326-Railroads - An Introduction
4
List: $90.00
Sale: $9.95
This is our Featured Course of the week.
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
This course is an introduction to railroads. The intent of the course IS NOT to make you an expert in railroad design, but rather, introduce you to the fundamental components that make up a railroad system. This course IS intended for those engineers that need to become sufficiently familiar with rail systems to discuss railroad requirements with a client, understand what the railroad representatives are saying, know what questions to ask on your client's behalf, and ease the pains involved if you get a project that requires a railroad construction permit. The course will begin by providing a very brief - but interesting - history of railroads in North America before presenting the technical topics on the subgrade, ballast, ties, rail, turnouts, road crossings, ladder tracks and… of course… frogs. Again, this introductory course is about what a railroad encompasses and provides the basic information necessary for an engineer to be able to discuss the topic intelligently with a client but is NOT intended to provide the knowledge to actually design a railroad, the turnouts, or any railroad signals that may be required.
Detailed course outline with timeline
- 7 Minutes — Course Description & Introduction
- 25 Minutes — History
- 14 Minutes — Railway Forces
- 23 Minutes — Railway Alignments
- 11 Minutes — Transit Rail
- 18 Minutes — Track Structure
- 24 Minutes — Subgrade and and Sub-ballast
- 12 Minutes — Drainage
- 11 Minutes — Ballast
- 12 Minutes — Railroad Ties
- 14 Minutes — Rail
- 18 Minutes — Turnouts
- 18 Minutes — Road Crossings
- 18 Minutes — Rail Crossing Signage, Gates, & Signals
- 18 Minutes — Customer Rail Facilities
- 18 Minutes — Glossary
- 11 Minutes — Summary
- 40 Minutes — The Test
077-Septic System Design
4
List: $90.00
Sale: $29.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
This course is intended to provide engineers, designers, and contractors with knowledge of how a septic system works, the components that make up the system, and the considerations involved in designing a septic system. Biologically, every septic system treats effluent waste in the same manner but the design process changes slightly with each state. And because each state has its own code with slight variations in their requirements, this is not intended to be an all-inclusive course in the design or installation of septic systems for each state. However, the design process can be used in every state with minor adaptations for a specific state.
The course will start "at the beginning" and then progress through the sequence of components from the septic tanks to the drainfield and the design involved in each of these components. The course will cover gravity systems, trench and bed drainfields, mounded systems, pumped systems, and Aerobic Treatment Units. It will also cover site placement considerations that must be evaluated when determining the location of a septic drainfield.
426-Florida Engineering Laws & Rules Online for 2023
1
List: $22.50
Sale: $11.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering and to familiarize the professional engineer with the laws and rules that govern the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
This course meets the Florida Board of Engineers requirement for one-hour of laws and rules training. The course is also accepted for general credit in all states except New York, Ohio, Minnesota, and New Mexico.
095-Fundamentals of Concrete
3
List: $67.50
Sale: $23.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
Written in an easy to understand style, the course Fundamentals of Concrete takes a look at the properties of concrete including its ingredients as well as the nature of the product from its inception at mixing these ingredients to some of the final products. A clear discussion of the ingredients of concrete is included as well as the process that makes the initial slurry change to a hardened structural material. Some of concrete's material properties — such as workability, weight, and strength — are discussed including precautions and factors affecting these properties. The effect of evaporation on newly placed concrete is discussed along with methods to prevent it.
The course continues with a clear discussion of reinforced concrete, stresses in a concrete beam, and reinforcing steel. The principles of pre-cast and post-tensioned beams are discussed with several representative cross sections presented. The course concludes with an introductory discussion of the principles of formwork design.
The course is not a design course but does offer some sample calculations to demonstrate the design criteria involved in the design of reinforced concrete beams and the design of formwork for vertical structures such as walls and columns.
