The best engineers use every resource available to them in order to create efficient designs. For the student or recent graduate who is just starting their career, there are plenty of free online resources to help build upon design know-how.
When it comes to resources, computer-aided design resources are invaluable. Having access to a free, online library of CAD drawings is the number one tool for both the student and the professional engineer. Since many of the proposals in industry today have to conform to sustainable design standards, resources for finding local building materials and sustainable design tools are also must haves.
Empowering Design With CAD Drawings
Simply put, CAD is the most powerful tool in any engineer’s toolbox. CAD drawings enable an engineer to produce accurate, detailed schematics in a short time and with just a personal computer. Having access to a free online library of CAD drawings for common industrial products saves even more time with a ready-made database to create drafts and design work.
Best of all, the virtual drafting and modeling environment is ideal for experimentation. Creating virtual objects carries no cost as opposed to prototyping, allowing students to learn and grow without having to consume physical resources. Real-world simulations and process simulations based on CAD drawings are ideal for students to further their education and get into the real world of engineering work. Having a suite of industrial products already specified also saves an enormous amount of time.
By adding in modules and using applications to add functionality, students can run the whole range of their studies through one program suite. Modules can expand capabilities for electrical engineers to include electrical components in order to test out circuitry and optimize systems. Plastic injection molding modules are another simulation module that can assist in material optimization to create performance industrial products and plastic components while reducing material waste
CAD drawings are also essential beyond the design phase. Computer numerical control fabrication machines can turn schematics into blueprints ready for batch production. When scaling up to continuous production, computer resources will aid in drafting process flow diagrams and setting machine scheduling.
Green Engineers – Local Building Materials
For students who are just starting their careers, most of the time spent as a professional will be under new green paradigms, requiring proposals to focus on sustainable design in order to win both private and public contracts. Students are in a perfect position to incorporate these new techniques into their education, and might even start with a leg up on their competition.
One of the cornerstones of green engineering is utilizing local materials for buildings and industrial products. Having materials provided locally saves on shipping costs and reduces carbon footprint. This is an important part of many certification programs, such as the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.
To find local building materials, visit your state’s Department of Natural Resources website. They have copious amounts of links and references to in-state foresters and raw material harvesters. The local country economic developer is also a great resource. Don’t overlook local distributors either, but contact them to make sure their products are actually locally made.
Sustainable Design
Green engineering is a multidimensional field that goes much farther than using local materials. Check your ideas with a carbon footprint calculator to get an idea of how environmentally friendly your concepts are. The carbon footprint is a popular measure of green projects. There are also online calculators for energy efficiency, industrial energy benchmarks, and fuel cost calculators to cover a wide range of environmental issues.
Going back to computer application packages, environmental lifecycle assessment modules are available to plug into CAD drawings to evaluate industrial products at any point in the design cycle. Use virtual schematics to tweak systems in order to pare down on materials of construction, lower weights, and save on operational costs. Any component that you have in a digital format can be easily optimized for efficient and sustainable manufacture and use. Don’t pass up on any opportunity to create better industrial products and systems.
These three types of online resources will help any engineer student, and many professionals as well, to push their knowledge forward and to stay at the leading edge of innovation. Digital resources from computer drafting to online calculators will help push students from the academic world to the real world and allow them to succeed.
