CAE softwares and programming languages for AeSI Graduates and Students

Automation customization will rule the world that you will work in so
along with learning a cae tool, aesi students and graduates should
also pick up a programming language.

Here are some suggestion on programming language and cae software
combinations that you can choose. I have included the ones which I
hear a lot about in my work life.

1. Catia. Vba
2. Unigraphis vb or c++
3. Solidworks vba
4. Ansys APDL and fortran
5. Nastran fortran
6. Phython
7. Excel

The number 6 and 7 are the two thing that I have included for those
who are not interested in CAE softwares.

These combinations will enable you to customize, automate and increase
your productivity in the CAE software of your choice.

Learn more about why learn programming by visiting this link

Http://my-aesi.blogspot.com/search?q=why+programming

If you like this post, consider subscribing to this blog.

www.my-aesi.blogspot.com

Why should I learn programming language 'C' ?

A : Hey, What are you doing in Bangalore ?
B : I’m working as a Software Engineer.
A :  Is it so ?
B :  Yes, I’m working in ABC Group.
A :  But, You’ve only learned basics of embedded. Isn’t it?
B : Yes, I’ve worked on AVR platform and on Atmel’s Atmega 16 micro controller.
A : Have you made any project as well ?
B : Yes, I’ve made projects like line following robot, traffic light and to display various patterns on LCD.
A : Don’t make me fool, You’ve made a project of traffic lights so How can you work on any aircraft related project? How will you relate traffic lights and aircraft?
B : Wait, Let me explain !
A : Sure, & also explain me that why should I learn programming language ‘C’ ?

Here are the answers/explanation of the questions asked by A.

1. Have you observed a green and red color light at the tip of the wing and which keeps on blinking?
2. Have you observed the green and red color light on the belly of helicopter?
3. Have you noticed that once pilot achieves decision height so landing light automatically turns on?

Let me tell you that these lights are used as an indication and warning light and play a vital role in  landing at zero visibility. They also help in decision making like it helps a pilot to understand the direction of another aircraft. Click on the below mentioned links to understand the importance of such external lights. Approximately 99% of such lights are controlled using an embedded system.

Click Here 

Click Here

Basics will always remain the basics irrespective of the fact that whether we are working on a F1 car or a F16 fighter aircraft. Have a look on major electronic device like a calculator,  microwave, washing machines, digital camera, display unit on AC buses, ATM machines and so on… They all are getting smarter day by day. This smartness comes from a microprocessor, an operating system and a program embedded in these devices. You’ll be surprised to know that these programs are written in programming language ‘C’.

Even though now a days we have automated tools to do programming and to help programmers to make an error free & high quality program so that it can be certified at the most rigorous levels yet if you don’t know the basics of programming so you can’t work on automatic tools as well. Developers of sophisticated applications such as those utilized in avionics, high-speed trains, nuclear reactors, automobiles and medical devices use such automated tools for automatic software development and to pinpoint programming errors.

Take any example starting from the automation of aircraft gate to critical navigation & auto pilot system. Everywhere we are using embedded system and thus it’s very necessary for an Avionics student to be familiar with programming concepts.

An open advice to all avionics students.
- Learn C, C++, Matlab
- Work on at least one embedded platform if not ARM or PIC so at least AVR.     

Why learn programming?

Yesterday as I was researching on FORTRAN and stumbled along a nice little article titled same as this post. As my friends will tell you, I have more than academic interest in this subject , so went along and read the whole piece and liked most of what it said. And I think it answered one of the basic question that I knew I knew but was not able to explain when people asked me why do you like programming? Well my answer then and still now is that. Programming is like magic and I love the sense of joy and wonder that come to peoples face when I showed my nifty although small programs to my peers, elders and all. That's what I liked and as I joined NAL, there I saw that just like John Mahaffy from The Pennsylvania State University said it increased my personal productivity. I was doing the analysis, design and the work I was supposed to more effectively and faster. And I am glad that I know programming as its not only for software engineers but everyone who  wants to better utilize our time and effort.

 

 

A friend of mine is in SAFRAN and he joined as a design engineer and mainly working with CAD tools and he recently said that his team is being trained in Visual basic and that perhaps might be the reason for it........

