Hi All,

This is a quick review of some of my go-to engineering reference books that I use quite frequently. Let me know what I am missing in the comments below!

Best,
Masha

(If you’re having problems viewing, watch it on Youtube ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA7JBQE0Rf0)

Books reviewed in this video:
- Mathematical Handbook of Formulas and Tables from Shaum’s Outlines
- Modern Compressible Flow by J. Anderson
- An Introduction to Combustion by Stephen R. Turns
- Combustion Theory by F.A. Williams
- Numerical Simulation of Reactive Flow by e. Oran and J. Boris

Talking about what’s new at MVP and more info on CKS software from IBM. (Cant see the video? View it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxb11X61WGo)

(for more on CKS see this post)

Brief Overview of Sculptor from Optimal Solutions

http://www.optimalsolutions.us/

Today, I want to give a brief background on a cool software tool, called Sculptor from Optimal Solutions. The guys at Optimal Solutions were very helpful in providing me with a webinar and demo of Sculptor in real time. (Thanks John and Taylor!)

Disclaimer for this post: This is not a full review but simply a brief introduction to the software. To learn more, visit http://www.optimalsolutions.us/ .

So what is Sculptor? From Optimal Solutions website:

“Put simply, Sculptor is shape deformation software. It can arbitrarily deform the shape of a computerized object whose shape is defined by the points of a grid. The grid is defined by a CFD [or an FEA] code”

One of the features of Sculptor is its’ geometry optimization ability. Figure below demonstrates really well how this software can save a lot of time and money during the engineering design process.

Figure courtesy of Optimal Solutions:

Sculptor takes out the need to go back and change geometry in CAD itself. The engineering design process becomes much more efficient, since the optimization feedback loop is now much shorter and less complex (see figure above). In addition re-meshing in CFD or FEA is not as complicated as changing geometry in CAD.

The engineer at Optimal Solutions told me that Sculptor works with virtually any CAD, CFD, and FEA software available.

This is a tool designed to save engineering time and company money, while making the design process more effective.

I just found out that my American Chemical Society courses have been officially added to the ACS spring schedule:

Computer Simulation of Reactive Flows: http://www.proed.acs.org/courses/course_overview.cfm?course_code=RFWEB

Essentials of Chemical Kinetics: http://www.proed.acs.org/courses/course_overview.cfm?course_code=KNWEB

This inspired me to write on the subject of teaching – specifically, why most engineering courses are taught in such boring ways, and what can be done about it.

Read more »

Hello all,

Happy, though rather belated, Thanksgiving. Hope everyone enjoyed a good meal and time with family.

I was traveling all last week and am just digging myself from underneath work that piled up during my absence. So I apologize for not getting a post up last week.

Recently I discovered a software tool for chemical kinetic modeling. It’s called the Chemical Kinetic Simulator (or CKS) from IBM Almaden research lab. The code has not been updated since mid-1990s, and I probably would not have given it much thought except for an interesting feature of this software.

The authors claim that CKS does not integrate sets of coupled differential equations to predict the time history of a chemical system. Instead the code uses a stochastic algorithm (type of Monte Carlo calculation) to propagate a reaction.  The authors claim that the stochastic method is much faster for stiff systems.

The  question is, if the stochastic method is much faster for solving reactive systems, why are most other software tools (e.g. Cosilab, Chemkin, DARS, FlameMaster, Chemical WorkBench) use solvers that integrate coupled systems of equations instead of using some form of a stochastic algorithm to solve chemically reactive systems?

I am determined to figure it out. In the next week I’ll be doing some research on the two solver methodologies , the CKS code and other related software. If you are dealing with anything that is chemically reacting,  stay tuned!

On the other hand, if you have some information on CKS OR stochastic vs. integrator methadologies that you would like to share with our readers, either comment below or contact me directly: masha@mvpmodeling solutions.com.

I will be sure to give due credit to everyone contributing information!

Best,
Masha

Why should you care?

If you and/or your colleagues are looking for clean, fast, reliable way to model  an engineering problem (s), contact me. Although not for everyone, outsourcing CFD, CAD and other CAE work might be a great solution for you and your company.

I will be involved in all of your communications with EURO/CFD to make sure that you get the highest quality service and the best possible solution to your problem.

Some stats on EURO/CFD:

Client List:  General Electric, Siemens, INRS, Saint-Gobain PAM, Alcatel, Arcelor Mittal, Constructions Métalliques Florentaises, EDF,  PSA,  TI Automotive, and Valeo. Read more »

The numbers of USA scientists and technologists are dwindling. Our teachers are underpaid and 40% of them are teaching in the areas for which they are not qualified. These factors are directly impacting our industrial innovation.

