May 2008

While development continues on our OpenFOAM-Caedium integration there isn't much to show or report, so we thought this a good time to share with you a few lesser known Symscape website features.

Poll ExamplePoll Example

Polls

On our homepage you'll find polls based on questions that help us determine our development priorities. You may have seen our latest poll concerning your favorite operating system. Our previous poll asked you to select your favorite Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) software. The results are publicly viewable and we encourage you to have your say by voting to influence our development priorities.

Download.com

We've recently moved our Caedium Windows installer to Download.com (owned by CNET), where it is guaranteed to be free of spyware, adware, viruses, and other malicious programs. Installers hosted on our website also offer the same guarantee, but we thought that independent verification by Download.com provides additional confidence if you need it. Unfortunately, Download.com doesn't offer Linux installer hosting, so the Caedium Linux installers are still hosted on our website.

Comments

In an effort to keep our blog posts up to date you may have noticed we are posting comments (and encourage you to also post) with interesting developments concerning the original blog article. You can find the latest comments (for all types of articles including blog posts) listed in the right-hand column on our homepage.

Blog

Below are teasers for our latest blog posts. The titles are links to the full posts.

Formula Hybrid v2.0
The second Formula Hybrid International Competition (May 5-7, 2008) just wrapped up at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Originally conceived and again hosted by Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth, the event attracted 15 teams, up from the 9 teams who entered in 2007.

Electric Airplanes
Electricity was an early player in the race to power aircraft, and achieved initial success in 1884 powering a dirigible. Electric powered vehicles fell out of favor with the introduction of the internal combustion engine and the turbojet engine. With recent concerns about emissions from burning fossil fuels, electric power is back, and not only for cars but for airplanes too.

Lego Engineering
Having entertained children and adults alike for 50 years, Lego has recently made a successful leap into the future of technology and engineering. You'll find video games, programmable robotics kits and even Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools to support limitless virtual construction.

Fluid Dynamics and Perfect Espresso
A perfect espresso is more a function of science than art - contrary to many people's experience. The majority of the processes required to turn green coffee beans into a delicious espresso is dominated by fluid dynamics.

Stirling Engine Cools Chips
Using a Stirling engine (which converts heat into useful work) for electronics cooling seems like a perfect fit - at least according to Micro-Star International (MSI). In retrospect you wonder why no one thought of the concept sooner.