Category Archives: Engineering

Since its original release the iPad has been hugely popular. In fact by the time Apple released the iPad2 they had sold over 15 million devices. With the iPad2 now thinner, faster and sporting a camera it’s becoming even more popular. I’ve had an iPad since near the beginning, and although it was mainly for fun at the start I’m starting to find it more and more useful for both work and play. With internet connection on tap wherever I go I can use time on the bus more effectively to do many tasks such as checking my emails. And although you can do this on a smartphone its not nearly as fun on a cramped screen.

Over the past six months I’ve churned through many an app, collecting the useful ones, and discarding those that are not so useful. I wanted to share some of my favourites, and also learn of others I may have missed. So after reading the list please feel free to add a comment if you know of any must have apps for engineers.

PCalc Lite Calculator

The iPad doesn’t ship with a calculator, or at least the iPad 1 didn’t.  This free calculator does the job.  No frills and my favourite price, free.  You can pay for extra features but didn’t find them necessary.

Wind Tunnel App

This app is really amazing, and I can’t believe it only costs $1.99.  The prime example of when to use this app is when someone asks ‘are turning vanes really required?’ now you can draw the duct in the wind tunnel and show them that yes, turning vanes are extremely important to the airflow.  Other examples of use would be to show a client how wind will interact with their building especially lobby areas.

The screenshot doesn’t do this app justice, you really need to see it in action to understand.

Dropbox

Dropbox enables you to easily share files between multiple devices.  Sign up for a free account online, set it up on your iPad and PC and then you can easily access files on all machines with no cables in sight.  Need to discuss a spreadsheet or pdf in a meeting?  Drop it into your dropbox folder, and pick it up on your iPad over the wireless.

SPL Meter

Ever fancied yourself as a sound engineer?  This app is a portable sound pressure meter for your iPad.  For accurate results calibration may be required, but if you have a bit of sound knowledge you can probably calibrate it yourself to get accurate enough readings.

Architizer

Contemporary architecture at your fingertips, browse through a library of over 20,000 architectural projects for inspiration whilst on the bus.

3D Via Mobile

If you’ve mastered a 3d program such as SketchUp you can use this app to upload and view 3d model on the go.  Great for showing of work outside of the office.

Abobe Ideas

This vector based graphics program is the best drawing app I’ve found to date.  Used in conjunction with a stylus (available at JB Hifi) it gives some great results.  I use this to sketch on the go, it has replaced the need to carry a sketchbook.  Sketches can be emailed as pdfs, and you can even sketch over the top of a photo.

Penultimate

This turns your iPad into a digital moleskine notebook.  Complete with different types of paper.  Again I find this app best used with a stylus.

Goodreader

Goodreader is the iPad version of bluebeam.  You can view and markup pdfs and then flatten and email the comments to others.  It links up with your dropbox account to make sharing files simple.  I’ve used this to fill in online forms, including signing forms digitally with my finger.  Saves the time and effort required to print and rescan documents.

And that concludes my favourite engineering apps for now….  If you have any you would like to share add a comment.

So with all this raw computing power harnessed into shiny laptops and iPads for our convenience, are we using them to surf the laws of physics and deliver revolutionary engineering design?  I’ll let you ponder the answer to that…

I’ll admit beyond excel I don’t use computers to complete revolutionary design in my day to day work as a building performance engineer.  I use my grass roots fundamentals, combined with computer number crunching.  But I do use computers to enhance my skills in one of the most vital areas we need to excel at as engineers,  communicating design.

I would like to share with you my top three programs, used in my day to day engineering, to greatly enhance the communication of my work.  The best thing is they are all affordable and easy to learn.  In my view these are tools which are well worth investing some time in learning, as they can produce powerful results.

1.) Paint.net

What is it? Paint.net can be described as the microsoft  version of paint, with all those features that were missing added in.  Think layers, effects, image editing, its really a simpler cut down version of photoshop.

What do I use it for? Colouring in.  The addition of colour to a sketch really gives it life, Pantone markers are expensive so I use Paint.net which is just as fun, and I can erase stuff if I go over the lines.  Simply scan in a hand drawn image, and add color.

Time required to learn? Experienced computer user will be up and away in under ten minutes.

Cost? My favourite price,  free.

2.) SketchUp

What is it? SketchUp is the easiest to learn 3D design program.  Its small but powerful tool set means you can push and pull your way into 3D design the easy way.

What do I use it for? Concept design of plant massing, solving complex coordination in 3D, site shading analysis and communicating design.  It has far too many uses to list here, but you can find all the tutorials you’ll ever need in two places, youtube and the SketchUp website

Time required to learn? 1 hour to get up and running.  To become proficient 5 – 10 hours.  To become an expert 20 hours.

Cost? Free for non-commercial use, so you can use it at home to design your new kitchen, or landscape your garden.  For commercial use licenses start at $495, a bit more expensive than it used to be, but still good value.

3.) Bluebeam

What is it? Bluebeam is a pdf workhorse and engineering tool.  It has many powerful features including: pdf creation and editing; mark-up tools; comparison tools; measurement tools.  Most documents are issued in pdf format these days, and Bluebeam gives you a powerful toolset to help you work with pdfs and create high quality work.

One tip is to make sure you flatten the copy you send to the outside world, this ensures that they can’t accidentally modify your comments.  Keep an unflattened copy for future edits.

What do I use it for? I use this program for so many tasks: marking up drawings; creating annotated sketches in combination with paint.net; comparing architectural layouts; analysing areas and floorplates.  All without having to print or scan a thing.

Time required to learn? An hour to get up and running, a few hours to master some features, and then you will keep discovering new features as you go.

Cost? Starts at $179, an absolute bargain for how much value you will get out of it.  I use it day in day out.

So there you have it.  Three programs that once you have got into you will wonder how you ever lived without.