127-Fundamentals of Steel - Part A
4
List: $90.00
Sale: $29.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
Written in an easy to understand style, the course Fundamentals of Steel — Part A takes a look at steel in an informative and intuitive way — using among other things, a story of a yardstick as a teaching tool. After a brief history of steel in the U. S., and an introduction to the most influential and dominant codes, the manufacturing process of steel is presented. This is followed by a discussion of the most important mechanical properties — and the factors affecting them — of steel including easy-to-understand drawings. Then the various shapes are presented and discussed with clear and easy to follow diagrams. One of the many topics presented is a discussion of how a single nominal sized beam can have the largest member of its class be over 160% times larger than the smallest.
Photos relating to the topics presented include the John Hancock Building in Chicago.
The course is not a design course. It does however offer some sample calculations to demonstrate the material properties and the design criteria for steel members.
Fundamentals of Steel — Part B, a companion course, continues on with a look at how the shapes are used in the field with an emphasis on connections — both welded and bolted. Bar joists are discussed. Some of the very serious weaknesses of structural steel are discussed including methods of protecting against these weaknesses.
128-Fundamentals of Steel - Part B
4
List: $90.00
Sale: $29.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
Written in an easy to understand style, the course Fundamentals of Steel — Part B takes a look at steel in an informative and intuitive way — using among other things, a story of a pop can as a teaching tool. This course will look at how the shapes are used in the field with an emphasis on connections — both bolted and welded. Bar joists — perhaps the most common built-up member — are discussed. Structural carbon steel has some serious weaknesses. These are also discussed including methods of protecting against these weaknesses.
Connections — both welds and high strength bolts — are discussed. The concepts behind their function and simple sample problems are presented to demonstrate the very complex workings of steel connections.
Photos relating to the topics presented include the John Hancock Building in Chicago, the Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, Lambeau Field in Green Bay, and the Mackinac Bridge over the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan, as well as others.
The course is not a design course. But it does offer some sample calculations to demonstrate the criteria involved in the design of high strength bolted and welded steel connections.
Fundamentals of Steel — Part A is not required as a pre-requisite to this course. It would however be helpful to understand the basic principles of the most important mechanical properties of steel as well as the common nomenclature associated with steel as presented in Part A of this series.
348-An Overview of Computer Aided Design and Finite Element Analysis
4
List: $90.00
Sale: $29.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
NOTE: This is a course in Computer Aided Design (CAD) for professional engineers, not a course in the related subject of Computer Aided Drafting.
Computer aided design (CAD) is the use of computer software to assist the design engineer in the overall creation and analysis of parts and assemblies. Finite element analysis (FEA) is a numerical method used to determine approximate solutions of physical problems. Proper use and integration of CAD and FEA can greatly improve efficiency of the design process.
This course provides a general overview of methods and applications of computer aided design and finite element analysis to expose the reader to the many design features of solid modeling software. The intent of the course is to explain ways computer aided design can improve the overall design process and allow for easier design changes. The course will explain how to properly use computer aided design and finite element analysis methods to optimization designs and have greater confidence in how a design will function. General knowledge of solid modeling software is helpful for this course but not required. Though this course discusses the general concepts of solid modeling, the course does not teach concepts of computer aided drafting. General understanding of the equations of stress and strain would be beneficial for understanding the applications of FEA.
The information provided in this course is not limited to any single software package. This course does not focus on teaching any single solid modeling software package and does not provide step-by-step tutorials of CAD or FEA. Information is presented in a way to develop concepts of computer aided design and finite element analysis that can be applied to any solid modeling software. Illustrative examples of CAD procedures are given using Solidworks and Inventor, though the concepts would apply to any software package. The same software packages are used to illustrate the concepts of FEA, yet the concepts can be transferred to other FEA software.
280-Intro to Thermodynamic Cycles Part 1 - 1st Law and Gas Power Cycle
4
List: $90.00
Sale: $29.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
The focus of this course is to introduce some of the most common thermodynamic cycles. The course is divided into three parts. Part 1 of the course provides a quick overview of the first law for both closed and open systems and discusses gas power cycles. Part 2 covers vapor cycles and part 3 of this course covers the second law of thermodynamics along with refrigeration cycles.
