Only on Mechanical Engineering Online -- Archived Aricles

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Mechanical Engineering Online

archived articles

The Beep Heard 'Round the World
From the clear, cool October sky 50 autumns ago came a sound that couldn't have been less monumental. It was a simple series of beeps, capable of being heard by anyone with a ham radio set. Yet those beeps and the machine that made them were history-making, and touched off a chain of events that has transformed the planet. Added 9/21/07.

Preparing Engineering Students to Work in a "Flat" World
In 2006, three students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute spent seven weeks at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) in China working on various senior design projects, which included designing a multifunction hospital bed and an automated paper clip packaging machine. Added 9/14/07.

Selling Your Business: How the Process Works
No matter how sophisticated and successful they are, today's owners often have little or no knowledge of how to go about selling their businesses. If you are thinking of selling, the following primer on the basic issues and process might get you started on the right foot. Added 7/1/07.

Power to the Engineers
Off the coast of Norway, a huge robotic excavator prepares the seabed for installation of a natural gas pipeline. Halvor Snellingen of France’s Nexans S.A. devised a system to monitor the robot using video and acoustic and other sensors, as well as to control it to within 10 or 20 centimeters even at depths of 1,000 meters. Added 3/29/07.

Speeding Automobile NVH Analysis
Wave-based substructuring and modal projection provide simulation accuracy in a fraction of the time. Added 2/16/07.

Compressor Applications: Metal-Polymer
Vs. Traditional Bearings
Boundary and mixed-film lubrication occurs frequently under conditions of startup, shutdown, oil wash-out from gas migration when compressors sit idle under elevated temperatures, and decreased lubricant viscosity due to refrigerant dilution. Added 12/11/06.

So You Need to Hire a Consultant?
Any company, small or large, should staff itself with the people it needs to manage ordinary operations, allowing for normal growth. Carrying a bigger payroll, just in case of emergencies, is wasteful, ineffective, and costly.
Added 11/20/06.

Solenoid Valves and the Human Genome
This article takes a look at engineers who are expanding the role of the solenoid valve. Added 6/15/06.

Engineering Product Redevelopment
This article, by by Sam Burd and Pete Tormey, explores the dramatic benefits gained from product redevelopment.
Added 5/5/06.

Proof of Fermat's Last Theorem
Andrew H. Warren originally submitted this paper to the American Mathematical Society in 1991. Although it was not rejected — no flaws were found — the referees could not grasp the key concept and it was not accepted, either. Warren hopes that this new presentation with better graphics will make the understanding of the concept easier to grasp.
Added 3/10/06.

Really Throwing It
A model of a medieval weapon sets a school record.
Added 12/06/05.

Inventive Leadership
"Inventive Leadership," by Ephraim Suhir, which asks the question, "Can a good engineer become a successful entrepreneur?" Added 11/02/05.

Global Trends and Best Practices
in Mechatronics Product Lifecycle Management
A white paper by Don Vossler and Vikram Dutt of UGS Corp. examining the convergence of mechanical, electrical/electronics and embedded software, or mechatronics. Added 10/06/05.

Computational Fluid Dynamics: A Powerful Marine Design Tool
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a powerful marine design tool capable of accurately predicting complex flow phenomena. A key advantage is its ability to model the complex and arbitrary geometries that are typical of real-world equipment. Added 9/14/05.

Mechanical Engineering—The Ever-Evolving Profession
An essay by Avram Bar-Cohen that explains why mechanical engineering is not only alive and well, but also critical to the competitiveness of the United States in the 21st century.
Added 8/10/05.

Fourier—the Father of Modern
Engineering
An online companion piece to Eugene F. Adiutori's article "Fourier," which ran in the August issue of the print magazine. Added 8/09/05.

Are CHP Systems Ready for Commercial
Buildings?
This piece discusses the role that widespread use of combined cooling, heating, and power (CHP) technologies for buildings could play in providing relief for the power grid. Added 6/27/05.

More Speed, Less Weight
John Mazurkiewicz, product and marketing manager at Baldor Electric, discusses how servo motors improve machine performance. Added 6/14/05.

