design the Apple’s logic circuitry, “I couldn’t afford an online timeshare computer…

Nice post from Rich Hoeg - Lake Superior vs. Silicon Valley Hot Spots: Recently I had the opportunity to visit friends in Silicon Valley. While riding the light rail in Mountain View, I experienced a moment of revelation of how life differs between the shores of Lake Superior and Silicon Valley. Six young men boarded the train … all obviously geeks in their young 30’s … their laptops (all Apples) were already fired up and ready. They proceeded to have a LAN party while riding the light rail on the way to work. Why was this possible?? You need to understand that Google…

Surprise, surprise: U.S. broadband is slow. Really slow. The U.S. comes in 15th on a worldwide scale, far behind the leaders Japan, South Korea and Finland. … A file that takes four minutes to download in South Korea would take nearly an hour and a half to download in the U.S. using the average bandwidth. Japanese users leaves U.S. users behind with an eye-popping 63.60 Mb/s download link. This means that Japanese can download an entire movie in just two minutes, as opposed to two hours or more here in the U.S. Just in case you are wondering: No, Japanese users do not pay more for their…

Toyota has a long term vision. The population of Japan is aging rapidly. Toyota has invested in personal transportation and personal robotic assistance for quite some time. I must admit this new Winglet doesn’t seem like an incredible breakthrough to me (their earlier iUnit seems much better to me - though I am sure much more expensive too). The interest to me is in their continued focus on this market which I think is a smart move. The aging population worldwide (and others) will benefit greatly from improved personal mechanical assistance. The Winglet is one of Toyota’s…

Stanford’s “autonomous” helicopters teach themselves to fly Stanford computer scientists have developed an artificial intelligence system that enables robotic helicopters to teach themselves to fly difficult stunts by watching other helicopters perform the same maneuvers. … The dazzling airshow is an important demonstration of “apprenticeship learning,” in which robots learn by observing an expert, rather than by having software engineers peck away at their keyboards in an attempt to write instructions from scratch. … It might seem that an autonomous…

Software developed by a MIT student is aiding emergency officials as they decide on evacuation plans: Saving lives through smarter hurricane evacuations Michael Metzger’s software tool, created as part of the research for his PhD dissertation, could allow emergency managers to better decide early on whether and when to order evacuations — and, crucially, to do so more efficiently by clearing out people in stages. The tool could also help planners optimize the location of relief supplies before a hurricane hits. … “All in all, this is a complex balancing act,”…

Zoom into a human eye The webcast goes into the human eye while describing the microscopic details of the human eye. See more such videos: The Eyes of a Fly - Zoom Into a Fish - Zoom Into a Butterfly Related: Non-Newtonian Fluid Demo - posts on biology - science webcasts

Pretty cool swimming fish robot from Essex University. Related: Robot Fish Debut in London - Robo-Salamander - Roachbot: Cockroach Controlled Robot - Robo Insect Flight

An end to spaghetti power cables by Maggie Shiels, BBC News Mr Rattner envisaged a scenario where a laptop’s battery could be recharged when the machine gets within several feet of a transmit resonator which could be embedded in tables, work surfaces, picture frames and even behind walls. Intel’s technology relies on an idea called magnetic induction. It is a principle similar to the way a trained singer can shatter a glass using their voice; the glass absorbs acoustic energy at its natural frequency. At the wall socket, power is put into magnetic fields at a transmitting…

Yeah, I know I haven’t posted in a really long time and for that I do apologize. Lately, I have had my head down creating content for some of the upcoming events. Still I wanted take a minute to provide some exciting news to our users. At 5pm EST on Friday, Update 1 Version 2 was posted on the Autodesk support site. By now you may be thinking, what the heck is Update 1 Version 2? From this point on Autodesk has decided to shift from the terms “Service Pack” to the term “Updates”. As Autodesk moves forward with additional content and updates, we feel this naming structure will become…

Just a quick thought, for those of you out there that haven’t been keeping up with the latest info about WisDOT. This symbolizes a significant change the winds and how companies and states are looking into what Civil 3D has to offer along with the benefits it can produce. Pretty interesting! WisDOT. . . . very exciting stuff!!!!

