Antikythera Mechanism Named Latest ASME Landmark

Antikythera Mechanism Named Latest ASME Landmark Antikythera Mechanism Named Latest ASME Landmark Antikythera Mechanism Named Latest ASME Landmark(Left to right) Maria Logogianni, the National Archeological Museums director History and Heritage Chair Herman Viegas ASME President Richard Laudenat and Anestis Kalfas, the landmarks nominator. (Photos by Wil Haywood, Strategic Communications)Last month, ASME designated the Antikythera Mechanism, the earliest known analog computer, as the Societys 271st Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark. The device, which was discovered in 1901 in a shipwreck from the first century B.C., was recognized for its significance to the progression of mechanical science and technology in a landmark designation ceremony on June 26 at the National Archeological Museum in Athens, Greece.An inscribed astronomical and calendrical device, the Antikythera Mechanism was designed to predict astronomical phenomena such as lunar and solar eclipses, to ensure calenda r accuracy and to select the dates of the Panhellenic Games, the ancient Olympic Games. The mechanisms miniature scale, the elaborate gear trains, the use of differential and epicyclic gears, and use of pin-and-slot couplings revealed that Greek mechanicians of the second century B.C. were considerably more proficient in the design of geared devices than surviving written sources had suggested. Similarly complex geared devices would not surface again in Europe until the mechanical clocks of the 13th century. The Antikythera Mechanism, ASMEs 271st landmark, on display in a case at the National Archeological Museum in Athens, Greece.During the ceremony, ASME President Richard Laudenat presented the landmark plaque to Dr. Maria Logogianni, the director of the National Archeological Museum, where the remains of the original apparatus are currently housed. Approximately 110 people attended the event, including the entire ASME History Heritage Committee and representatives from Pratt Whitney and Aegean Airlines.The Antikythera Mechanism has captured the imaginations of engineers, scientists, historians and many others for more than a century, Laudenat said about the device. ASME fully recognizes its significance in the evolution of mechanical engineering, as well as its role in educating and inspiring new generations of engineers, computer scientists and researchers.Since the ASME History and Heritage Landmarks Program began in 1971, the Society has recognized 271 artifacts as historic mechanical engineering landmarks, heritage collections or heritage sites. To learn more about the program, visit www.asme.org/about-asme/engineering-history/landmarks/about-the-landmarks-program.

10 iPad Apps for Engineers

10 iPad Apps for Engineers 10 iPad Apps for Engineers Now that the new iPad has been launched, several new apps that take advantage of the third-generation tabletshigh-definition screen will also surface before the device reaches Apple stores. While most of us are aware of apps such as Angry Birds, Spotify, or Foursquare, how many are familiar with apps that could make an engineering task easier?Apps help engineers do simple things quicker, says 26-year-old Daniel Holmes, a professional engineer with a major firm. Engineering is specific to the situation, says Holmes, who specializes in hydraulics. If you want to use a quarter-inch bolt and need to understand if it can withstand a certain amount of force or what size exerzieren to use, apps can help you do that calculation quickly, he says. Holmes and his partner have developed iEngineer, an app that offers a database of screw and bolt information. Currently an iPhone app, iEngineer will be available for the iPad soon, he says.Also f or You 9 Android Apps for EngineersDr. David Knezevic is a computational science lecturer at the Harvard Institute for Applied Computational Science and was previously a post-doc in MITs Department of Mechanical Engineering, which developed an application to perform simulations on a smart phone. Apps liberate engineers to do analysis on site, away from their desktop, he says. When you are on site and you get new data, you can test it and do some quick engineering calculations right there on your tablet. Mobile as a platform, says Knezevic, is becoming more and more appealing and ubiquitous as phones and tablets are becoming more and more popular. Apps will become more appealing as time goes on. Its an irreversible trend, he adds.The iEngineer iPad app offers a database of screw and bolt information.With new apps being launched daily, its hard to keep track of whats popular in any specific category. There are many cool apps konzepted with engineers in mind, but broadly they can be ca tegorized into apps for engineering calculations, design simulations, or reference. If you are a mechanical engineer or aspiring to be one, you might find these 10 iPad apps useful.HVAC ProfessionalHVAC Professional Formulator includes all 200 formulas of the HVAC Fomulator and adds 18 charts, as well as the complete International Mechanical Code. It has a variety of sections including air change, airside, boilers, BTU conversions, ductwork, energy values, heating design, heating requirements, humidity, loads, pumps, steam, temperature, waterside systems, and area calculations.LuxCalc Fluid PropThis is a mechanical engineering app that allows engineers involved in thermal analysis to quickly and accurately (within 5%) calculate the thermophysical properties of common fluids found in heat transfer books such as specific heat, absolute viscosity, kinematic viscosity, thermal expansion, and more, for a user-specified temperature.HVAC Professional Formulator includes all 200 formulas of the HVAC Formulator and adds 18 charts, as well as the complete International Mechanical Code.Graphing CalculatorUseful for engineers and scientists, the Graphing Calculator turns the iPad into a high-resolution function plotter and scientific calculator. Some of its features include quickly plotting and tracing multiple equations on the same graph, custom keyboard to speed up entering equations, pinch to zoom and drag or slide for scrolling the graph in real time, taking screen shots, and e-mailing graphs to yourself.TouchCalcGood for number crunching and analysis, this colorful calculator offers three different modes. The scientific mode allows voreingestellt functions and operations like the basic arithmetical operations, power, logarithm, roots, and more. The bit/integer mode offers logical operations on bit level. The statistics mode helps you create a sample by adding several values and then calculate mean, median, quantil values, variance, standard deviation, and range, amon g others.Mechanical EngineerThis app contains over 300 mechanical engineering formulas. There are over 300 additional conversion formulas in the program as well as 70 area formulas. Major areas covered in the program include bearings, belts, boilers, brakes, clutches, elevators, gears, fluid power, heat transfer, internal combustion, kinetic energy, power plants, shafts springs, and vehicle drive.Engineering ProfessionalThis app is a good reference tool for any engineering student as it combines over 650 formulas in chemical, civil, electrical, environmental, hydrology, and mechanical engineering that allow engineers to determine everything from calculations on shafts to calculation on loads on beams. In addition, there are 100 conversion formulas, as well as a section for determining area formulas.Engineering Unit ConversionThis unit conversion tool is specifically designed for engineers, scientists, and students. It offers dimensions engineers need on a daily basis with all the un its they commonly use. They can also input negative values when required for temperature and gauge pressures.Finger CADFingerCAD is a computer-aided design (CAD) application for technical drawing. With FingerCAD, engineers can draw houses, bridges, mechanical components, geometrical figures, and everything they can draw with a common PC CAD.TurboViewer XTurboViewer X is a DWG viewer that supports both 2-D and 3-D CAD DWG files. The app allows multi-touch navigation as you pan, zoom, and 3-D bahnorbit around your DWG and DXF files. To view drawing files, you can send an e-mail with theDWG or DXF attachments directly to your iPad. Drawing files can also be viewed through FTP, Dropbox, iCloud, and other cloud-based storage systems.AutoCAD WSAutodesks app lets engineers view, edit, and share DWG drawings through the iPad. Engineers can accurately annotate and revise drawings while they are on location in the field, in meetings, or out of the office. They can also work with local version s of designs when they dont have an Internet connection, and easily open DWG, DWF, and DXF files received as email attachments.Read More 7 Smartphone Apps for Engineers5 Mobile Apps for EngineersMixed Reality Changes How Engineers WorkApps will become more appealing as time goes on. Its an irreversible trend.David Knezevic, computational science lecturer, Harvard Institute for Applied Computational Science