 

 

Anyway enough of my chatter, you might want to read what Professor John Mahaffy of The Pennsylvania State University has to say on this, so get going man, here's the link. It’s really good

 

http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/j/h/jhm/f90/lectures/1.html#2

 

 

Ps: most of my chatter is available at http://my-aesi.blogspot.com/  I am regularly updating the same. Anyone who has been to the aero show? Please do send us your inputs, your views on what you liked and didn’t like!

 

Automation

In my last post about my 6 reasons to learn programming, I missed
automation.

Here in my office, there is not a single day when this topic does not
come up in the conversation among the employees here. It's a big deal
and something each AeSI graduate and engineer should pay head to.

As computers evolve and proceses improve there will be more and more
need of automating things. Computers are the work horses that we are
using so much these days and in future their use will only increase,
so will the need to automate most of the tasks. So that's one more
reason why one should learn a programming language!!

Efficiency and productivity from a system can come when it can deliver
the work with minimal interference from us and for that knowing how to
command it effiecntly is the need of the day. For this reason only
pick up a programming language early in your aesi days.

Set some time aside to practise, read and do programming everyday.

You will thank yourself in future!!

Why learn a programming language?

1. It will make you more productive.
2. It will sharpen your analytical skills.
3. Knowing how to program will increase your ability to understand how
different software work.
4. Programming will unlock another field of opportunity if you found
your passion in it.
5. You can better exploit the machine called the PC.
6. Your mundane and repeatative tasks will happen in jiffy.

These are my top 6 reasons, not necessarily in order, for learning a
programming language!!

Does anyone of them rings true for you then start doing something
about it!!

Http://my-aesi.blogspot.com/search?q=programming

Links to great posts

Career
What do I do about the gaps in my resume ?
How to write successful resume?
Resume tips from my experience
10 reasons why your resume may get rejected?
10 great resume writing tips from the Emurse blog
Can you offer me a job ?
How to prepare for an interview after AeSI?
what to write in a cover letter ?
Tips for Telephonic interveiw ?
What hiring managers hate in your resume?
Resume your first impression ?
Resumes and coverletter?
50 common interveiw questions?
List of Various job sites?


Training
Three things I've learned in NAL - revisited
Three things you must give a thought before you embark on your training mission!!
What i got from my training in NAL?
Confused about Training after AMAeSI?
Working as a Trainee is an oportunity, utilize it...


AeSI gems
Always invest in your curiosities ?
I am prooud of AeSI and AMAeSI ?
Are you seeing the BIG picture?
Why learn programming?
Scope of FORTRAN ?
I am proud to be an AeSI'an
Why learn FORTRAN ?
Big Secret of AeSI
Fullfill your dreams with AeSI




Study/Exams

Tips and skill set advice for Avionics people
Know about GPA required for studying aborad after AMAeSI.
Want to do Ms and Turbomachinery in UK and US
5 great tips for studying for AMAeSI exams?
NASTRAN what???????????
Solidworks or Catia ?
MATLAB ? Who created it ?
My ten hours with ANSYS?
Advantages of studying in library?
Bhaiya how to study Propulsion-1
What is ANSYS? Tutorials...
What is CATIA?
What is NASTRAN?
6 great tips for AMAeSi exams?
4 things to remember for effective revisions for exams
6 lessons i learnt while in GIE?

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:

Software,Training and AeSI graduates

Someone from Hyderabad AeSI had the following queries

hello sir ,

I have just completed my AESI, IN HYDERABAD I came to know about this site and registered myself today. I have not received my final marks list  yet. I have seen that you have done many programming languages . I haven't done nothing other than the course. I don't have any proper guidance here in Hyderabad. so please tell me should I learn any soft wares ?.and  some of my friends told that we would get an apprentice training letter after completing the course,is it true.And do companies take AeSI fresher? are their jobs for AeSI graduates. I have so many doubts,please give me guidance. hoping that you will send a reply soon

Instead of replying to his question in an individual email I thought its better if I answer them here so others too can join in the discussion.

Please tell me should I learn any softwares ?

By all means learn software, they are the tools of the trade so one shouldn’t be shy in learning them. So what are the software that AeSI graduate should learn. I have already mentioned software tools used by aeronautical engineers list, you can start with these. For computer language please do go ahead and at least have one language under your belt. Here in the post titled SUCHANDSUCH where I elaborated why you should learn a programming language.

If you don’t have access to any of the software tools mentioned and are apprehensive of any programming language then by all means take up excel as this is the most used tool in the engineering domain. This is one of the software that will be very much be a part of your work life so learn it, excel in it.