The Franklin Foundation, a new non-profit organization, is on a mission to change that and you are invited to help lead it (and build your professional resume in the process). Read more »

Dear Experts,

I would love your feedback on a new project idea. Any guidance that you can provide to me would be extremely appreciated!

I am currently working on a series of booklets (to be converted into a published book in the future) that will address engineering computer modeling problems that R&D professionals are currently facing in the industry.

The idea is to help engineers in the industry to do their job better with the help of computer simulations.

In order to make sure that we are covering things that will be of interest to you, and the rest of the engineering community, I would very much appreciate your replies to these questions. (comment on this post, or email me directly: masha@mvpmodelingsolutions.com ).

1) What industry do you specialize in (auto, gas turbine, materials, oil, energy…etc)?

2) What are some challenges, if any, have you experienced with engineering computer modeling (CFD, 0D/1D, chemical modeling, CAD, FEA, etc). These problems can be anything from “experimentalists don’t take me seriously” to “management does not understand modeling results” to “there are no decent software tools available” or any others.

3) If a book was to be written on engineering computer modeling, what topics, examples, etc would you like to see it cover, in order for the book to be helpful in your line of work?

4) Do you currently have any books/materials on computer modeling that have been of a use to you? What are they?

Your feedback would be immensely helpful to me! Thank you in advance!

-Masha

There are number of new projects on the backburner that I believe would be of use to you, MVP Blog readers. So, I am very excited to introduce to you my partner for several of these projects, Dr. Sunil Acharya.

Sunil is an expert in Multiphysics Modeling and Product Development, as well as a very creative entrepreneur. Since I started talking with him a few weeks back, our list of joint ventures has been expanding exponentially. Just to give you some ideas of what will be coming up in the next several months:

- We are working on putting together a series of materials on effective engineering computer modeling, tailored specifically for industry professionals (think “Cliff Notes”). The idea is to help engineers who are working for companies that actually need to create products (as opposed to prove nebulous theories) to do their job better with the help of computer simulations.

- We are also putting together an on-line conference, that will provide technical professionals with specific tools and techniques that will help them find new jobs, get promotions or simply keep their current employment.

If you are interested in learning more about either one of those projects, please contact me at masha@mvpmodelingsolutions.com.

And now it is my pleasure to introduce to Dr. Acharya and his article: Braving a New World.

Braving a new world

I used to be fascinated with listening to the conversations of people born in the first quarter of the 20^th century. Their stories reminded me of walking from one chamber of a natural history museum to another: horses, lights, cars, phones, A-bomb… I used to think that that those experiences were one of a kind and that there will never be another generation with so many changes in a single lifetime. Read more »

Thanks to all of you who responded to my previous post on “How Much is Your Time Worth?” Not only are you keeping this blog alive, you are making it more popular by the minute! Thank you for that.

I recently became the exclusive USA distributor for EURO/CFD, a European based company that provides CAD and CAE (including CFD) simulation services. The main reason for this partnership being that my services are complimentary to EURO/CFD’s. I educate organizations on how to be more successful with computer modeling, and how to translate real-world engineering problems into computer simulations. Once specific areas and techniques are identified, and if a client wants a fast, clean, expert solution to their modeling problem, EURO/CFD will do a great job on that side. The services of MVP Modeling Solutions and EURO/CFD greatly compliment each other resulting in a happy client with a start-to-end solution to their complex engineering problem.

Since my previous post on saving time and headache with outsourcing, got such rave reviews, this week I am continuing that theme and in the spirit of my new partnership with EURO/CFD I present to you:

TOP 5 REASONS TO OUTSOURCE YOUR MODELING WORK

Read more »

Last week I had a typical conversation with a potential client. After the engineer described a problem his company was having, the conversation went something like this:

Potential client (PC): “Great! You do have an impressive background and you’re right – we have a lot of gaps that you can help us fill.”

Me: “It helps to have a pair of expert eyes look over your R&D processes.”

PC: “That makes sense. We worked with consultants before and were amazed how much time they saved us! How much would your services cost?”

Me: Describe various services. Give a range of very reasonable prices.

PC: “Oh…well the budgets are tight, the economy is bad…no one has money…I think we will try to do this in-house…”

Me: “Haven’t you been trying to do this in-house for a while now?”

PC: “Well yeah, but the budgets are really tight…so we’ll try to do it ourselves… We’ll call some vendors, read some technical papers…”

Me: “How long do you think that process will take you?”

PC: “Well, probably much longer than if you were working with us…”

Me: “And how much do you estimate that time would cost?”

PC: “Well, since we’ll just be using in-house engineering time, it would not cost us anything.”

Me: “????!!”

Read more »