Measure What is Measurable

'...measure what is measurable and make measurable what is no so...' -Galileo

If you are learning a new tool, a new software, a new skill, a new method then always remember Galileo's rule.

Measure the measurable. whatever is being measured will improve. This is what the core of the matter. If you want improvement in your resolution or goals measure them regularly!

During my days in NAL, I was actively measuring the time I spent on the tool that I learnt there. From Matlab to Solidworks, from Nastran  to visual basic, from scripting to drawing I noted the no of hour I spend on each activity.

As no of hour I put in help me see what I was learning and it had improved my learning process a lot. It enabled me to learn many tools and have an hands on experience on many of them in the period of the time that I have spend in NAL.

So measure. I am doing the same with my declared resolutions of this year and I am glad that I am working on them till now and barring the scripting thing I am doing pretty good. Here’s the snipped of the chart of my resolution measurement.

How are your progressing on yours? measure your goals Galileo is not wrong in the above quote. It works. Not only as a motivation but this regular reviewing helps reinforce the goals that you have.

Related : Focusing on solutions than problems will go a long way in AeSI and Life

• 5 Reasons that IIT Lectures are a Boon for AeSI Students.
• When will AeSI announce june 2008 results?
• Study and Life Lessons from Natrajan Sir of GIE
• 3 Ways to Jump Start Your Semester
• AeSI exams results awaited- few tips for next semester
• Advice to AeSI students before you begin the next semester
• Why the begining of last semester of AeSI for skills development
• 6 things you should begin doing in your last semester of AeSI.
• Read the ANSYS Advantage magazine for free

Organization Success what’s the relation

Organization is the real deal. If you can organize well you can succeed in any project, any task, any assignment that you take.

Be it subject assignment, work assignment, or personal project.

Organizing is the line between success and failure. A school assignment will only come through if you take logical steps and cut the original tasks into byte sized chunks.

Same way a big requirement of client can't be done in one iteration, you need to break things up, organize them, and then divide into small chunks and execute those. Most of us stop at the first steps.

But its the guy who organizes and follows those little tasks is the one who succeed. Success is in the little steps you take, one big step is culmination of lot of small steps. So don't fail to take small steps. What ever be your project, goal or assignment remember the only way to complete or make it a success is to take it up and begin doing one small or big step at a time.

Some of the posts that I wrote taking the small steps mentioned.

• Surprises

 

• Coaching For AeSI- which one to choose
• Section A to Section B of AeSI
• 3 things that AeSI has improved in the year 2008
• 4 things I learnt from debugging
• 4 tips for handling exam anxiety during the examination
• Inertia
• Did you have any idea what AMAeSI was?
• Learn from the expert
• AeSI previous years Question papers - when should we use them?
• The Problems with AeSI degree!!!
• Prospects after AMAeSI
• Which is the best study center for AeSI?

GATE previous years papers and tips for Effective Way to Attempt GATE Paper

Yes if you are looking for gate previous year papers then this link below is your choice to be go.

http://forum.onestopgate.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=2416

Unfortunately it doesn’t contains the AE papers yet… :(  but for

ECE,CS,ME,EE,IT,PY GATE papers from year 1991 are available on this site for free. So grab…

Another link I want to share with you is about Effective Way to Attempt GATE Paper Objective Solving Tricks  the link here

and some of the general tips that I liked are

• Keep the structure of GATE in mind.
• Plan your time. Allow more time for high point value questions; reserve time at the end to review your work, and for emergencies. I'll suggest following sequence, but you can keep as per your choice:
• 2 Marks question,
• Linked questions and
• then single mark questions.
• Look the whole test over, skimming the questions and developing a general plan for your work. If any immediate thoughts come to you, jot them down in the margin
• Start with the section of the test that will yield the most points, but begin working with the easiest questions to gain time for the more difficult ones and to warm up.
• Work quickly, check your timing regularly, and adjust your speed when necessary.
• Avoid reading into the questions. When you find yourself thinking along the lines of "this is too easy; there must be a trick..." mark the question and move on to another.  Interpret questions literally.
• Mark key words in every question. To help find the key words, ask yourself WHAT, WHO, WHERE, WHEN, and HOW?

Very practical and easy to apply tips from the forum, Be sure to read all the other tips here

Read all about GATE 2009 at my AeSI

VBA tutorial missing

What am irony, a few days back I enthusiastically made this post telling you about the VBA tutorial series that I will begin utilizing the extra time I had. But it seems just after that announcement, time got sucked out of my life and this Sunday evening I am still blank with no tutorials for you.

I apologize for the delay but rest assured I will pump out some time and will begin the series, its in my mind. I do remember it. Please do have patience.

By the way till that time why don't you guys suggest me the things that you want to do with vba. Share with me what you want to learn or have seen or if you have an idea on how should I proceed then go ahead dig in the comments.

Related : Take a tool early in your AeSI days

Gate 2009 is upon us

Gate 2009 is upon us, if you are in AeSI and in the fag end stages of section B then you might be investing your lot of times in the preparation of gate.