Part 1 is intended to cover the preliminary concepts and theories required to analyze gas power cycles. The course begins with basic concepts of thermodynamics; with a brief coverage of topics such as the laws of thermodynamics, processes and cycles, properties of a pure substance, heat capacity, and the ideal gas law. The first law of thermodynamics is covered for both closed systems and open systems. Gas power cycles are covered with a focus on the Otto cycle and the diesel cycle using air-standard analysis.
This course is at an introductory level, and no prior knowledge of thermodynamics is required.
260-Introduction to Manufacturing Methods for Metals Part 1-Casting and Forging Methods
2
List: $45.00
Sale: $17.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
Many engineers work in areas related to product design. In product design it is very important to understand the manufacturability of parts. The cost of a part is greatly influenced by the method of production, so engineers need to have a good knowledge of the available methods. Engineers need to do product design so that the product will function properly, but they also need to design the part for the particular manufacturing method utilized. In other words, the engineer should design the part with a specific manufacturing process in mind.
This course provides a general overview of manufacturing processes related to metals. Focus is placed on comparing the advantages and disadvantages of different methods to help engineers determine which method to use for a specific product. The manufacturing methods covered in part 1 of this course are casting and forging. No previous knowledge of manufacturing methods is required for this course.
303-Pressure Vessels - Thin and Thick-Walled Stress Analysis
2
List: $45.00
Sale: $17.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
Pressure vessels are very common in industry with examples such as pipes, water towers, hydraulic cylinders, and boilers. It is important for engineers to understand stresses developed in pressure vessels when subjected to internal or external pressure loads. This course provides a general introduction to understanding stresses in thin-walled and thick-walled pressure vessels. Though some theory is provided, the course focuses on applications of stress equations. Failure theories are discussed for brittle and ductile materials. The failure theories are used to discuss design of pressure vessels.
A general understanding of mechanics of materials is required for this course. Equations of stress and strain are used to develop equations for pressure vessels. Concepts of principal stresses are used for failure theories.
This course covers the basic stress analysis of pressure vessels and does not cover specific design codes for pressure vessels due to the vast types of applications. The reader should consult any appropriate codes, such as ASME Code Section VIII, for more details.
295-Review of Engineering Dynamics, Part 1: Kinematics of Particles and Rigid Bodies
4
List: $90.00
Sale: $29.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
It is common in engineering analysis and design to deal with systems in motion. Dynamics is the study of systems in motion. This course discusses the essential topics that every engineer should know about the field of engineering dynamics. Example problems are provided throughout the course, and the focus primarily on topics relating to engineering applications. Part 1 of the course will focus on kinematics of particles and rigid bodies, while part 2 will cover kinetics of particles and rigid bodies.
Dynamics can be a difficult topic. Most of the confusion stems from the idea that there are many ways to solve any given dynamics problem. This course will outline a systematic approach to solving dynamics problems. Following the step-by-step process presented in this course will help you to quickly determine the appropriate equations to use for any problem relating to engineering dynamics.
It is helpful to have a very basic understanding of derivatives, especially simple derivatives of polynomials. A review section is provided in the course to cover the essential calculus topics for the course.
062-Switchmode Buck Power Converter Using Voltage-Mode Control
4
List: $90.00
Sale: $29.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
This course covers a methodology for designing a Switch-Mode Buck power converter employing a voltage-mode feedback control approach. The Buck power conversion topology is introduced and considerations for selecting inductor and capacitor components essential for efficient energy transfer are discussed.
Topologies for two states of switching are shown and a state-space averaged model is produced. A small-signal model linear model is produced to examine potential stability issues. Zero-Order Hold (ZOH) effects of the discrete-time nature of switching within the control loop are included. Pole-Zero (PZ) compensators necessary to stabilize the open-loop characteristics of converters with disparate switching frequencies are designed.
The Pulse-Width Modulator (PWM) is introduced it into the feedback loop. Both feedforward and feedback capabilities are added to the PWM and contrasted.