 

Some of my friends told that we would get an apprentice training letter after completing the course,is it true

Yes its true, You might want to see the notification on AeSI’s website at aerosocietyindia.com for information in this regards. Moreover having certificates and training before getting a job is always a good thing, They are some of the things that a new graduate of AeSI can highlight in his or her resume apart from the educations. This is also an opportunity when you acquire skills required for the industry.

 

And do companies take AeSI fresher's?

Yes they do. Just as any other engineering graduate you have a chance to be a in any company. In all aerospace companies that are in India, you will at least find one AeSI engineer. So take heart and go ahead. All you need to get a job after AeSI graduation is confidence+skills. Here’s a list of companies that I have in this blog where I mentioned some of the companies AeSI graduates are working in. Its bit old and need updating, but I am sure it will give you and idea about the spread of AeSI graduates in the Indian and world aerospace industry.

 

Are there jobs for AeSI graduates?

By all means, jobs are available for AeSI Graduates. You do have the best knowledge, you just need to add on the other skills to get off to a great start. I will recommend reading this series that I had a while back to set yourself to a great start in your career. As I have already sated ideally landing in a job just after your graduations depends on what you do in the your last semester. So read it here.

Well this were some of the answers that  I knew answers too, I have barely scratched the surface, I am sure many of senior AeSI graduates will have there own inputs so sing them here in the comments. What do you think? How is the industry receiving AeSI graduates?

 

• What should you do about gaps in your resume?

Subscribe to AeSI by Email

MATLAB

Hi folks

Last friday while tweaking with c program, i made this
filecataloger program. This program basically catalogs all the files
in my system and as i learned after using it, there were lots of gem
files that i had in my computer but long forgotten.

One of this file was and information on What MATLAB can do? I
don't know the exact source of the article from where i have saved
this, but then its an usefull info for anyone to know, so i am
posting it in this blog.

Why MATLAB?
Technical professionals worldwide rely on MATLAB to accelerate their
research, compact the time invested in analysis and development,
reduce project costs, and produce effective solutions. The MATLAB
environment encourages creativity and enables you to quickly test and
compare multiple alternatives. As a result, you produce better
solutions.

Users have found that the combination of the intuitive MATLAB
interface, language, and the built-in math and graphics functions make
MATLAB the preferred platform for technical computing compared to C,
Fortran, and other languages and applications.

MATLAB includes tools for:
Data acquisition
Data analysis and exploration
Visualization and image processing
Algorithm prototyping and development
Modeling and simulation
Programming and application development
Overview
MATLAB handles a range of computing tasks in engineering and science,
from data acquisition and analysis to application development. The
MATLAB environment integrates mathematical computing, visualization,
and a powerful technical language. Built-in interfaces let you quickly
access and import data from instruments, files, and external databases
and programs. In addition, MATLAB lets you integrate external routines
written in C, C++, Fortran, and Java with your MATLAB applications.

With a user community more than 500,000 strong spread throughout
industry, government, and academia, MATLAB is the recognized standard
worldwide for technical computing. MATLAB is used in a variety of
application areas, including signal and image processing, control
system design, earth and life sciences, finance and economics, and
instrumentation. The open architecture makes it easy to use MATLAB and
companion products to explore data and create custom tools that
provide early insights and competitive advantages.

Key Features

Numeric computing for quick and accurate results
Graphics to visualize and analyze your data
Interactive language and programming environment
Tools for building custom GUIs
Integrate with external applications comprised of C, C++, Fortran,
Java, COM components and Excel
Support for importing data from files and external devices and for
using low-level file I/O (plus access to databases and additional
hardware via add-on products)
Conversion of MATLAB applications to C and C++ with the Compiler
This broad set of capabilities makes MATLAB an ideal home base for
developing solutions to technical problems.
Trusted Mathematics and Numeric Computing Functions
With more than 600 mathematical, statistical, and engineering
functions, MATLAB gives you immediate access to high-performance
numeric computing. The numerical routines are fast, accurate, and
reliable. These algorithms, developed by experts in mathematics, are
the foundation of the MATLAB language. The core math engines
incorporate the well-respected LAPACK and BLAS linear algebra
subroutine libraries and FFTW signal processing library, embedding the
state-of-the-art in mathematical computation directly into MATLAB.