So I thought why not remind you of a post that might help in that. Couple of months back I wrote a post on types of questions asked in gate and how to tackle them.

I think its high time for the gate aspirants to look at those questions and set their minds to the question patterns. This will enable your mind to get used to the questions and the pattern they will follow.

This time many AeSI folks complained that questions in AeSI were ill set and didn't looked anything like the previous years, at least in gate, we AeSI folks don't have this problem. We know the pattern and as I already discussed here gate questions are rooted in basics and its application so during this last days concentrate on the basics!

Don't mug formulas, derive them. Understand the concepts, Draw graphs and diagrams and most importantly discuss. These are some of the ways to get the best of the time you have got till the GATE 2009 on 8th February.  Good luck!

Related: Some changes in GATE 2009 you should take note

Concentrated Effort

How to accelerate your tools learning? It can be any tool, today I am going to share a technique that has enabled me to master many computer languages and tools in a very short span of time. Yes this is one technique that is the core in all that I have learnt so far. The technique is so powerful that rewards are 100% if its applied correctly.

The basic premise is total 100% concentrated effort towards THE TOOL. By concentrated I mean concentrated like sulfuric acid. The main word is concentrated. Concentrated not as in concentration. Concentrated like when your brain refuses to accept any more information or inputs but you force it and carry on with the tool. Concentrated as there is nothing else apart from this. 

Well why this technique works perhaps it works because you are fully focused on the tool You might not see the benefit immediately but your concentration will push your brains limit and will make you understand more. This is what I did in my latest tool learning experience. 

Although I have already explained the process here, what I didn’t mention was that for the last 10 days I am working on that particular software 8 hours straight with lunch break of course. I am compressing my every bit of my time on the tool. Its not that I am repeating all the same problems yes I am repeating the tutorials but every time I am doing one tutorial I am applying all the things that I have learnt from the previous tutorial. My tutorials are connected and they are not pockets of island now but a series of inter connected activities. If I learnt the technique of defining groups, I am utilizing it in all my next tutorials even its not mentioned, if I learnt the technique of sectioning and drawing graphs for stresses span wise for the compressor blades I am creating those contour maps for all tutorial even if they don’t mention them.

Sometime since I have done so many times, my mind is making me explore different things that I am not sure what they are but exploration is revealing them. All this concentrated single minded focus on the tool is making my mind to catch up things better and understand the feel of the software faster. Yes the software is vast and i don’t expect to learn it all in few days.

One of the interesting thing that I have seen coming up in all this is that, when I catch a new word or phase on the menu, chances are that I already have a vague idea of what it does or I know where exactly it is used and where I can dig more. So the takeaway for anyone form this is that after the preliminary investigation and facts gathering mission delve deep and begin a concentrated effort.. focus on the methods and the process. Don’t worry about the results and how they look, the mission here is to get an overall feel and to soften the soil of your brain to well receive the seeds of the tool.

The technique can be applied to learning new programming language, new software tool from a cad program to an analysis tool. If you apply similar or this technique in your area of work profession or play, do let me know in the comments. Or if a different approaches work for you then also chip in your comment.

Happy Republic day!

Happy republic day

Happy republic day. Its the 60 republic day that we are celebrating. So what's your plan?

Don't let this opportunity pass? Do something that you have never done before. Keep it small. It may be begining your own blog or writing down your goals or it can simply mean deciding to spend at least 15 mins on one skill building exercise.

Happy republic day!

UG

Last night as I was looking at the aerospace jobs that naukri.com sends me every week, I noticed a queer stuff. Out of 9 jobs it listed, 5 of design requirement mentioned UG or unigraphics as the CAD program of choice.

So this made me think about the post I did regarding who is most popular in Indian aerospace scene catia solid works or ug? It seems like UG is the choicest CAD program now seeing by the job listing.

Is it true or its just an abrasion. Do tell me how many UG related jobs have you encountered recently. I know GE is using Unigraphics and there are many others firms using it.

Do tell us what you mostly use in your organization? Does UG figures in your organization?

Read More

Tools Used By Aerospace Engineers!!

All about Catia on my aesi

Learn more about Unigraphics here

Attitude determines your Altitude

Regardless of what marks you have or what percentage you have scored in your degree. Its your attitude that will define the placement you get. The companies you work for or the work you do.

Yes you have heard this many times but nevertheless its true. Countless good marks students lay barren while many with average percentage are in great positions. What separates them is the attitude, the thought process behind there actions. The positive attitude behind their actions.

Mr. B, I know, is an average student of AeSI but now he is in a managerial position and doing very well, same goes a Mr. M. I know he was casual in his studies and was the most fun loving guy I saw but  now he is the envy of many of his friends.

Both of them were average students and didn’t had the brightest marks in the subjects of AeSI, but what both of them share is the risk taking appetite, gala for life and a positive attitude.