067-Switchmode Buck Power Converter Using Current-Mode Control
4
List: $90.00
Sale: $29.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
The Switchmode Buck converter is used widely for high efficiency conversion of DC power available at a higher voltage and delivered to a load at a lower voltage. This course develops models of the Buck converter with current-mode control. Basic operation, a practical set of examples, and large/small signal models are discussed. The considerations for feedback regulation and load-current limiting control of the converter are introduced.
The selection of appropriate inductor and capacitor values are discussed, considering the frequency of operation and other design parameters. A constant-frequency Pulse-Width Modulator (PWM) controller is employed for pulse-by-pulse peak-current control. And a method for constructive use of inductor parasitics is employed for current monitoring. We introduce the peak-threshold current control in the open-loop model to illustrate a current-limit function, and then develop that control into the pulse-by-pulse current-mode control for voltage feedback. We develop the feedback conditions for frequency-domain, small-signal, stability in the open-loop model and include a Pole-Zero (PZ) compensator for good margins. We introduce the Zero-Order-Hold (ZOH) effects of the inherent sampling caused by cycle-by-cycle control and include those effects in the (PZ) compensator. The loop is closed and a "soft-start" capability added to avoid current-limiting during startup. Line and load regulation is shown for the example as well as transient load recovery. Finally, the need for "Slope Compensation" in some designs is discussed and a means for adding it is shown.
071-Switchmode Boost Power Converter Using Voltage-Mode Control
4
List: $90.00
Sale: $29.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
The Switchmode Boost converter is used widely for high efficiency conversion of DC power available at a lower voltage and delivered to a load at a higher voltage. This course develops models of the Boost converter with voltage-mode control. Basic operation, a practical of example, and large/small signal models are discussed. The considerations for feedback regulation and feedforward control of the converter are introduced.
The selection of appropriate inductor and capacitor values are discussed, considering the frequency of operation and other design parameters. A constant-frequency Pulse-Width Modulator (PWM) controller is employed. We develop the feedback conditions for frequency-domain, small-signal, stability in the open-loop model and include a Pole-Zero (PZ) compensator for good margins. We introduce the Zero-Order-Hold (ZOH) effects of the inherent sampling caused by cycle-by-cycle control and include those effects in the (PZ) compensator. The loop is closed and a "soft-start" capability added to high inrush currents during startup. Line and load regulation are shown for the example as well as transient load recovery. The material covered should enable a working engineer to construct a stable Boost converter using voltage control.
072-Switchmode Boost Power Converter Using Current-Mode Control
4
List: $90.00
Sale: $29.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
The Switchmode Boost converter is used widely for high efficiency conversion of DC power available at a lower voltage and delivered to a load at a higher voltage. This course develops models of the Boost converter with current-mode control. Basic operation, a practical of example, and large/small signal models are discussed. The considerations for control of the converter are introduced.
The selection of appropriate inductor and capacitor values are discussed, considering the frequency of operation and other design parameters. A constant-frequency Pulse-Width Modulator (PWM) controller is employed. We develop the feedback conditions for frequency-domain, small-signal, stability in the open-loop model and include a Pole-Zero (PZ) compensator for good margins. We introduce the Zero-Order-Hold (ZOH) effects of the inherent sampling caused by cycle-by-cycle control and include those effects in the (PZ) compensator. Current-limit control is introduced and used as the basis for the introduction of cycle-by-cycle current-mode control. The loop is closed and a "soft-start" capability added to high inrush currents during startup. Line and load regulation are shown for the example as well as transient load recovery. The need for "Slope Compensation" is introduced and explained and an example shown contrasting behavior with and without it. The material covered should enable a working engineer to construct a stable Boost converter using current-mode control.
131-An Introduction to Pavement Construction - Part 1 - Concrete
3
List: $67.50
Sale: $23.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
A brief introduction to concrete pavement construction covering pavement types, ingredients and mix designs, pavement uses, methods of paving, paving equipment, and recent changes in the industry and their benefits.
After completion the reader should have a basic understanding of the standard methods of concrete paving and the associated equipment needed. Additionally, which construction methods and equipment choices are more suitable for specific pavement types and applications. Lastly, what latest technological, social, and economic factors are changing the traditional perception of concrete pavement and are making concrete pavement a more desirable choice to alternate paving types.