The math is optimized for matrix and vector operations, so you can use
it in place of low-level languages like C and C++, with equal
performance but less programming. With an extensive collection of
optimized math routines built right in, MATLAB frees engineers and
scientists to focus on their real work, avoiding the time-consuming
tasks of looking for, developing, debugging, and maintaining homegrown
codes.

MATLAB provides many functions for performing mathematical operations
and analyzing data, including functions for working with:
Matrices and linear algebra -matrix arithmetic, linear equations,
eigenvalues, singular values, and matrix factorizations
Polynomials and interpolation -- standard polynomial operations such
as polynomial roots, evaluation, differentiation, curve fitting and
partial fraction expansion Signal processing - digital filters, fast
Fourier transforms (FFTs), and convolution Data analysis and
statistics - descriptive statistics, data pre-processing, regression,
curve fitting, data filtering Function functions -- MATLAB functions
that work with mathematical functions instead of numeric arrays,
including plotting, optimization, zero finding, and numerical
integration (quadrature)
Differential equations - solving differential equation problems
including: initial value problems for ordinary differential equations
(ODEs) and differential-algebraic equations (DAEs), delay differential
equations, boundary value problems for ODEs, and initial-boundary
value problems for systems of parabolic and elliptic partial
differential equations (PDEs)
Sparse matrices - covering both specialized and general mathematical
operations, including iterative methods for sparse linear equations
Add-on toolboxes maximize the mathematical power of MATLAB
Add-on toolboxes - collections of MATLAB functions and interfaces -
allow you to apply even more mathematical computing power to your
technical problems. Available toolboxes address applications requiring
signal processing, optimization, statistics, symbolic math, partial
differential equation solving, curve fitting, and more.

Don't just use it, learn it?

For a couple of weeks now we are conducting interviews.

There are two broad themes that have surfaced in all these interactions.

One is the ever present communication skills.

It's not just how you say it, it's knowing what is asked and how to
respond.

The essence of communication is to understand the other person and
making him understand what you know.

The second thing is don't just use a programming language or tool,
learn them.

Most of the people who came for the interview just knew how to use the
tool. When asked why they were using such and such feature, they
looked confused.

Asked about a programming feature, they stayed mum. They have used it
but don't know it's purpose.

Each of them was clearly using the language or the tool but when we
digged on why such and such analysis were carried out, most failed.

The lesson don't just use it. Learn it!!

More on skills development can be found here http://my-aesi.blogspot.com/search?q=skills

Friday links

How to prepare for interview?


You have sent your resume and the resume has served its purpose and you got a call from the HR to come for a discussion. So what now? How should you prepare for the interview? What can you do? How to prepare? What to prepare?


Read more

What should you write in a cover letter?


A resume introduced through cover letter is much more effective in communicating and connecting you than a single bland resume.This not only distinguises you but also paves a way for you to set the direction in which the employer should look when he sees your resume. so a cover letter is must. Don't ever send a bare resume if you want a response. so what are the things you should include in cover letter?


Read more

Why learn programming?


Yesterday as I was researching on FORTRAN and stumbled along a nice little article titled same as this post. As my friends will tell you, I have more than academic interest in this subject , so went along and read the whole piece and liked most of what it said. And I think it answered one of the basic question that I knew but was not able to explain when people asked me why do you like programming? Well my answer then and still now is that.......


Read more

78 fortran interview questions you can face in an interview!

There is powercut in my area and I am sitting in complete dark. It's 8 pm and I can't do anything.

So to utilize this time I list 78 fortran questions that you can be asked in a fortran interview?