This afternoon Nick and I worked on the AU class sections and after looking into all the classes, I can tell you first hand we have a very large class list to go through. Last week we ran a survey and thanks to all of you who voted. By using the survey along with along a complicated selection process we have started to narrow down the class list to those that will benefit end users the most. This year we have had an overwhelming response for classes with over 175 proposals submitted. I'd like to thank EVERYONE for taking the time to come up with all these great classes. If by chance your…

It’s amazing how much can happen over the course of a week. Last week Autodesk hosted World Press Day in San Francisco, where we invited journalists from all over the world to take part in the role out and highlights of the upcoming 2009-product release. This year the Autodesk Technical Marketing team (which I am part of) put together a unique story, which featured eight different Autodesk products working together on a Brazilian library project. Together these products showed different parts of the design process while analyzing specific elements of each design. I think the part that…

Those of you out there that have been living under a rock for the past month may still be unaware of the striking new extensions which have been recently released on the Autodesk Subscription site. Hydraflow Storm Sewer Extension, Hydraflow Hydrograph Extension, and Hydraflow Express Extension, while still easy to use, truly extend the Civil 3D functionality by giving users the ability to do all the hydrology and hydraulic functions that their little hearts desire. View image While the Storm Sewer Extension has been available for about a month, the Hydrographs and Hydraflow Express have…

Last night's CTSUG meeting was officially scheduled to end at 8:45pm.  When the first session ran a little long, it didn't leave Sal Lama a lot of extra time to do his presentation.  At 9:00pm the room was still full, and group leader Bill Casnovsky offered the group a couple of options - wrap up with the prize drawing, or hand out some prizes and then let Sal keep going.  It wasn't even close. In my opinion, Sal is one of the best presenters in the world.  He left little doubt about that last night as most of the CTSUG members ended up staying well past 10:00pm.  A…

I forgot to tun off the office phone ringer last night, and when it rang at 8:15pm, I had to run across the house to answer it.  I'm glad I did.  Craig Bilenki, group leader for the new B-MORE SolidWorks User Group was on the line with the good news about his first meeting.  Over 30 attendees, some great presentations, an active audience, and lots of excitement about future meetings.  I could tell by Craig's tone that he had enjoyed the evening very much.  As a former user group leader, I knew just how he felt.  It's a great feeling knowing that you've put…

I was perusing the usual forums today and came across a message at the SolidWorks Yahoo group that looked a little...uhhmm..foreign to me.  Turns out the question was written in Portuguese.  But wouldn't you know it, there was a response to the post, by none other than Gabi Jack. Is there anything this woman can't do?

Last night's SASUG (pronounced "sausage" by the members) meeting was great as usual.  Some familiar names were on hand to present - Webb Shoenfeld and Bruce Buck did terrific presentations (get those abstracts in guys), the BBQ was good (no pizza for this group), and group leader Jim Lowery's sense of humor is always appreciated. The meeting kicked off with a short presentation by Mike Henry, a former teacher and now Business/Community Liaison for TIER - the Texas Institute for Educational Robotics.  Mr. Henry was there to stress the need for mentors, perhaps the biggest…

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TUCSON, ARIZONA - AUGUST 2008: TRUE Systems, maker of high-end microphone preamplifiers, is pleased to announce that all TRUE Systems products, including the legendary Precision 8 and its celebrated variants, the TRUE P-Solo, TRUE P-Solo Ribbon, and the P-2 analog will be distributed in Germany, Austria, and most of the EU by Synthax Audio AG, one of the continent’s most respected companies. Brad Lunde, president of the TransAudio Group and worldwide rep for TRUE Systems arranged the deal.A rarity in the pro audio world, Synthax has been meeting the needs of the high-end European…

HOPEWELL JUNCTION, NEW YORK - AUGUST 2008: Metric Halo announces the immediate availability of the new “future proof” 24-bit/96kHz Mobile I/O 2882 Expanded multi-channel processor and FireWire interface for recording and mixing in the studio or on the road. The portable 18-input/20-output 2882 Expanded incorporates the new 2d Card, which provides a nearly six-fold increase in the DSP power available for processing, routing and mixing in Metric Halo’s world-renowned FireWire audio interfaces.The 2882 Expanded features eight Mic/Line/Instrument analog inputs, eight mic preamps…