From better understanding of the construction methods, engineers can account for better access and staging areas, and more efficient paving designs to suit a construction method that is advantageous to the project.
262-An Introduction to Pavement Construction - Part 2 - Asphalt
2
List: $45.00
Sale: $17.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
A brief introduction to asphalt pavement construction covering pavement types, ingredients and mix designs, pavement uses, methods of paving, paving equipment, and recent changes in the industry and their benefits.
After completion, the reader should have a basic understanding of the standard methods of asphalt paving and the associated equipment needed. Additionally, which construction methods and equipment choices are more suitable for specific pavement types and applications. Lastly, what latest technological, social, and economic factors are changing the traditional perception of asphalt pavement and are making asphalt pavement a more desirable choice to alternate paving types.
From better understanding of the construction methods, engineers can account for better access and staging areas, and more efficient paving designs to suit a construction method that is advantageous to the project.
275-What Every Engineer Should Know About Engineering Probability and Statistics I
5
List: $112.50
Sale: $35.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
The concept of probabilistic design is quite pervasive across the engineering disciplines because of its implication on engineering design decisions. Typically, assumptions and simplification of
engineering and other related natural processes are often idealistic and do not consider uncertainties inherent in those processes and phenomenon (be they mechanical, chemical, electrical, biological,
etc). There is also the tendency to assume that the situation is either deterministic or qualitative or both. Under certain circumstances such assumptions may suffice. However, in the realm
of engineering design, such assumptions and simplifications are not acceptable as uncertainties are unavoidable in almost all engineering analyses and design activities. Thus, any recommendations that are
formulated without proper identification and assessment of the inherent risks and uncertainties would not only be invalid but would paint a wrong picture of the situation under consideration.
The purpose of this course therefore is to present the fundamental concepts of probability and statistics from the perspective of engineering practice. As part of the learning objective, the course would demonstrate:
- The role of probability and statistics in engineering design decisions, and
- The concepts of variability
Additionally, the student will be able to:
- Develop an appreciation of the notion of events, the sample space and the real line.
- Understand the notion of enumeration and counting techniques that are applicable in probability and statistics analyses.
- Explore the meaning of density and mass functions with respect to their relationship to random variables.
- Discover some of the common discrete and continuous distributions that are employed in describing engineering problem situations and scenarios
276-What Every Engineer Should Know About Engineering Probability and Statistics II
5
List: $112.50
Sale: $35.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
The concept of probabilistic design is quite pervasive across all engineering disciplines because of its implication on engineering design decisions. Quite often because of the complexity of the processes and the difficulty in explicating the inherent relationships, assumptions about engineering and other related natural processes are simplified and so do not consider uncertainties inherent in those processes and phenomenon. Safety factors and safety margins have often been employed to overcome the need for probabilistic designs. Under certain circumstances such assumptions may suffice. However, in the realm of engineering design, such assumptions and simplifications may not be acceptable as uncertainties are unavoidable in almost all engineering analyses and design activities. Therefore any recommendation developed without proper identification and assessment of the inherent risks and uncertainties would not only be invalid but would paint an unrealistic and unrepresentative picture and thus could jeopardize public safety.
This second course in the series focuses on an important area of engineering analyses and design, namely Statistical Inference. Statistical Inference is about how we analyze data and use the information to make decisions about a given engineering problem. The process of explicating the complexities of the data to yield information that would eventually be used to make design or mission decisions is known as inference or more appropriately Statistical Inference. If we examine the relationship between the population and the sample (as we did in the first course) we note that there is sort of a symbiotic (parent-population, offspring-sample) relationship between the two. Probability deals with the population with its parameters (parent values) while Statistical Inference deals with the sample and its statistic (values computed from the sample and used to estimate the population or universe parameters). The following areas would be covered in the course but not necessarily in the order shown:
- The Point Estimates for the Mean and the variance.
- The Central Limit Theorem (CLT) and its role in estimating parameters of a population.