A Foot in the Door
Associate professor Ron Rorrer, tells you how to get that first engineering job—and keep it! Added 5/10/05.

Outsourcing—Good or Evil?
Exporting jobs and industries can have long-term effects on a nation's wealth. Added 3/9/05.

Early Warnings—Diagnostics and Prognostics in Aero Engines
Raising the Level of Aviation Safety Through Non-Intrusive Detection of Cracks in Blades and Disks. Added 1/24/05.

Heads and Hands—Real-World Problem Solving
A report from the National Academies' engineering arm in Washington D.C., says that education should adopt a "new vision" for the future to reflect changes in industry and commerce. Added 9/29/04.

Mistakes, Fixes, and Better Mousetraps
What makes an engineer "good"? Added 9/10/04.

The Widening Gap Between Academia and The Practicing Engineer
A mathematical expression does not mean that it is based on correct, relevant assumptions, or that it encompasses all of the existing parameters which are capable to affect a given event or process. Added 10/27/03.

Making Little Things Count
Because it had the right skills and software, an engineering firm was able to conclude its design analysis and verification of a refinery expansion project on time, despite stringent deadlines. Added 9/10/03.

New Patent Protection in Key European Markets
A significant new form of European Patent protection has recently become available: the Registered Community Design (RCD). It is unique in that its protection falls somewhere between a utility and a design patent, but with the advantages of a registration system, like that for trademarks. Importantly, it is tailored to protect that which companies rely on for growth; new products introduced after significant investment. Added 8/26/03.

Engineering -- What You Don't Necessarily Learn in School
David C. Wisler of GE Aircraft Engines writes about the 12 vital aspects in engineering that are usually learned after graduation but can make the difference between success and failure in one's engineering career. Added 8/12/03.

Virtual Reality Helps Convert Fluid Analysis Results into Solutions
Even people who are familiar with interpreting analysis results can gain insights that make it possible to understand the root causes of observed problems and plan design changes in much less time. Added 7/22/03.

The Ammonia Economy
This article, by Prof. Vito Agosta, discusses the advantages of employing ammonia instead of hydrogen to meet society's energy needs in the future. Added 7/10/03.

Now Is the Time to Invest in PLM
A commentary by SmarTeam's Avichay Nissenbaum on product lifecycle management (PLM), an area that many manufacturers are eyeing during these troubled economic times. Added 6/24/03.

Building Better Cars
The Ergonomics and Safety Research Institute at Loughborough University in England was instrumental in helping Ford develop the Third Age Suit (profiled in the April issue of Mechanical Engineering magazine). But their interest in engineering ergonomically safe vehicles doesn't stop there. Added 5/14/03.

The Discovery Channel Explores 'Extreme Engineering'
During the months of May and June, the Discovery Channel will present a new series, "Extreme Engineering," which takes a look at the world's largest construction projects.
Added 5/07/03.

Computer Simulation Helps Reduce Touch Temperatures in New Printer
ASME member Francisco Zirilli's case study of how engineers at Xerox Corp. used computer simulation to ensure customer safety by reducing touch temperatures in a new color printer they were developing. Added 4/25/03.

The Da Vinci-Euler-Bernoulli Beam Theory?
ASME member Roberto Ballarini's article on Leonardo da Vinci's fundamental contributions to solid mechanics, fluid mechanics and mechanical design — as detailed in Codex Madrid I. Added 4/18/03.

From Gas Turbines to Tornadoes
Joseph Hamrick's article on how studying flow behavior may lead to a better understanding of how tornadoes are formed. Added 4/03/03.

Statement of Interest
A slightly modified version of a "Statement of Interest," by Robert E. Uhrig, which was submitted to the DOE Climate Change Technology Program Office in response to a request published in the Federal Register. Added 3/24/03.

Extended Written Remarks on Nanotechnology
Testimony of R. Stanley Williams, HP Fellow, Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, on behalf of the Hewlett-Packard Co. before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space. Added 3/19/03.

New Product Development � the Soul of the Enterprise
The "next big thing" that is emerging now with manufacturers of consumer products and industrial products are enterprise processes for new product development. Added 3/14/03.