Saturday, May 31, 2008

A Tool I Couldn't Live Without: SnagIt!

Pretty strong statement. Probably a bit extreme, but I think you get where I am coming from. There are those software tools out there that we use everyday, whether we like to or not. Some we use because they just get the job done. Others we use because they make a certain aspect of our jobs easier. Then there are others that we simply like to use.

Quite frankly, I think SnagIt falls into all of those categories for me. Simply put, SnagIt is a screen capture software product by Techsmith. SnagIt has been around for along time and many of the people reading this have either used it or heard of it. It is super handy to create static images, avi's, add text or other features to images etc. Plus it comes with its own little editor, which is shown above.

But I think what I like the most about it is the whole package.

  1. Tool that everyone can use
  2. Super easy to use - does what I expect
  3. Has non-intrusive plug-ins to almost everything
  4. Has simple hot keys like "Print Screen"
  5. It's cheap - $39.95
  6. It allows for a classic no hassle 30-day eval

So anyone out there can simply go to their website, try it for 30days and if yo like it, you pay the ~$40.. Pretty simple. Plus I just got a notice the other day to upgrade to the latest version for free. Techsmith is a cool little company. It has alot of really great products. They certainly fill a niche out there and as far as I know, they are the only ones in the game?

What other products do you use everyday??

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Need a Link; Give a Link: Call for Engineering Links

Ever go into a store and see a cup with a note, "Need a Penny; Give a Penny"? Same applies here. Over 100+ unique readers check in each week, so if we can each leave one or two of our favorite links, we can grow quite a list.



All you have to do is leave a quick comment with the link and a quick statement (if applicable) of what you use it for. I'll start the list. Obviously, the standard is Matweb - clearly the most popular among the bunch. All of you flow guys out there, really looking for good fluid flow property sites.

Unit Conversion Calculator

Another Unit Converter

General Material Properties - Matweb

Plastic Material Properties

Pipe Pressure Loss Calculator

Compressible Flow Refresher

Atmospheric Pressure Calculator

Old School Mesh Size Calculator

eFluids - random fluid links

CFD Lecture Notes

Electronics Cooling Magazine

CFD-online - great CFD discussion forums

I will begin to organize these a bit more as comments are posted. Disclaimer- these are all links that I have used over the years. Take them for what they are - random links.

Friday, May 23, 2008

LED's are more than just another type of lightbulb..!

I have been talking to a fair number of engineers in lighting companies that are currently working on implementing "LEDs" into their product designs. Definitely the new thing right now. Let's look at why...

  1. They are more energy efficient (more lumens/Watt).
  2. The lighting is directional, so there is no wasted light.
  3. Very long lifetime- 50-100k hours.
  4. Environmentally sound - no Hg, Pb etc.
  5. Infinitely dimmable
  6. Work great in cold environments


Above is a video of a model we did for a customer recently. The user wanted to optimize the performance by ensuring that the junction temperature stayed below a critical value. We tried a variety of options, such as, different heat sink designs, different LED arrangements and different housing configurations. Classic application for Upfront CFD. Allows us to provide an answer to the classic question, "what if?".

There are a variety of challenges for engineers that are new to the LED world. Here is a list of the challenges engineers are facing.

  1. The desire to get the maximum output, so engineers are constantly pushing the limit of the LED devices.
  2. There is not enough data available so the "rules of thumb" are currently being developed.
  3. The data provided to engineers is not accurate from the manufacturers.
  4. The testing that is being done does not replicate the actual environments in which the LEDs are being used.
  5. A wide variance in the lifespan of the LEDs based on the junction temperatures.
  6. Finding creative ways to manage the heat.

The overwhelming concern for engineers is to maintain the junction temperature. Check out the graph above. It shows how increasing the junction temperautre drastically reduces the lifescycle of the LED.

There is a ton of info out there on the web that goes into more specifics. Go check it out. Always fun to be able to help engineers solve some of their fundamental issues. To me, LEDs are not much different than any other product out there from a simulation perspective. But it has been interesting learning more and more about how they are being used in the world.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

iskoot: skype for mobile phones

I received an email from a good friend, telling me to check out iskoot. It is a 3rd party application that allows you to access skype on your mobile.

It allows for texting, calling etc all through Skype. You are able to see if your contacts are online (check out the view below). If you call a Skype user, it is free. If you call a landline or mobile number, it charges your Skype Credit. Obviously, if you have a monthly plan, than the fees will be covered. I have recently switched to the Unlimited World Plan. It allowed me save over a $110/mo. on my office phone. I actually cancelled my office landline. I can use call forwarding, voice mail when on the road.



I just recently tested this out for a week in Europe. Works great. The only requirement is to have a data plan. It's not clear whether or not my mobile carrier will charge an additional SMS fee? So I only used it sparingly.

