All that man has made, right from the moment the wheel was invented, has a reason behind it. Nearly all the man-made artifacts that we see around us have an aspect of engineering design in them. Take the simple instance of the spoon. It can come in various sizes and materials, but the fundamental usefulness remains unchanged.

Design engineers need advanced software, equipment and applications for them to be able to study and create ideas for new products and related structures. They collaborate with architects, drafters and team members when it comes to structures, devices and machinery that is needed to build blueprints and schematics. It also induces productivity and effectiveness.

New Year has come and new opportunities have yet to unfold. Let’s start this new year with a bang and with ProsTalk.

To start off our New Year ProsTalk episode, we give you a civil engineer who specializes in engineering structures. He once became the VP for Education in Riyadh. He also delivered 300+ training around the globe. He also is an expert in structural applications. He worked for 13 years in Saudi Arabia and became the chairman for the Civil Engineering Board Exam. Currently, he is now practicing his professional work in the Philippines as the founder of XStructures Engineering Consultants. 

Engr. John Paul Dela Rosa graces the first episode of ProsTalk for new year together with our host, Ms. Nathalie Yatco.

Here’s the episode on youtube: ProsTalk EP. 32 | Structural Engineering Softwares for Design Engineers

Engr. John Paul had an interesting topic tackling the latest with engineering with relevance to Philippines’ setting as of the moment. And the importance of such software in this industry.

He mentioned that all engineering software makes work effectively. It also can make the work easier and efficient. Unlike before, engineering processes today are integrating technology such as softwares in tedious calculations for buildings and softwares. 

Such softwares can help design engineers in making their work ergonomically-designed. It also helps engineers in coming up with specific measurement and accurate judgment. Today’s generation can give you solutions to any problem that you are facing, you just have to search.

The use of software in engineering has evolved dramatically over the past few decades. An area of engineering that does not rely on one or more advanced engineering programs is difficult to find today. Design engineers in all fields learn how to use their field's favorite software early on.

Engineer John Paul mentioned some software that engineers are frequently using such as follows:

AUTOCAD

AutoCAD is a program for computer-aided design developed by the Autodesk group (hence the name AutoCAD). It helps you to more quickly and comfortably draw and edit digital 2D and 3D designs than you can by hand. It is also convenient to save and store files in the cloud, so they can be accessed anywhere at any time. Below are benefits of having AUTOCAD as your designing software:

1. Better Accuracy- Anything so small can only be drawn by hand, but AutoCAD lets you design down to fractions. In all dimensions, this allows a more detailed design.
2. Easy Edits- Before technology joined the picture, people were editing their works manually and it took tons of time to finish a polished work. With AUTOCAD you can easily modify and control designs with AutoCAD.
3. Increase Production- Since you can manage work easily with software, the production itself will increase. To maximize productivity, save it in your block library. It is possible to use and re-use saved files later, which makes the design process smoother than if you did it by hand.

STAAD PRO

STAAD Pro is a program for structural analysis and design that is commonly used to study and design bridge, tower, house, transportation, industrial and utility system structures. With new and enhanced features, the app now has its latest update, STAAD Pro V8i.

Below is the importance and the use of this software in engineering industry:

1. Turn the physical model into an analytical model automatically, so that the workflow is right.
2. Improve coordination between multi-discipline teams across desktop, cloud and mobile applications
3. Optimize the BIM workflows of concrete and steel with integrated physical members and surfaces.

AUTODESK PRODUCT DESIGN SUITE

Autodesk is best known for its software and services for 3D modeling and engineering. Engineers use Autodesk Product Design Suite because it provides everything design engineers need, from modeling, collaboration, visualization, to digital prototyping software, because it is a full 3D product design solution.

Below is the importance and key features of having this software as your go-to item:

1. Using 2D AutoCAD sketches as a basis for layouts for inventors
2. Making improvements to product design quickly and easily
3. Integrate mechanical and electrical architecture
4. By reducing rework and reusing design data, get to market quicker
5. Reduce production costs through the development of correct design documents and the assessment of product productivity.

MATLAB

MATLAB is an engineering design platform preferred by millions of engineers and scientists worldwide as a high-level language and collaborative framework for numerical computation, visualization, and programming. You can explore and imagine ideas with MATLAB and work together across disciplines to bring your ideas into motion.

Below is its key features:

1. Numeric computation for solving science and engineering problems by using mathematical functions
2. To rapidly perform vector and matrix calculations, core math functions use processor-optimized libraries.
3. Exploring, visualizing and modeling the data
4. Share outcomes as plots or full reports

TurboCAD

At the beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, TurboCAD Designer delivers simple and inexpensive 2D drafting and design. Via TurboCAD Designer, which provides access to hundreds of 2D drawing, editing, and dimensioning software, design engineers may complete all their technical diagrams.

Key features:

1. Share your work in more than 20 popular file formats, including the most recent DWG/DXFF AutoCAD
2. Use to accelerate concept with snaps and drawing aids
3. Import existing designs easily or share your work with other people
4. A full collection of tools for 2D drafting and detailing
5. Tools for Annotation

Innovation is accelerated by engineering tools. As AI becomes more popular, in collaboration with engineering tools, it is being implemented to speed up the design process even more. Without the aid of software, the complexity of devices and systems has reached the point where designing and implementing them will be difficult. As the complexity of these systems grows, the program often attempts to keep up with them.

That is why it is important that engineers stay on top of advances in software and that universities extend software courses. Moreover, engineers would need to have at least a clear understanding of AI soon. Although it is difficult to keep up to date with tech, the advances it makes possible justify the effort.

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