Design News for Mechanical and Design Engineers

Do you lack standards? Maybe it's time you got some new ones. You should check out the offerings at www.designnews.com and click on the Technical Document Center button on the left. Joining the Aerospace and Automotive channels, Electrical/Electronics now has individual standards on sale.

Design News has teamed up with Techsavvy.com , a service of IHS Group, to offer the most requested standards in each industry. There's no longer a need for costly subscriptions; just log on and download your desired standards piecemeal. A few of the electrical standards offered: Metal-Enclosed Interrupter Switchgear (ANSI C37.20.3), Local and Metropolitan Area Networks (IEEE 802), Enclosures for Electrical Equipment (NEMA 250), and Centralized Optical Fiber Cabling Guidelines (TIA/EIA TSB72).

How much for the nickel?

Are you having trouble buying and selling raw materials on ebay? Then click over to www.metalsite.com where you'll find the QuoteFinder. It's an online marketplace for metals buyers and sellers that generates RFQs and acts as your agent. The site also has up-to-date industry news, a product guide, online auctions, and company profiles. They even offer free classes around the U.S. on how to effectively use their online tools.

You CAM do more

CAM got you down? Give it a pick-me-up. The site www.tools4cam.com gives users the ability to research, sample, and purchase CAM related software, hardware, and services to improve manufacturing efficiency. A helpful online tour leads users through all that's offered—for a limited time you can print one 3D part for free. If you set up an account and recommend friends to the site, you earn credit for purchases. Don't forget to tell them who sent you!

I'm not sensing anything!

Out of touch with your sensor? Application stories and a message board make www.sensorland.com a helpful place to make sense of your sensors. A How They Work page teaches novices the basics, while world-wide events and new book and magazine reviews keep industry experts in the know. There's a job search too.

Plastic

Is there anything it can't do? Everything you ever wanted to know about fabulous plastic, but were afraid to ask, is online at www.americanplasticscouncil.org . Learn its history, and yes, its future. Participate in an innovative use contest. Learn about safety and environmental issues. It's fun for the whole family!

Study this

DesignNotes.com at www.designnotes.com/designschool.htm has tutorials in a plethora of subjects. There are electronics tutorials on using MOSFETs, LC Filter Design, and Electronics from Basic Electricity to OpAmps; Microprocessor and Microcontroller tutorials; RF tutorials such as Superhetrodyne Radio Receivers and Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) Receivers; Test and Measurement tutorials; and even a project to create a line-tracking robot.

Think tutorials

Okay, the ThinkQuest site may be focused on younger, potential engineers, but the site offers a great deal of background information for anyone looking to learn online. There are links to sites that teach about reinventing the past, a solar bicycle, a glimpse into possible future electric cars, designing a roller coaster to work on Mars, implanted computer chips, even a new space toilet design. To check out the creativity of the younger generation, head on over to http://www.thinkquest.org/library/cat_show.html?cat_id=79 _ show.html?cat_id=79.