1. What is common block in fortran?
2. How many types of common are there?
3. What is difference between named and unnamed common?
4. What is an equivalence statement?
5. What is statement functions?
6. What is the use of statement function?
7. What is the equivalent of commons in fortran 90?
8. How are arrays stored in fortran?
9. How is array storage different in fortran and c?
10. Is memory allocation possible in fortran?
11. Is there pointers in fortran?
12. How will you implement pointers in fortran?
13. What is type Declaration?
14. Give the kinds of variables you can create in fortran?
15. What is the Use of modules in fortran?
16. What is select case statement?
17. Explain computed go to statement?
18. What is the statement to create a file in fortran?
19. What is the statement to append a file in fortran?
20. What are allocatable arrays?
21. Is it a correct declaration statement -> real :: a(:,:)
22. What does the above declaration statement mean?
23. What is the purpose of continue statement?
24. What is array slicing?
25. Can you dynamic arrays in fortran?
26. How to declare a string variable of 10 character?
27. What is format statement?
28. How will you output a 10 character variable? Show via a format statement
29. what is kind operator?
30. Can you increase the precision of the variable?
31. If yes how. If no why not?
32. What does include statement do?
33. What is namelists?
34. Why use namelist?
35. What is block data?
36. What is the purpose of blog data?
36. What is pass by reference and pass by value?
37. Name ten intrinsic functions?
38. What are intrinsic functions?
39. What does real a(*) mean?
40. Is this correct declarative statement. Real a(*,4)?
41. What does Len=* in character variable declaration mean?
42. What is contains?
43. Use of contains?
44. How to create global variables in fortran?
45. What is the difference between real and real*8?
46. Create complex variable in fortran?
47. How will you access the real and imaginary part of the fortran variable?
48. What is implicit none?
49. What happens if we don't use implicit none?
50. Can a fortran array start with 0?
51. Is the array declaration correct integer is(-10,20)?
52. How do you concatenate two strings in fortran?
53. What is the difference between stop and end statement?
54. What are data statements?
55. How to use data statement?
56. What is parameter?
57. How do you define a constant in fortran?
58. What is implied read and write statement?
59. How to define a 3 dimension integer array?
60. What does write(*,*) mean?
61. How can you read ten or more variables at a time?
62. What is entry statement?
63. What is save statement?
64. What is where statement?
65. Where do your use forall statement?
66. Can you do object oriented programming in fortran?
67. What is the continuation character in fortran 90 and above?
68. Difference between print and write statement?
69. How to define a Boolean variable
70. What does this operator mean ==
71. What is the power operator in fortran?
72. What is computed if?
73. How to convert real to integer and vice versa?
74. What is dimension statement?
75. What is a pure function?
76. What is !DEC$ statement?
77. How to use compiler directives in fortran program?
78. What does index intrinsic do?

Knowing answers to all question is not important. Knowing the right answers for the right question is important!!

Find more interview questions via this link http://my-aesi.blogspot.com/search?q=interview+questions&max-results=100

Why learn fortran and vba if you want a career as an aerospace engineer?

In my last post on software language that you should learn, I
mentioned VBA and fortran the language to learn if you want to work in
a career as an aerospace engineer.

To find what languages I recommended click the following link. Http://my-aesi.blogsoit.com/search?q=programming

Each language i recommended has it's own inherient advantage and
disadvantage. Here in this post I will talk about vba and fortran. Why
you should learn them?

VBA is the most readilly available and accessable language. It's easy
to learn and the learning curve is plain and you can do interesting
stuff with just small effort. Very good to impress buddies.

If you work in catia, solidworks, excel and other windows based
software then knowing this language gives you an edge and if you use
your imagination, you can do a bundle of things in it.

Working in aerospace domain, then rest assured that you will use or
work with one or two fortran based applications. Fortran is the life
blood of the aerospace industry and if you want to be in this industry
then it makes sense you know how to write programs in this language.

This is the easiest of computer langugae to learn and is very
powerful. This will enable you do stuff that you might need to do
everyday.

Fortran and vba are part of my daily work life. When I was in aesi I
never knew I will be working on this but thanks to my years in NAL,
where I honed this skills and developed them so much that they now
enable me to do magic with them every day!!

So what languages are you working on?

Why a Free Python Workshop for AeSI

Someone whom I shall call Mr Z, emailed me his profile. I saw the attached resume and realised, he is mint fresh from AeSI. So kept his resume with a mind of asking his resume after another 3 months so i can forward it to my contacts for any opportunity.

After, 3 months, emailed Mr Z to resend me his updated resume and I got a resume, which had some little formatting changes but none other changes. On enquiry he responded he is learning a design software and didn't put it there.

3 Months without a skill added astounded me!

I don't know about now, but when I was in this stage this was my rapid skill adoption period. What's the new norm now, i wondered?

Credit to Mr Z, he was not sitting ideal, but the velocity of skill gain is slow for the time we live in.

And another thing to note was the focus on only one skill. Well design is what he wants, that is great but this isn't a transferable skill. This skill takes time and is specific to a particular kind of work. So along with this technical skill he needs to think about building some transferrable skills, like speaking, writing, presentation skills, general programming or mastering common office tools.

Technical skills are like screw drivers, just meant for screws, while transferrable skills are like knife, more general and have wide applicability. This gap in the knowledge of the transferrable skills led me to launch the free python workshop for AeSI.