- Sampling distributions for means and variances with variance both known and unknown
- Sampling distribution for two means & two variances with variance known and unknown
- Point Estimator, Interval Estimators and Tests of Hypothesis
- Error of estimation and the effect on sample size (n).
- Type I and Type II errors and the effect on ample size n
- Confidence Intervals for one means and one variances
- Confidence Intervals for two means and two variances
Due to the nature of the materials, a significant number of numerical examples have been included to provide better insight into the materials presented. At the end, the engineer should feel well equipped to explore the important area of Statistical Inference and what it offers with regards to Engineering design decisions.
283-What Every Engineer Should Know About the Design and Analysis of Engineering Experiments I
5
List: $112.50
Sale: $35.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
Design of experiment is an activity that every Engineer should take very seriously. Engineers are called upon every day to make decisions regarding programs, processes and systems that have
significant implications on the safety and well-being of society, be they chemical processes, the environment, infrastructure, machinery and equipment, and others. And while Engineers are known for sound
and fact based judgment, those laudable qualities and characteristics may not be enough and may not serve them well in certain circumstances. This is especially true when they are called upon to make decisions
regarding variables and factors whose underlying distributions are stochastic and thus have uncertain, albeit questionable, predictability. Handling these situations requires an understanding of
the formal schemes and structures necessary to deal with variability, bias, and randomness.
This is the first of a two-course sequence in this subject area. As the prerequisite to the second course, it provides the Engineer with the rudimentary, but necessary, toolkit
needed to plan, design and analyze basic engineering experiments and to make recommendations about design and operational decisions. It sets the stage for the second course, where more robust and higher
level designs are explored, including Factorial designs, Fractional designs, Nested designs, Confounding schemes and Regression Analysis. The second course also addresses a fundamental problem of design,
namely cost and resource utilization, and also the all important issue of missing values. While the two courses are not strictly about mathematics and statistics, they do utilize those subject matters to
further elucidate how to plan, design, and analyze engineering experiments. Some of the areas covered in this course include:
- The Role of Experiments in the Engineering Design Process
- The Role of Statistics and Probability in Engineering Design
- Purpose and Nature of Planned Experiments
- Important Issues in Planned Experiments
- The Effects of Changes in the Independent Variables
- The Effect of Noise in An Experiment
- Restrictions on Randomization
- Single Factor Experiments including Model Analysis
- Randomized Block Designs
- Latin and Other Designs
- Incomplete Block Designs
285-What Every Engineer Should Know About the Design and Analysis of Engineering Experiments II
5
List: $112.50
Sale: $35.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
Design of experiment is an activity that every Engineer should take very seriously. Engineers are called upon everyday to make decisions regarding programs, processes and systems that have significant implications on the safety and well being of society, be they chemical processes, the environment, infrastructure, machinery and equipment,
and others. Engineers are known for sound and fact based judgment but while those qualities and characteristics are laudable, they may not be enough and may not serve them well. This is especially true when they are called upon to make decisions regarding variables and factors whose
underlying distributions are stochastic and thus have uncertain and questionable predictability. Handling these situations requires an understanding of the formal schemes and structures necessary to deal with variability, bias, and randomness.
This second course, in the two-course sequence, focuses on some of the more practical issues that engineers encounter during the design and analysis of experiments. This course focuses on more robust and higher level designs such as Factorial designs, Confounding Schemes Fractional
designs, Fixed and Random factors, Expected Mean Squares, Nested or Hierarchical designs, and Regression Analysis. The course also addresses, with realistic examples, some of the common problem in design of experiments, namely, missing data or missing values. It also provides practical justification for confounding, which arises due to the physical limitation as it relates to acquiring all the needed data.