Iroquois, ON, Canada – September 5, 2008 – Ross Video is launching SoftMetal Version 4.0 software during IBC 2008 at Stand 9.D30. Version 4.0 will begin shipping after IBC, and will be available at no charge to all current SoftMetal customers.Summary of key new features in SoftMetal version 4.0 software:• MXF Native Record and Playback Support for HD and SD Clips• QuickTime Native SD Playout• Close Captioning Support• Embedded Audio Support, 16 Channels per video input and output• Stereoscopic (3D) Record and Playback• Numerous other Enhancements“We are pleased to launch…

San Diego, CA – AES booth# 1833, Demo Room 112… Equator Audio Research, recognized globally as a leading manufacturer of highly accurate studio reference monitors for mission critical recording applications, is pleased to announce the availability of the company’s new and highly anticipated Q Series Room Analysis Calibration Kit. Optionally available for all Equator Q Series studio reference monitors, the Q Series Room Analysis Calibration Kit fully automates the precise analysis and compensation of room response characteristics. With an easy-to use, one-button process, the new kit…

DENVER, CO, SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 – Auralex Acoustics, the industry leader in innovative sound control solutions, is breaking new ground by launching a gallery of custom-printed acoustical panels at this year’s CEDIA show (Booth 630). Auralex Acoustics is exclusively the first to market SonicPrint, its custom-printed ProPanels featuring “The Art of Sound” theme which blends unlimited design and style options for any room with the company’s acoustically proven technology of its ProPanel product line. (more…)

Yesterday, while doing some research on the internet, I came across some new terms/terminology: "Kerogen". I found that word while searching some information about "pyrolysis" in the famous Wikipedia. Curious on the term Kerogen, I click at the word and it brought me to a new Wikipedia page. OK, so the following is the description (adopted from wikipedia, off course...) :Kerogen is a mixture of organic chemical compounds that make up a portion of the organic matter in sedimentary rocks.[1] It is insoluble in normal organic solvents because of the huge molecular weight (upwards of 1,000…

Do you know how crude oil is processed ore refined? If no, then I recommend you to check out this video. Even if you know, it's good to see it to learn other plants. It shows us how crude oil is refined. The video shows an American Refining Group, Bradford, Pa., which is the world's oldest and continuously operating refiner of Pennsylvania crude oil. Take a tour of the "Barrell House". It's like a 9 minutes technical plant visit. You don't see the oil but at least you learn something about the basic process. Perhaps, later we can have more of this type video technical plant visit to enrich…

As an engineer, I experienced a lot of sweet and enjoyable moment. I also did tasted some sad and bitter moments as well. I'm no longer experiencing them because now I'm no longer a practicing engineer. However, once in a while I still contact my fellow counterparts (engineers) and also visited few plants / projects under official duties as an academician / researcher / consultant, or as a member of the Institution of Engineers (IEM). This is to ensure my continuous engineering education and training relevant to the industry needs.Reflecting to my passed experiences, I would like to share 3…

369 days ago, I made entitled "Learning Process From Cleaning Plate Heat Exchanger" which was a follow up entry from "Some Updates". You can refer to the 2 posts for reference. From that post, I received some interesting response and questions from few engineers asking more detail about the cleaning of heat exchangers. The questions are taken from the comment section of that Learning Process From Cleaning Plate Heat Exchanger post without any editing. I answered the questions but I add more of my answers here after thinking about it...Questions:I'm a process engineer and your article is very…

Since I started this blog in July 2006, I have received a lot of interesting comments and emails. Some asked general chemical engineering questions while a few others asked a more detail technical questions. I'm so busy but I try to answer all of the questions if I know the answer. I'm very sorry if I miss out answering some of emails or comments.I thought of sharing some of the questions with all of you for the benefit of all of us. A few days ago, I received a comment from one of my recent post entitled I Resigned From My Engineering Job. The commenter name is Archana Khode and he is from…

Just about two weeks ago Leica posted a new download of Leica X-change that will install on both AutoCAD® Civil 3®D 2008 and AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2009.Click on the title of this post to get to the download page.Be Better...Be more flexible!

As of today, Trimble Link now installs on AutoCAD® Civil 2009, as well as AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2009.Prior to this latest version it would only install on Civil 3D®, not Civil.My co-worker Jerry Bartles provided me this info.Be Better...be more accomodating!

