Act quickly if you want to save big on a one year subscription to CloudCalc Structural!
We want to remind you that our introductory offer on CloudCalc Structural will be expiring on May 31, in just about two weeks. If you think you might want to subscribe to CloudCalc — Structural Analysis in the Cloud — any time in the near future, this may be the best time to do so. Continue reading
The world according to Amazon — Newark yes, Houston no
On January 18, Amazon released its short list of 20 candidates still under consideration as the location of HQ2. Among the 218 losers pared from the list of hopefuls were such metropolises as Leominster, MA, Stonecrest, GA, and Scarborough, Maine. Oh yes, and Houston, TX, the fourth largest city in the country. The last time Amazon so publicly humiliated Houston was last January, when Alexa was overheard boldly predicting that the Houston Texans football team would be “publicly executed” by the New England Patriots. Maybe I should start doing my Christmas shopping on eBay!
For those not keeping track, Amazon invited the cities of North America to submit bids to become the site of their second headquarters. Besides the prestige of being the home (or second home) of one of the most successful companies on earth, there would be tangible benefits for the winning city as well, as Amazon predicted an influx of 50,000 jobs and $5 billion in construction investment. It is no wonder that 238 cities submitted their applications, demonstrating how they met the stated criteria: Continue reading
Hurricane Harvey, the most powerful hurricane to hit the US in a decade
I’m writing this article while “hunkered down” against Hurricane Harvey, the most powerful hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Hurricane Wilma nearly 12 years ago. Harvey came ashore two nights ago as a Category 4 hurricane (indicating minimum sustained wind velocity of 130 mph) and continues to punish our area with torrential downpours. My neighborhood has had 16 inches of rain over the past 24 hours, something that is expected to continue over the next several days. I also periodically am losing power, and so have to resort to the old-school instruments of pencil, paper, and candle while writing this.
What can I expect t from a Category 4 hurricane? According to the National Hurricane Center, “catastrophic damage” will occur:
Well-built framed homes can sustain severe damage with loss of most of the roof structure and/or some exterior walls. Most trees will be snapped or uprooted and power poles downed. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas. Power outages will last weeks to possibly months. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months. Continue reading
Science (foreground) doesn’t fall far from Engineering (background)
I spent last weekend in Washington, DC doing my part to support science as a participant in April 22’s March for Science. I’ve considered myself a big fan of science, ever since I made my first vinegar and baking powder volcano, so it was appropriate that I go along to show my support.
According to organizers, the idea behind the march (or actually the marches, as satellite marches were held in more than 600 locations around the world) was to “demonstrate support for science and the fundamental role it plays in serving and improving society through informed policy”. Other goals were to “hold our leaders in society and science accountable to the highest standards of honesty, integrity and fairness”, and to “work to bring science and the benefits of scientific research to those who need it most”. Continue reading
Alexandria Morgan –the “Next Kate Upton”, and MY friend on LinkedIn!
Please, readers – can I have your attention down here! Yes, down here, please.
I originally started this blog with the intent of chronicling my experiences launching a cloud-based startup in the structural engineering domain. Lately I’ve met only half of that promise, producing lots of articles about different facets of structural engineering, but very few in the area of internet startups. (It may be some kind of aversion-bias, based on the fact that the former – structural engineering – is so much easier than successfully pulling off a cloud-based startup.) Therefore I feel that this article, imparting wisdom that I’ve gained in the startup arena, is long overdue. Continue reading
Step aside Mars, the engineering world comes first!
I bet most of you didn’t even know that today, Feb 25, 2016 is “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day”. Well that is understandable, as it is stuck right in the middle of a week already packed with more than its share of commemorative days: “Card Reading Day” (is that Tarot or greeting?), “Be Humble Day”, “International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day”, “National Tortilla Chip Day”, “National Pistachio Day”, and “Polar Bear Day”.
500 feet to go – Don’t fall down now!
Many of you who read my earlier blog entry, 26.2: The Engineering of Marathon Racing, are aware that I was training for the Chevron Houston Marathon. To those who wondered how I fared, I am proud to say that on January 17 I completed my first (and last!) marathon with flying colors. If anyone is looking for a challenge in life, I cannot recommend a more rewarding experience than taking on your first marathon.
26.2 miles is a long time to be out on the road, a long time with nothing to do – besides putting one foot in front of the other 42,000 times – but people watch (after all there were 13,500 other equally crazy people huffing and puffing in front of me). People watching is the easy part, since marathon runners tend to skew toward the physically fit and the attractive, with nearly half of the runners being women. As I watched lady after lady run past me over the course of several hours, I gradually realized that a marathon could provide a perfect teachable moment for any engineer interested in better understanding structural dynamics.
“We have very good news”, said the tech rep over the phone.
“Great, it’s about time I got some good news regarding a computer,” I thought. Lately it seemed like the tech gods had been conspiring against me.
“The good news is that the repair will be completely covered under the manufacturer’s warranty. Of course due to the extensive problems, we will have to send it back to the factory. If things go well, we expect the repair to take approximately ten business days. With 2 days shipping each way, you should expect a call from us in about 14 business days.” Continue reading
With 50,000 runners stepping with 475-lb force
3 times per second, it’ll be time to fix the roads!
Huff…owww…puff…ouch…pant. Just nine miles to go this morning…that’s just 18,000 steps…
I am writing this entry from New York City, where the 45th NYC Marathon will take place this Sunday. On that date, 50,000 hardy souls will run 26.2 miles through the streets of NYC’s 5 boroughs. For some of these 50,000, a marathon is a regular event (for example, 69 year old Larry Macon set a record by running 239 marathons in 2013). For others, it will be a first time try – which may end up being the first of many (who knows, maybe there’s a future Larry Macon in the bunch), or it might simply be a onetime only thing, meant to check off one more item on a bucket list. Continue reading
2062, a Structural Engineering Utopia
When I was young, everybody knew what the future held. Much as an earlier era had had Jules Verne’s novels to show them space travel and undersea living, we had The Jetsons every Sunday night on ABC-TV in 1962-1963. Here our future world was clearly laid out for us — there would be robots to do 99% of our work; all buildings would be high on stilts, above the clouds; every person, place, and thing would be named after something related to outer space; and of course we would have jetpacks. Yes it’s true that The Jetsons didn’t get everything right. For example, teenage Judy Jetson was often shown confiding her secrets to her robotic diary, while in reality adolescents of today’s “future” are much more likely to broadcast their secrets onto the internet – one small detail that the show missed completely. Continue reading
Engineering and the Cloud 