The difference between average and exceptional is in the thinking. so always remember the dictum 'your attitude will determine your altitude'

Why Bangalore is not the right place for AeSI students

My previous post began with my comment on teaching institutes opened by professionals and senior students and I touched on the point why I think students shouldn’t consider them and should instead head Chennai to GIE. What I missed in that post was why Bangalore is not the right place for AeSI students.  Yes Bangalore is not the right place for AeSI students.

Before you gang ho over this let of explain. I mean this for those students who are not residence of Bangalore, who have still large chunk of subjects left in AeSI and definitely no one who is in section A.

There are many reasons, its expensive, the atmosphere here is not for studies, no proper studying institute here, only bunch of money generating ventures. There's abundant source of distractions here. So avoid it if you can.

I remember my good friend Kuldeep, he stuck to Chennai before coming here. No study atmosphere and lack of student to student interaction made everything casual, so even if he had no staying problem he stayed there and only migrated to Bangalore once he was in the training stage.

So my advice to anyone thinking of coming to Bangalore studying for AeSI is don't come. For training come as soon as possible but if its studies you are looking for then head somewhere else other than Bangalore. If you ask me head to GIE in Chennai. Its the place for doing AMAeSI. Yes Chennai is hot but wo kehtae ha na, "tap kar hi koyla sona banta hai!"

What do you think? Do you have a different experience? Do you feel I missed something? Feel free to tell me in comments.

Coaching For AeSI- which one to choose

Lately I have seen and heard lot about coaching for AeSI folks in Bangalore. Well whenever I see this I get the feel "oh another side money making business" yes it always sounds like that. I don't know why but this is what I feel when I see or read a new announcement about AeSI study center. Well whatever it is being done here that's not the point I want to make. Its about the students? Should they go take it? 

I don't think so. Learn from an expert. Learn from someone who is not doing it only for money alone. Learn from someone who is truly interested in teaching. Learn from such a place where you have the atmosphere of learning. Learn from where you can get the bare minimum of facilities like libraries question papers on demand and now the mandatory training  facilities

And that place, my friend, is the place called GIE, Yes for me and many others it embodies all the things that I listed above. And I am not saying it alone a recent poll on which is the best study center for AeSI, the winner was GIE.

Yes GIE and I vote for it and am thankful to have an opportunity to be a part of it. It was started with a noble cause by Prof Krishnan and is carrying it forward.

Its more famous than AeSI? Why because of its students. Today in my new office someone asked me about my qualification and when I said I did AeSI, he pointed me ‘oh are you from GIE?’ I said yes and it felt great that the guy knew about GIE and he is not an AeSI guy. This very thing happened in my NAL days, there from the propulsion director to all scientist everyone knew AeSI guys as GIE students. We were not know as AeSI students but the guys from GIE.

So what's the point I am making. Well choose whatever you want but do think about the points that I have mentioned. But if you ask me, I will tell you don't miss learning from the source. Yes whoever is running the institutes are tributaries, if you want real learning, good atmosphere and solid base, hand yourselves to the masters!

Building a better Aerospace Engineer

In the latest issue of aerospace America, Thomas S. Momiyama, a U.S. Senior Executive Service has this to say in the editorial on building a better engineer

Information technology is not a magic bullet. Computers may have replaced slide rules, but nothing will replace providing tomorrow’s aerospace engineers with the opportunity to hone their skills in
basic technologies and to learn from others with true hands-on experience.

This resonates with my view. Importance of these view has already been noted here in this blog when i emphasized that computer software’s are just tools, means to the goal, cars for the journey to the destination.

Hand calculations, internal understanding and having the knowledge to relate small things to the big picture are the abilities that AeSI or any  engineer should have and cultivate

Presently i am assigned a FEM software tool, so what is the most important thing for me in it. The most important thing from it is not how best i can mesh or nor is how best i can represent the physical model to the fem counterpart. But the most important part is how i understand and interpret the results it gives. That where my expertise, experience and knowledge will be useful. Yes well formed mesh and good representation of the model are necessary and are vital for accurate results but its the understanding and the interpretation of the results that’s far more valuable.

So as you learn the tools, whatever it might be catia, solidworks, ansys, nastran, gambit, hypermesh or UG etc. Just remember that those are just tools in the hands of an engineer, they aid you and not the other way round.

What are your views on this please do replay in comments, what you think of this tools and what tool are you working on for this year?

Section A to Section B of AeSI

This semester many of you will cross the first milestone of AeSI and you will be at the that milestone of AeSI that each and every AeSI students crossed. Its the transition from section A to section B. 

From this A to B many things change apart from the letters. Well that's the matter for some another post. For this post I want to focus on the inevitable question that pops up in an AeSI student.

What stream to choose in Section B? I have tackled this question many times here in this blog and was one of my reason to begin the OURAeSI club back in 2002! 

And today I want to point you to one paragraph from Trent, where he correctly puts the words to my feeling on this matter.