Service Pack 1 for AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009 was just posted for download.It contains improvements in the following areas:GeneralAlignmentsAPICorridors Design and SubassembliesCross Sections ViewsGrading and Feature LinesLabelsLines CurvesParcelsPipesPlan ProductionPointsProfile and Profile ViewsProject ManagerSurfacesSurveyThe update also includes Hotfixes and AutoCAD Update 1.Be Better...through continuous daily improvement!

Interesting reading. Enough said.Be Better... Work well with others!

The title of this post will get you to the official Land Desktop Page on the Autodesk website. If you now visit that page you will find information about the current version (2009) being the LAST version of Land Desktop (there will not be LDT 2010).Some will welcome this news others obviously will not. Which ever the case it is now official.Be Better...Try Something New!

Subscription member? Have you checked out the Subscription Center lately? Notice these sweet additions:HEC RAS Import/Export Extension for AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2009Stage Storage Extension for AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2009AutoCAD Civil 3D® - GENIO Import Extension AutoCAD Civil 3D - PISTE Import Extension Subassemblies for AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2009Welcome additions!

Because every office has that one guy...Command: SHORTCUTNODEEnter new value for SHORTCUTNODE : 0From Help:You can remove the Data Shortcuts node from the Prospector tab of Toolspace. This can be useful if you want to prevent the use of data shortcuts.

How can I share a Civil 3D drawing with someone using AutoCAD LT? It's a relatively common question as much of our design work must be shared with consultants that either can't afford Civil 3D, or it's simply serious overkill.In this case, from the Civil 3D File menu, select Export to AutoCAD, and select the AutoCAD 2000 format. Don't save the drawing back - Export it. Details:I have a Civil 3D 2009 drawing with alignment and surface data references. The drawing has a base model attached as an xref, and I've cut an existing ground profile.Export the drawing as an AutoCAD 2000 drawing and the…

Just do it. Check out the readme first.

Autodesk has released a package of Surveying tools for MAP 3D, available from the Subscription site. The tools are sweet and I must admit, I was fired up for this release. Log into the Subscription Center, browse down the page and you'll find the link.I'm happy with the tools, definitely, but getting them??? You might want to read this:Read the ReadMe file as suggested, you'll find the button on the lower left of the page. It essentially says "Improved point data support, Surface creation capabilities, Additional Coordinate Geometry (COGO) commands, Import and export support for LandXML,…

Steam Ejectors are the widely used equipments for vacuum generation till the recent developments of liquid ring & dry pumps. Also, the reason for preferable use of ejectors was availability of steam at different levels, low maintenance, non availability of other systems etc. with major one being the only system suitable for very high vacuum.

Most pumps operating today are selected to meet a maximum system demand, or potential future demands. This means that most pumps are oversized, rarely operating at their full design capacity. In addition, pumps are often installed in systems with multiple operating points that coincide with process requirements

You may feel frustrated when somebody suddenly ask you about LMTD for the given heat exchange condition. That time you feel screamed if you do not have calculator with you.Also, when you just begin using your calculator somebody answered the LMTD value and you feel surprised & wonder how he did it so quickly?Now you can also do it

Recently I came across an article on above topic suggesting the use of thermic fluids in place of steam as heating medium even for lower temperature range where usually steam is employed. The article was from Hydrocarbon processing Oct'1991 issue.

Some people ask me: “What if my bootstrapper is loaded by my application from a another (preconfigured) folder and my Prism/Unity config file located in the same (non-executing) folder? How do I load it?” It’s pretty simple. You need to take your executing assembly as the base and figure out the required path. var assembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly(); Uri uriPath = new Uri(assembly.CodeBase); string path = Path.Combine(Path.GetDirectoryName(uriPath.AbsolutePath), "myApp.config" ); var configMap = new ExeConfigurationFileMap { ExeConfigFilename = path }; var configuration…

If you’d like to extract all your application configuration into a config file, this is what you can do: 1. Create a config file. I suggest that you use a different file name than the App.config 2. Override ConfigureContainer method in your bootstrapper private UnityConfigurationSection unitySection; private void GetConfigurationSection() { if (unitySection == null) { var configMap = new ExeConfigurationFileMap { ExeConfigFilename = "myApp.config" }; var configuration = ConfigurationManager.OpenMappedExeConfiguration(configMap, ConfigurationUserLevel.None); unitySection =…