It addresses the issue of cost and resource utilization where fractional factorial designs are used because the cost to run full higher order designs is prohibitive. The course has a very practical bent and while there are theoretical foundations undergirding the material, the course itself utilizes basic arithmetic for computation and analysis. Some of the areas covered in the course include:
- The Role of Experiments in the Engineering Design Process
- Missing Values for Randomized Block and Latin Designs
- Factorial Designs for 2f and 3f
- Confounding Schemes for 2f and 3f
- Fractional Factorial Designs for 2f and 3f
- Modeling of Fixed and Random Effects and Expected Mean Square (EMS)
- Nested/Hierarchical Designs
- Regression Analysis
013-Vibration - Modal Analysis
4
List: $90.00
Sale: $29.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
This 4-hour continuing education course provides an introduction to modal analysis, the study of the dynamic properties of structures under vibrational excitation. Modal analysis may be applied to describe and model the vibrational behavior of complicated structures such as automobiles, aircraft, or spacecraft, but is equally important for simpler equipment including golf clubs, fans, and washing machines. Regardless of the object's size, shape, or function, the vibration behavior may be characterized by terms such as natural frequency, mode shape, and frequency response function. A primary objective of this course is to explore these concepts in detail.
The course begins with a review of the fundamentals of single and two degree of freedom free and forced vibrations. Through this review, the notation conventions for a description of modal analysis are established. This provides the necessary basis for describing frequency response function measurement and model development. The lesson concludes with a summary of measurement equipment and techniques.
021-Precision Measurement
4
List: $90.00
Sale: $29.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
This course provides an introduction to displacement measuring interferometry, which offers high accuracy, range, and resolution for non-contact displacement measurement applications. The heterodyne (or two frequency) Michelson-type interferometer is described. Additionally, a brief review of the fundamentals of light theory, polarization, and interference is provided. Graphical descriptions are included to complement the text. Examples include figures that reinforce concepts in polarization, identify components in displacement measuring interferometers, and detail the function of fiber optics in interferometry. Upon completion of this course, the engineer should possess the basic knowledge required to select and implement displacement measuring interferometry in the desired application.
504-What Every Engineer Should Know about Game Theory
4
List: $90.00
Sale: $29.95
Course Objectives: This continuing education course is written specifically for professional engineers with the objective of relating to and enhancing the practice of engineering.
Course Description:
Whether engaged in design, construction, maintenance or operations activities, engineers are continually engaged in negotiation and decision making. However, very little formal negotiation and decision making training exists for engineers, despite the fact that in recent decades there have been significant developments in the game theory field. These developments in game theory have resulted in a standardized terminology and provide theoretical and mathematical concepts that, when adopted in the engineering community, could provide significant advantages to the initiated professional. This course provides introductions to game theory concepts that have immediate application to typical activities that engineers are engaged in on a day-to-day basis.
Application of these concepts can result in better and more rapid decision making and assists in the disentanglement of technical and operational problems when they occur. Understanding of these concepts can be as vital as oral and written communication skills for engineers to successfully achieve their technical objectives for the client’s and the public’s best interests.
This course presents these concepts at an introductory level and provides several real world examples. Since the instructors are maritime engineers, many of the examples are maritime, but the lessons apply equally to any engineering specialty. The course also provides a substantial amount of references and a bibliography for further study.
476-An Overview of Electrical System Components for Mission Critical Facilities: Part 1
1
List: $22.50
Sale: $11.95
Course Objectives: A high level review of electrical systems as they relate to Mission critical facilities, and to learn about good engineering practices for electrical systems of mission critical facilities and how they affect performance.
Course Description:
This course is developed to provide a course on the function of Electrical System components for Mission Critical facilities. This course along with part-1 and part-2 covers from Utility service to the rack level electrical distribution standard practice for mission critical facilities. This course is also “introductory” in nature in that it will cover basic functions of different electrical systems. This course may be considered a good refresher course for those who work in the mechanical/electrical engineering field and already have a familiarity with Mission critical facilities systems.
This course is intended to be useful to individuals at all levels of experience as well as a topic of interest to the full variety of those of an engineering (civil, mechanical, electrical, etc.), architectural, and/or facilities management background. As a result, some basics will be touched upon that may seem rudimentary to some, but for others will be useful to hear for the first time or as a refresher. Regardless, it should be valuable to establish this information and have it in one place for the reader’s reference.
The reader of this course should be able to use the tools gained to have an even greater understand of Electrical system applications for Mission Critical facilities.