Similarly, I should have ignored any and all advice relating to what major you should or shouldn’t have if you want to earn a good income. Earning a good income relies much more on building diverse and marketable skills, not what you majored in - what’s actually important is that you completed a degree and learned some generally useful skills along the way.

Yes this is true and as I see my career and careers of my friends it feels so true. After all being in the industry is all about the skills that you possess, the skills that you accumulate, so when you are at this stage of the AeSI just choose that feels close to your passion and what you enjoy doing. That will be a correct choice. Don't base it on other's  opinion or others choices or what others are doing or saying.

Seniors reading this please share your views regarding this in the comments.

You might want to read: What stream to choose in section B?  and “I want to work in my core field”

Walk-in : Be the first

Seth Godin recently made interesting point in his blog..

The whole premise of the post is that for job seekers most of the time, being first is an advantage..

I think the same. I have seen that in job interviews if you are the first guy you set the agenda. You make an impression that is carried forward to the rest of the candidates.

Here are my two practical tips that I have learnt about any walk in.

1. Be the first... when the walk in is on Saturday and Sunday, I saw many people go there on Sunday thinking Saturday will be crowded  or other similar reasons. But going on the very first day at the very first hour has advantages.

See if you have the required experience and you match to the requirement, go on the first day, since you are usually the first so the HR people will screen the resumes leniently. Filtering process is fluid and small experience and skills gaps are tolerated but as time progresses and they begin getting lot of resumes or candidates, they become more strict, more choosy and more focused on the resume screening and only let the right candidates in. So be the first.

2. Second tip is make your resume easy to read or scan. Have all the relevant words, skills up front. Incidentally first page should have all the relevant related points regarding the requirement. Write it clearly and preferably in bullet format.

If someone has recommended you, write his/her name on the top of the resume. I have seen this technique work. Once yours truly and my friend while doing training after AeSI degree, went for an infotech walk in. After scanning my resume I was immediately asked to return and told “we will call you, do submit your resume”. While my friend having the similar experience and profile but having only the name of an employee on the resume got the chance to be interviewed. So if you have reference from someone inside the company, mention it its always gets a preference.

So this is what I have learnt from my walk0in that has come my way during my training period. Do tell me yours and what and how you tackled them.

Related post that you might want to read: A practical tip to accelerate your job search

Bird Vs Gas Turbine Engine

US Airways airplane crash into the Hudson river is all over the news channels. many of the news channels here in India are gossiping and making a hey day for the news… disgusting!

Bird strikes is the main cause that is emerging up….

so here’s a video of how Jet engines are tested for bird strikes.

if you are not able to see the video. Click here to see it.

See this video on what happens to the aircraft when bird stikes.



You might also want to see the journey of an air particle in a gas turbine engine.

Linkedin

Join LinkedIn it will help AeSI graduates?

I know 2 AeSI graduates who has succeeded and are doing well by leveraging LinkedIn. They have became experts in there calling and there professional network is something people envy. I regularly interact with one of them regularly and I have seen how after graduating and then joining LinkedIn he has progressed so well. A recent meeting with him sowed the seed for this post.

so I'll recommend that as soon as you graduate join LinkedIn. Or do it when you are in your last semester of AeSI.

What is LinkedIn?

Its a professional networking site for professional. like an orkut but only more professional. Join it and succeed.

you can follow me on LinkedIn here.

In my next post I will give some tips to leverage LinkedIn.com for optimum benefits.

What are you planning to learn this year?

A couple of weeks back I made a post on my goals of 2009, I touched upon the skills that I want to develop this year.

Mine will be the python scripting language. Its a scripting language have been surfacing in many places that I have seen. I know vb script and that helps me automate most of my tasks in my day to day work but I felt that I need a scripting language which doesn't tie me to a particular platform, so I chose python. Hope to develop it.

My action plan is work everyday on this language at least 30mins per day. Yes everyday and I am not aiming to do great things in this 30 mins but am planning to learn all the features one day at a time. This is the same way I mastered c while I was doing my AeSI. One day , one program at a time.

The best strategy is that schedule a time to practice everyday. Whatever be your skill. Aim to do it everyday. Don't go for the whole thing on a single day. Say if your are learning Catia (Solidworks, NASTRAN, Ansys or any other tool) don't try to build a component everyday. Instead try to learn a particular tool or feature everyday. Some day it can be the loft, some time it can be the import feature. So learn this way.

It doesn't matter what you create or learn but make sure you put in the time you allocated consistently. You will definitely see improvement. 
So what are you planning to learn this year?

Don’t miss to read how I learnt NASTRAN, solidworks and ansys

AeSI AGM are you going?

AeSI annual general meeting is scheduled to be held this weekend, that is on 16th Jan. So are you attending it? If you have graduated this year and you are suppose to collect your degree at the AGM, then by no change miss it. Otherwise also if you can attend the AGM don’t miss the opportunity.