A couple of days ago I was seduced by Scott Hansleman to install the VS 2008 SP1. That was a nightmare. The install took me a full day to complete. The first pass has stuck on a stage “Installing .NET Framework 3.5 SP1”. It was stuck, but the process indicator was still spinning. So I had to wait a couple of hours waiting before I decided to kill it and to restart it. The second pass was better, but still – the user experience is horrible. How hard is it to scroll on the screen ALL the commands that are happening in real time instead of a spinning slash “/|\-“? After the…

Recently I’m playing a lot with Prism and Unity and was looking for a way to gradually bring Prism to the existing projects. If you have an existing GUI project and you’d like to start using Prism (without rewriting everything from scratch) stay with me – I’m going to show a way that worked for me. In order to work with Prism you need a “root” window, or, how they call it, a “shell” window. But what if you already have a window? There is a solution to that. First of all create a WPF user control that will become a “shell” window to Prism. The XAML rules for this control is…

As I’ve mentioned in my previous post Hosted Prism, that you can add dynamically a Shell Container to your application. This time I’m going to show you how you can configure this container dynamically and have a possibility to replace it at any time without changing your code. To do so I’m going to use a configuration file. It’s up to you to decide which one. You can use App.config, but I’ll recommend to have a separate file for your IOC, so the customers will not be exposed to a lot of nose and will not change stuff accidentally. Create a config file (use any name you wish with…

Our client, located in Syracuse, NY is currently in need of a Mechanical Producability Engineer for a 6-month contract assignment. This mechanical engineer will be responsible for reviewing drawings for correct GD&T application. This engineer will also be responsible for reviewing designs for manufacturability, cost efficiency, material selection, weight, finishes & applications and specification interpretation. The individual must be able to interface effectively with mechanical design engineers and manufacturing engineers as well as suppliers throughout the product lifecycle beginning with…

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All of the gadgets and technology we are surrounded with today are most commonly the result of cheap fuel, and the ability for ideas to grow, in a similar way as we see all the mashups of Google Maps - taking one idea and building something of specific use on top of that technology. It’s almost a leapfrog scenario, where the pace of development exceeds the rate of production. Products are obsolete when they hit the shelves. The value of products are diminished by the fact that consumers are aware that something better is likely to emerge from behind the corporate firewall in weeks or…

These are hulless oats from our urban farm, (aka “the garden”). I’m currently drying them, then we will work out how to thresh and process them into something edible like porridge or some other oaty foodstuff. All just part of our effort to do a Kootenay 100 Mile Diet. Technorati Tags: oats, urban farming, urban agriculture, grains, sustainability, food, 100 mile diet, Kootenay, Castlegar

Urbanworkbench has made it onto Wordpress! Most everything is working to some degree or another, I’m going to bed and will happily respond to any troubleshooting in the morning. The theme is Thesis, which is a highly customisable SEO-friendly template. Over the coming weeks there are more changes coming to the site, but for the moment, please enjoy the clean typography offered by the finest wordpress template available.

The Labour Day long weekend is a great time to starting thinking about pears. We ended up with four boxes full. Canning this week.

For those of you who know anything about the software that runs sites like this, things can get pretty complicated after a few years – kinda like a car that just needs a good tune-up. The software that currently runs the site, Drupal, is a massive overkill for this site. When I started I wasn’t sure where I was going with the whole blog thing, so I looked for the most flexible software out there. Drupal was and still is that. But now that things are in a pretty good groove, the majority of activity on this site is straight forward blogging, and Wordpress handles that very nicely. There…

“What’s an ablatograph?”, you may ask.  In this post I’ll describe a free engineering dictionary that can tell you.  It’s just one more tool for engineers that you can get at no cost on the Internet.

How you have ever used a free downloadable engineering application?  Engineers who use them say that they can speed their work tremendously with these little known resources. 

The "Long tail" refers to the distribution of traffic and purchases on the Internet, and demonstrates that there is as much relevance in rarely visited pages as in popular sites.  You just have to dig for it.

Our online library of engineering content is very popular with our visitors.  Literally thousands of people view almost every article we’ve ever written.  We want to provide our visitors with more great engineering content, but we’ll need help to do it. 

I did a survey of a bunch of engineering job sites and came up with around 12,000 engineering jobs posted every month.  That includes every discipline in the USA and Canada, but not Mexico.  So how do you make sense of it, and how can we help raise your profile if you are a job seeker?