Chapter Proposals Sought for Computer and Information in Engin...

Chapter Proposals Sought for Computer and Information in Engin... Chapter Proposals Sought for Computer and Information in Engin... Chapter Proposals Sought for Computers and Information in Engineering Research Book SeriesJan. 13, 2017 The editorial mainboard for ASMEs Advances in Computers and Information in Engineering Research (ACIER) book series is currently seeking chapter proposals for a second volume of the series, to be issued next year. The board is asking prospective authors to submit their chapter proposals of one to three pages in length by Feb. 28.The series, which launched in 2014, was conceived as a collection of books to be published periodically that would cover the latest advances in computers and information in engineering research. The books, which are published in both traditional print and e-book formats, are also meant to serve as tools that engineers can read while referencing the supplementary software and animations that support each authors rese arch, which will be hosted on the ACIER website.The ACIER book series is primarily intended for members of the academic, governmental and industrial mechanical engineering and computational science communities who are interested in recent research developments as they relate to computational and information technologies associated with engineering design as well as product and process development.The series will focus on advances in computational methods, algorithms, tools, and processes research and development that has been presented at the annual ASME Computers and Information in Engineering (CIE) Conferences during the last five years. The 2018 volume will provide a resource for engineers who would like to enrich their skillset by being able to understand the applications for new and emerging technologies related to the CIE Conference technical committees areas of interest.These areas include advanced modeling and simulation computer-aided product and process develo pment systems engineering, information, and knowledge sharing and virtual environments and systems. Chapter proposals may cover a number of topics related to these themes, such as discretization methods model identification symbolic and high-performance computing CAD and geometric modeling computer-aided manufacturing collaborative and concurrent engineering design automation product lifecycle management business process design, integration, deployment and management systems engineering collaborative and networked virtual environments virtual reality in product conceptualization and design virtual assembly and maintenance and haptic and multi-touch interaction.The editorial board for the book series is comprised of ASME Fellow John Michopoulos, research scientist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory ASME Fellow David Rosen, associate chair for administration and George W. Woodruff Professor at Georgia Institute of Technology ASME member Chris Paredis, hochschulprofesso r of computer-assisted engineering and design at Georgia Tech and ASME Fellow Judy Vance, the Joseph C. and Elizabeth A. Anderlik Professor of Engineering and Faculty Fellow of the Virtual Reality Applications Center at Iowa State University. Authors who have submitted chapters to the board by Feb. 28, 2017, will be notified of the status of their proposals by April 15, 2017. For more details on the Advances in Computers and Information in Engineering Research series, visit the series website at http//cie-advances.asme.org. To submit a chapter proposal, visit editorialmanager.com/asmepress/Default.aspx. If you have a question not addressed on the website, contact infocie-advances.asme.org.