AeSI is the time you see the working of AeSI, you get to know the who’s who of the Indian aerospace industry, its the change when you can hears what and where Indian aerospace industry is heading, its the change when you have the chance to interact with aerospace gurus of India. For me it was a chance to talk and shake hands with G Madavan Nair and many others.

AGM

It was great. experience for me. If you are attending this years AGM please do make sure you share your experience.

related :

• AeSI AGM: draft agenda for AeSI’s improvement
• All AGM related posts

Take up a Tool early on in your AeSI days

As I began after AeSI I had certain advantages and one advantage that set me up against all was my programming skills. This skills has helped me from the training days of NAL to till now. I am glad I was introduced to computers earlier on and this sparked my life long love with computers.

I guess the immediate responsive nature of computers have attracted me. From the time I have worked on, every year  I picked up some new skills in it an that in tern fueled the extra passion.When I entered NAL I was proficient in c due to my policy of writing one c program daily in my last semester, from there onward during the NAL days I got a hang on vbscript and VBA, and vb. As I gathered each skills and learnt new tools, this programming bug grew bigger. My majority of the task was on computers in NAL, even when I didn’t have any access to any tools because of license being occupied or system busy, I sat on a computer that had excel and tinkered with it.

This tinkering nature is the one which I will attribute all my learning success. Its this enquiring attitude that has made my life easy now as I accomplish things that might take days but now happen in couple of hours. Learning excel had brought so many benefits.

So take up a tool early on in your AeSI days, if you don’t have access to the big tools like catia, ansys, nastran etc. Don’t worry begin with excel.  You will be thanking yourself in the long run. Even you have no PC at hand utilize the cyber cafe pc or any PC that you can but make sure you learn and get a hang of the tool. Use the resource of internet. The excuse how do I do it is no longer valid. Every how is available on the net search. Why do you think I analyzed the results of AeSI  since 2002, yes analyzing it was part of my exercise to learn excel. That exercise taught me excel graphs!!! So take up a tool and begin tinkering. Proficiency in a tool is just a matter of hours that you will put in it. So put in some specified amount of time everyday. Be consistent and you will kiss the stars.

How I learnt ANSYS, NASTRAN or Solidworks?

Last week at my office I was given an entirely new fem tool to work on. I have already have experience on working on ANSYS and Nastran but this tool that I was assigned to work on was entirely new and it was the first time that I have seen that tool. So I applied all the techniques that I applied learning ANSYS and Nastran to get a head start into this tool.

As expected since the tool is in-house it has its own conventions and was out of sync with the other fem or analysis tools I have worked on. Moving , panning and zooming the models were all different, laying out of the GUI was different. In fact now as I write this I thing the layout of the tool was much better than hyper mesh, which uses radically different GUI…  anyways since this is the software I had to work on for a couple of months now so I decided to dig in.

Before even touching the software, I took up the help notes and tutorials that were made available to me. I went of reading them, not line by line but reading through and stopping only were it mentions overall details. skipped anything explaining details. Took up all the tutorial and other materials that I had and scanned it. The main aim here was no bother about the specifics, but to get the big picture of the software, I learnt, the fem tool can be used for mechanical, thermal, vibration etc calculations. I leant about basic menu structure, what domain control is and how to set up mesh control. all of them by just reading through. I got a feel of the menu where each commands might be.

The next stage was to actually open the software itself and familiarize myself with the menus. Due to my previous exercise i remembered some phases for menu, dug them up.

After this took went to the open command and opened an actual model and tried rotation it…. tilting and checking it.

After having had a feel of the tool, getting a general sense of the menus, I called  up my colleague who was already working on the program. I asked him to just give me user demo and do a small analysis.

Well the guy began and due to his eagerness he started explaining me minute things, some more in details, since my aim was to get a general feel and not  to learn the details I asked him to just carry on the analysis without explaining. he went on while I sat behind and saw, and only interupted him at places where a menu command looked interesting or unfamiliar. This allowed me see how he began the analysis, what were the general conventions that any book or tutorial can’t mention and people working on the tool usually pick up.

After this tour, I stopped the work on the tool and took a 2 hrs break not touching the tool or any material regarding the tool. This allows the brain to refine the information that you already have provided it. It allows it the time to soak in the necessary info and identify the gaps that are still there.

So after the break I took one tutorial and began following it from step and low and behold within 25 mins I had completed the exercise with the same colored contour maps that are so common in fem software's. If I hadn’t done the previous one hour information soak and the required rest, this time to completion would have been higher and I would have stuck at many places..

After the results I didn’t stop there although the tutorial ended there. The exercise was over but the detailing following of excise prompted and introduced me to new menu items that I wanted to check so I went into the explorative mode and began exploring different results options that were there. Drawing graphs, seeing different contour maps, mapping streamlines, getting vectors of heat flow and many such. This exploration again expanded the knowledge and helped me in getting more of the next tutorial  that I will do on my next meeting with this tool.