I’ve been having what some would call an identity crisis. How, you ask? I’ve been working on digital electronics. *GASP*! I found out that in the early 90s and even earlier, analog engineers routinely switched from working in the analog domain to the digital domain…because it was paying really great. Not only that, most analog engineers had [...]

Ah summertime. What a great time of year. There are tons of things to do, but none match the splendor and diversity of a county fair…especially in middle of nowhere Ohio. Between eating pizza subs, watching horses pull stuff and admiring the great bounty of mullets that only rural areas could give us (”Strong crop [...]

There are so many great examples of open source these days. I find more and more that I can accomplish just about any task, either online or in the real world, with the aid of open source, especially software. For a relatively recent grad, I appreciate any opportunity to save money for the future. This [...]

When I started writing on my blog, I promised myself that it would not be about personal issues (”my roommate won’t pickup his socks!”) or rants about everyday happenings (”The people at the grocery store are slow!”). But I feel that reviewing the past 25 years of my life is good from a historical perspective [...]

My friend Trevor has an intriguing post about methods of mapping the brain. This is of interest to me because of how I have been reading “The Singularity is Near” by Ray Kurzweil. Trevor talks about research into “seeing” water flow in the brain, as opposed to glucose or electrical signals or bloodflow. It’s a [...]

Hello........I m new here.....I m studying in Last year of computer engineering..... I need to do a software project ...... It will be very useful to me if you suggest some important and recent project topics.... I am waiting for the useful and positive response.... please reply fast......... Thank you....

Hey guys! Since I am new to the blogging world and exploring new stuff each day, I have been experiencing few doubts while doing that. I just want to know what are FEEDs all about? I am pretty confused about the same! I have been experimenting with it in my blog though but I am unaware what exactly it does.. Experienced ones kindly help!!

Hi to all.. I am Naveen, i am an EEE student and i would like to know the titles for the mini projects in electrical............

hi frndzzz... plz tell me how to get real IP address.

peace of advise: to all mechanical engineering students who would like to have a project, think of a simple one. 1. Know your strong point... which field you are in best interest..i.e. HVAC, internal combustion etc. 2. As a students dont start at a zero level... I mean dont do what has never than before..... try to do some improvisation project, comparative study, procedural study... etc. Ex. dont built an engine to be run by water.. i mean why not built an engine accessories that will increase its efficiency. hope helps. :happy:

There are lots of really complicated and difficult ways to design for lower energy consumption, but most of us do not have the time or budget to do them. Yet, there are many really simple ways to reduce energy consumption which only take a few moments of our time. It is largely a matter of being conscience of the decisions we are making. Here are a few ideas: Use larger resistors Does that pull–up/down resistor really have to be 1k? Could it be 10k or more? There are always engineering trade–offs to be made. Increasing resistor size increases noise and can make your design more…

I have been very fortunate to have been added to Alltop's engineering page (well, I asked and I received), as well as being listed at #16 on the top engineering blogs on EngineerJobs. My goal is to be in the top 5. Thank you for your continued support as readers of this blog. I appreciate your time and attention to read what I put down here, and to make thoughtful comments on it.

We need three planets for everyone to live like the average European. In other words, if we continue on our current path two out of three people are going to die. In a world of more than six billion people, that is going to be an awful lot of pain. Will you be one of those who has to die? Your wife? Children? Friends? So instead of carrying on along a path that will eventually end in heartache, I am going to choose a more difficult way. I am volunteering to die. This requires more than resolve and determination – this requires action. It means I have to push against the tide, to take some…

Sometimes we have to say No. Saying No is an important part – a critical part – or our job as engineers and designers. Great products are designed by people who know when to say No and when to say Yes. Great products do not need feature lists and check boxes. Great products are sold by their users because they love them. You know what the most difficult thing about this is? You have to choose, and choosing means you have to be brave. I just love this graph from Kathy Sierra and the article that goes with it (thanks for the inspiration). "Give users what they actually want, not what they…

There are a lot of steps to turn an idea into a product. Each step requires care and attention to ensure that the best product is created. Below is the process that I follow to create an electronic product. It is all laid out nicely in a linear way, but in reality a lot of the steps are occurring in parallel. Also, any step could be the starting point, it is really dependant on the product and client requirements. Initial engineering report This is a short report which gives everyone some preliminary ideas to work from. I like to start with this as it is a small investment in testing the…