But, if I do not incur any additional fees, this will change the way I can communicate when traveling abroad. Currently text messages can cost up to $0.50/text. So if this works out, I will be able to save a fortune staying in contact with members of our team.

So, where's the catch? Not exactly sure?! I suspect there are more hidden costs than advertised. We'll see at the end of the month. Also, where does iskoot make their $$$? I recently read an interview with their CEO, who implied that there will be a small monthly fee once a network of users has been established.

Skype recently announced a Skype for Mobile package. I tried downloading it, but failed every time. Currently it is in BETA, so I will let you know how things progress. Even if there is a fee, Skype has certainly changed the way that I stay connected. The best thing is that it is at a fraction of the cost of the traditional methods.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

On-demand "remote" Upfront Simulation?!?

There has always been buzz in the CAE industry for users to take advantage of remote cluster computing. Essentially, you would set up your models locally on a machine and run it on a server hosted by a vendor. Some of the old timers, like Fluent, have been in this business for a number of years. I tried their version about 5 years ago. Cool in concept, but the interface and process took some getting used to. I found it difficult to track the model's progress.

The main problem or limitation on this capability will be the bandwidth. As internet access becomes more readily available and connections speeds improve, I think there is a future in "cloud computing" for Upfront CAE.

I currently do a mocked up version of cloud computing myself. I have a laptop and 64-bit desktop. In CFdesign, I am able to choose which machine I want to solve on directly from within the interface. So, this allows me to very efficiently setup and review models on my laptop and solve and store them on my desktop. I can even do this similar process remote. Takes a bit more copying and pasting and uploading/downloading but it works for now. Still trying to get Remote Desktop to work reliably. In the meantime, I will stick with GOTOMYPC. I used this all week while in Amserdam. Even on a fairly slow connection, I was able to access my dekstop and review a model's progress.

Ideally, I would love to improve this process. Here's my wish list. For starters, I would like to build models on my laptop, set them up etc and hit "GO" and have the option of what computer to solve on, even when I am traveling. I would like to have a "favorites" list of computers to choose. Some of us have one or two machines to use, others have a bit more. The file exchange would have to be super fast and lightweight. I then want a "link" to be created that I can access from any browser where I can monitor performance - convergence, mesh quality, mass balance, max temps, max pressures... I want the interface to have the look and feel of a modern web page that I can access from any computer or my phone!. To make life easier, I would like to have the option to have a text message or email sent with the link so I can have immediate access to it. I also want the option to text/email me when the model is finished, encountered an error or simply update me on the progress.

Version 2.0 should have a lightweight preview of the model (similar to JT or Adobe 3d) that allows me to pan, zoom, rotate and view my results. If I could have acces to all of the results, that would be great. But a lightweight model seems to make the most sense for web browsing.

This whole process would be great if I could do this on my "other" machine. But what if I had the option to do this to a remote farm of computers hosted by the software vendor? This way, I could have access to unlimited computing power, unlimited storage capacity (with a fee of course) and unlimited access to technical support in the event that something went wrong. A premium support model would exist so that I can "collaborate" with a support engineer using a variety of medias (texting, iming, email, forum type posts).

Think of the info that could be provided to the vendor on performance, mesh times and sizes, solver times, solver performance, application statistics etc.. The pluses are endless for all.

If I could add version 3.0 to my wish list - it would include driving optimization via this web interface. Cloud computing will only be appropriate for a select group of engineers. But I think the concept can give us endless possibilities. I am looking forward to seeing where the on-demand market takes the CAE industry.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

On-Demand Applications in the CAE Industry - Part I

I think "on-demand" software has its place in the future in the CAE industry. Not sure if "on-demand" is the correct way to categorize it all, but I think it explains it fairly well. I am referring to applications that reside on a remote server and are accessed via the web, rather than run locally from the desktop.


It already exists in certain aspects. It was about 10 years ago that I came across "bom.com". It was a company that positioned handling all of the data management, bill of materials etc via the web. At the time, I thought it was a very cool idea, but they were the days when we were paying for AOL by the minute. As cool as I thought the concept was, I thought the name of their company was even cooler. I never imagined that the web would evolve into what it is today. Obviously the guys at bom.com did, as they have evolved into Arena Solutions. I snagged the above image off their site. They can explain what they do way better than I, go check them out.

Today, all of the CAD companies each have their own flavor of on-demand PDM and project management tools. I recently used Autodesk Streamline while working with a client in California. We used it to share files for a project. Sure beats the security nightmares of ftp sites.

I have recently become completely obsessed with on-demand solutions. I am using Google docs daily. I find its a great way to keep my files in order, available wherever I am, plus it allows me to share the files with members of our team. There are numerous other on-demand applications that I am looking into. Stay tuned, a bunch more to come on this topic.