So what’s the take away from this whole exercise, if you want to learn a analysis or design software quickly then I guess this experience of mine will be great for you. Its not the first time I have applied this techniques but have used it to learn ANSYS, solidworks , Nastran, and VB. so take whatever you like and apply it in your own learning. good luck!!

Related : My 10 hours with ANSYS

Surprises

Standing at the other side of AeSI, I can tell you students out there. Hang in there. Yes its frustrating, the examination and the results most of the time do not match. Sometimes questions that came are not meant for exams, Sometime 80% of the questions are coming form a  single topic, or sometime the question requires a long explanation but has only tiny marks are allocated to it.

Sometimes the questions are just the repeat of the last semester  questions. Sometimes its just the combination of 2 or 3 papers question picked and juggled and sometimes its entirely new in pattern and topics selected.

Studying does make you tackle all this but what is needed is the mental discipline, mental effort to see through the surprise.

Natrajan Sir once explained the best way to tackle this is to keep yourself  prepared. expect to be surprised then only you won’t be surprised. One gets surprised only when he/she is too concentrated on the examination papers and shuns the syllabus book. So the best strategy is to begin with the syllabus book, then as you progress in your studies get question papers onboard.

Question papers are to give you a familiarity of the exams, they are there to check yourself on your preparation. Don’t fix too much on the question paper and the pattern, don’t study based on what question papers seem to suggest, study according to the syllabus book.

Introducing kuldeep

From today onwards Mr Kuldeep will be writing one post per week for this blog. I thanks kuldeep for taking up  this. Hope this will beneficial to you guys as you will get one more view of an AeSi guy.

To give a small introduction, After graduating from AeSI, Kuldeep is now working in a turbomachinery firm as a propulsion engineer. He has also done 6 months training at NAL and will bring his varied experience and knowledge to this blog. Welcome kuldeep.

Hello Friends,

This is Kuldeep Kumar, one of your AeSI friends. Before writing anything here I should mention that it was my keen interests to start writing something, something useful or helpful to others. And here I would like to thank my friend Sukhbinder to give me a place on his blog.

It was a great experience of being in touch with this blog. If we review all the articles had been put on this blog by Sukhbinder for last one year then we can easily conclude that it was not less than a great help in favour of our AeSI friends. Hope many of us are reading all these stuff and using that information in their favor. Similar to this I too felt that I must share my thoughts and information with all AeSI friends. And now onwards I will start putting something here for all. Sharing the information can be anything, it can be something which can help others, can be the news or current affairs, or can be some problem, confusion or any doubts to be cleared. Then only the meaning of “sharing “ can be fulfilled.

Ok friends, not too much now. see you here next time. Till then, have a nice time!...

VBA tutorial series for AeSI graduates

For the next couple of days I have few days of free time so I thought of utilizing it to teach my fellow AeSI students and graduates the basics of vba.

I have always talked about learning a programming language. Not because its cool. Of course it is true but my other reason is that knowing one programming language makes many tasks easier and one can automate many of the repeated tasks.

With this series I am aiming to wet your appetite for some programming in VBA.

Why vba? Well one its easy and all machines having windows will have this so one will have one less reason to not to learn it and lastly this language is much easier to implement in a windows pc. So here we go. Hope this will ignite the same passion that it did when I learnt it in my NAL days.

Related:

Journey Through A Jet Engine- must watch video

I have always imagined this very similarly. when I first learnt about jet propulsion and as Natrajan sir taught us about the working of a jet engine, I imaged the flow just as the video at this website shows.

 

Rolls-Royce: Journey Through A Jet Engine

See this amazing video of the journey of an air particle through a turbofan engine. I loved it and I have to admit this reminded me of the visual imagination technique that I applied in many of my flights and propulsions subjects!!!

Great stuff. Even if you know how a gas turbine works, this video is worth a visit to the new perspective that you will gain of a turbofan engine. Make sure you read the commentary below the video as you follow the journey of the air particle. Marvelous I say.

Check out other videos of my-AeSI

Do you anything interesting like?

Do you know something interesting like this, then do post the links I love this stuff!!

Connect with myaesi via friend connect

I have been waiting for this for a couple of weeks but I resisted in announcing about it since AeSI exams were so here is it now.

you might have heard about Google friendconnect. Well if you haven’t then its a technology via which you can use the my-aesi and you can interacted with me and each other via my-aesi blog.

• Anyone can join the site with one click by using their existing Google, Yahoo and other accounts.
• You can evangelize for your site by inviting your friends and publishing their activities to their social networks.

Now it will help you share good stuff, you can comment on my-aesi and other blogs of site you add in you. it will unleash your network and if your are pretty active on net then it will help you to have wide network of friends.

so here's the link to join. Check the right sidebar and search for “Connect with My-AeSI”, you join the social network of myaesi. my reason for creating it to unite all students and graduate members of AeSI at one place and have a common place where we all are interconnected and can share our knowledge and concerns about AeSI and other stuff that affect us.

The beauty of the whole system is that you don’t need to make a separate login or passward, your existing login will work. So come join and lets spread our creed!!!

Attention AeSI graduates from AeSIAA?

Spread the word for the following opportunity for aesi graduates

Dear Member

There are openings for about 10 Trainee Engineers at ESI
Group ( www.esi-group.com ).

Trainees will be paid Rs 10,000 -taxes per month.
Few of them may be absorbed after 6 months.

Graduates/Post Graduates interested in  CRASH/CFD/Casting/Welding/
Stamping/Stress  simulations can apply.

Please forwad CVs to  cip@esi-group.com

Our sincere thanks to Mr.Indrajit Pratapsinh Chandel for updating us
about this opportuinity.

Thanks and regards

Amit Kumar Singh

Is training after AeSI good?

Related posts: Training after AeSI

Useful info for stress analysis field from manish

Are you a member of AeSIAA ? There recently Mr. Manish shared this good information about learning a stress analysis tool. I am reposting his information here hoping AeSI graduate desirious of learning this tool can use it.

dear friends.
i am working in NAL as contract engineer,from last 6 months i was searching a person who can guide me  in Stress Analysis  field, i am working on Hypermesh, Nastran, and FEMAP, and trying hard to understand Crush analysis in Lsdyna, finally i got a person who is scientist in CABS, and running a institute in murgeshpalys, just opposite to  solarpuria complex.
he has  good knowledge in crush analysis, and the fee is 3000rs.
bird impact,air bag, crush, dummy.....etc analysis and some more problems he is taking and going to take....at final he will be finishing  nearly 25 type of  different problems.... if any  one  who wants to join with me is well come, my 4 classes  r over, and his class for implicit Vs explicit was nice, and reflects his  good fundamentals. his number is 09480261320 name Mr. Kartik.
fees may   differ so u can give my referance.
see u
manish didwania

 

Thanks Manish!!

If you have such information please feel free to inform us in the comments it might help someone.

Related: My ten hours with ANSYS

Videos that can help you prepare for an Aerospace Interview

At my recent interviews there was always this question on how a jet works? or Can you briefly explain the operations of a basic gas turbine engine? so here is it briefly and nicely explained. Next time you head for an aerospace or engineering related interview, just do have a look at this small video to refresh your memory!!

 

 

hope you enjoy it? If you don't see the video, do click this link

if you have such good useful links for other related stuff, feel free to mention them in the comments. We all love them!!!

Share a Software Tool Tip for fellow AeSI buddy

I recon that now each and every AeSI guys at whatever stage he is in is more proactive in his or her professional development than AeSI students and graduates a few years back. In my days of AeSI, the buzz and information was scare but now in the age of internet and so many communities and outlets for AeSI students and graduates it will be pure stupid to make the assumption that AeSI guys and gals are not in touch.

This made me think that each and every one of you might be working on a tool in your work or in your professional development, For some it might be catia, or solidworks or unigraphics or matlab, ansys, or c or excel or something else. so why not each one of you who is reading this post please share one tip that you have and believe can benefit of the AeSI community. Lets share one tip. It can be anything from a specific tip on a particular software or a general tip on how to begin a tool.

To get you started my tip is that if you want to learn any tool, first of see the whole picture of the tool and then begin small and do it daily?

Share your software tool learning tips?

New year resolutions (goals)

a friend of mine called yesterday and told me his resolutions. One of them was to get married and other was not to fall in love but have someone fall in love with him mine new year goals are not as loftier as his but they are related to some small improvements that I want to do. So here are some of them that I want to do.

Get up early. I need to wake it a habit of getting up by 530am. I have done it for a few days in the last year but this year i am aiming to make it as a life long habit.

Write one post daily. I have written a post on how Australian team is very consistent and what might be the reason behind them, so i am using the same principles in that post to post at least one post in this blog everyday. So expect regular post from this blog from now. you will know when i lapse.

Bath before 8am. This may seem like a weird goal to make but it is worthy as in the previous year this was the one thing that i have being reminded by my mom and wife. so this year i plan to get up early and bath early no matter what. so will be cleaner this year. :)

Outside of my work i will work on 12 projects this year, that is one project per month and this projects will be not related to work. I have seen in the last year i have lost most of my knowledge because of non use, it got rusted and when i needed it it has to be tugged and shoveled to bring it out, so this year i have decided that i will work on 12 projects that will use my existing knowledge and create some fun and useful stuff that can be shared with the world. It can be an ebook, a series of tutorials on how to do stuff in solidworks or scripting or something related to aircraft design.

Each year i learn or adopt a new skill. Last year i learnt Photoshop and JavaScript and mastered it and in 2006 i leant VBScript  and year previous to that i learnt solidworks and ansys, so this year i have decided to take up python scripting language. i intend to learn that to an acceptable level of competence. Its a language i have chosen. why and what i will write in some other post.

So this are some of the broad goals (i don’t like then to call as resolutions) that i have made for myself. Posting them here for the first time so that i can be held accountable and i hope they will push me and i will have some good stuffs to share with you along the way.

so what are your new years goals? How are you increasing your skills ? what new stuff you want to learn this year? Do share in the comments.

Related : Which is better quality vs quantity?

3 things to study before you head for an interview.

I was involved in couple interviews this last month and as I was experiencing the interview process once again I got reminded of the basics that a person going for interview must study before he heads for an interview. So I jotted down the main points of this post as I awaited my call for the interview along with the other candidates.

1. Study the requirements clearly.

This is the first step, not knowing the requirement is just like not know knowing where to aim at, not knowing what to shoot and not knowing  where you are headed. So first and foremost point is get to know the requirements, what are they looking for, what skills they desire, how much experience they want and have listed on the requirement.

2. Study your cv.

Yes your CV, the CV that brought you to the interview, ascertain what attracted your resume to the requirement, what your CV has that makes you good for the job, how the skills and experience listed in your cv matches to the requirement and what are the skills and points that you can highlight during the interview from your CV that match with the requirement.

3. Study your projects and basics of what you have written in your resume.

Take special note of the experience and the projects you have written, rehearse what those projects are and be prepared to tell someone in simple terms if you are ask you to explain a particular project, know the basics of the projects. If you have done a project on transient performance analysis of gas turbines, be prepared to answers with the questions on gas turbine basics. Likewise if stress analysis of centrifugal compressor is your forte then be prepared to answers basic questions regarding stresses and compressor.

 

Will studying the above 3 things will only help secure you that job? Well yes it will help but articulating what you know in the interview will be the main deal. So practice your answers before hand. Don’t have a bookish answers but do have general idea on what and how to answers. Frame your answers based on your knowledge of the requirement, on what you written on your cv and to highlight the skills that are required for the job. Answer in a way to highlight the points on your resume that fit with the requirement.

So this are some of the ways one can prepare for a technical interview. Remember that in an interview (or in a job) you will only succeed if your skills, experience and most of all your interest match!!

Related:

Make resumes that invite you to interviews

Is this your last or second last semester in AeSI?

Resume sending tips for AeSI graduates

3 tips to drive away exam anxiety while studying for exams

Well exams are long over so I am bit late in posting this but hey I had it ready by November and from then onwards I was bit lazy and sometime universe conspired against my not posting this.

so lets give you 3 tips to drive away exam anxiety while studying for exams. This are all tips from days in AeSI.

What I did? Well I didn't have myself the time. I was constantly doing something. Free time and thinking of what exams will be is more is sure shot way to have anxiety. So eliminate all free time. Do something if not studying read some magazine, talk over phone but keep you mind engaged in a meaningful purse. Think not of the stuff of what you want but of the stuff that you will do.

Give yourself a peg. Not of wine or something but of stuff that you will do after exams. That is every time you began to see your mind drifting on things not related to exams, say to your mind that you will thing about the thing after the exam.It worked in my case. while studying I remember that I had to something, so I wrote it down on a piece of paper with the heading things to do after exams. This freed my mind of the thing that was on my mind and helped me focus on the exam study.

To kill off anxiety this was the method that I used most. While I say my anxiety piping through me. I became physical. Yes move. Move out. Just sitting cases more. Get physical and you have high chances that anxiety will not grip you. take a walk to the nearest  tea shop. chat with a buddy. just stroll down to the corner sweetshop. This small things not only expelled my anxiety but also boosted me for another round of study session.

Well those for some of my practical tips to drive away anxiety while preparing for examinations, do share yours.

related :

Learn from an expert.

advice from rolls royce

Only way to study

Dig dip. Dig dense. That's the only way to study. Studying for only exams is not the way..... study to be a good engineer, study to understand, study to get the facts. This is how things will be easy when you get into the industry. So remember this when you studying your subjects.

Best way for me was when I took pen and paper. I remember those topics very clearly which I studied with pen and paper. And there was another topics that I remember very clearly and those were the one which I had discussion with my friends.

So study with pen and paper, jot down what you read, make diagrams, visual maps and freely discuss what you are learning with your friends, state what you have understood and how the topic you learnt applies to your and our life. This simple exercises will cement the topic in your mind, bond it in your knowledge, so give it a try!

Related :

How to study mathematics?

How to become more consistent in your studies like the Australian team?

Stop begging. Start demanding.

 This is what I want to advice AeSI students graduating this semester. You have done a great degree and if you have cleared it rest assured you are best in your field that India has. So when you go out for the interview or training be confident and have,faith in yourself..

True your degree is not recognized as easily as some other but don't let that fact shadow your confidence, make you meek. Instead know that AeSI degree fellows are there in the industry and are doing very good in many Indian as well as international aerospace organizations.

Remember this fact when you frame your resume and cover letter and when u prepare for the interview.

What’s the take away message in all this is have faith in yourself and your degree no matter what!!!

Related: Take pride in your degree