Python is powerful general purpose language and I think every person who calls him an engineer should know this. Weather you work in design, analysis or performance, skills in one programming language can take you a long way.

VBA, C, Fortran are good start but knowing python as the language will have wide advantages. Its cross platform and its batteries included nature, gives you lot from a little effort.

And as far as a transferable skill is concerned, it can fit any job or task that you might encounter in your work and non-work life.

So that's the intention of the Free Python Workshop. A getting started in Python so as to equip AeSI students and graduates a lifelong transferable skill that can be applied in all the jobs

So if Mr. Z is reading this, pleases register, you are the reason for the workshop.

Please visit the page http://sukhbinder.wordpress.com/workshop for the brief writeup on the workshop and to http://python4aesi.doattend.com for registering for the workshop!

Not finishing section A in the stipulated 2 years

A few weeks back someone who has completed section A of AMAeSI, asked me if his not finishing the section a in the 2 years time a concern.

Not finishing section A in the stipulated 2 years is that a problem?

Well if you can finish it within the 2 years term its all well and you should always aim to get it done by that time.

But for reasons we all know, if you fall back and don't quite hit that timeline, Does this affect you anyway?

Well not significantly. Things don't go nasty until this gap is not too large. So strive to get to it but don't worry too much if it waivers little bit.

Generally if the gap is visible and noticeable be prepared to answer these following questions in your interviews.

1. What took you so long?
2. Why there is a gap in completing the degree?
3. What you did during that time?

That doesn't look good but don't worry about it much. Just concentrate on section B now. Keep your focus on the next level.

Now is the time when you need to think of the skills. Skills are the bridges that can make people overlook this stuff, so when you are in section B, use it as a skills development platform apart from the usual study.

Set some time, like an hour a day, just to build some skills. The skills may be range from working on a cad program, programming to communication, learning Microsoft excel. Anything but its always worthwhile to begin by putting in the time to build internal skills in section B.

Best of luck.

I know I have just barely scratched the surface, please fill in your comments here.

 

Related :

• What do I do about the gaps in my education ?
• Why the beginning of last semester of AeSI is important for skill development...
• In AeSI - Focusing on Solutions rather than on problems.

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.

Why learn Fortran?

Well right now my work involves FORTRAN and while browsing through some documentation on WWW I came upon this piece by Mr. Richard Kass and I liked what he said and thought it might be proper for Aeronautical folks to read about this so here we go.

 

FORTRAN is the dominant programming language used in scientific applications. It is therefore important for physics (or engineering) students to be able to read and modify FORTRAN code. From time to time, so-called experts predict that FORTRAN will rapidly fade in popularity and soon become extinct. This may actually happen as C (or C++) is rapidly growing in popularity. However, previous predictions of the downfall of FORTRAN have always been wrong. FORTRAN is the most enduring computer programming language in history. One of the main reasons FORTRAN has survived and will survive is software inertia. Once a company has spent many people-years and perhaps millions of dollars on a software product, it is unlikely to try to translate the software to a different language. Reliable software translation is a very difficult task and there’s 40 years of FORTRAN code to replace!

 

 

 

Concentrate on One Main to get maximum out of your training

I few days back i wrote a piece titled 7 simple steps that will help you get maximum out of your training. In it i promised to elaborate the points so here we go.



AS I have said earlier. Training has increased my skills, polished my knowledge and boasted my confidence. Though I was lucky to have DR. Ramamurthy, a hard taskmaster as my guide, I feel this 7 simple tips that follow will be applicable to everyone who is doing training no matter who is his or her guide.

So without further adieu let me begin

Concentrate on One Main Thing.
Concentrate on one main area of work during your training. If you want to be in design and then focus on design and if you want analysis, then focus on analysis. If your interest is programming then focus on that. Now as I have said earlier in this post, one needs to be clear about his motivation before joining training. IF that is clear then you will have no problem in focusing on your job at hand. See when I was in NAL, I have seen few folks not focused on there task and always grudging about the cool task the other person is doing in HYPERMESH. Yes it’s good to be fascinated with the software that your college or friend is working on but don’t loose your focus.

If you are already know what you want out of the training then you‘ll have no difficulty in staying focused.

What are the consequences of not staying focused?

• You loose interest in your main task that you have been assigned.

• Your work doesn’t reflect the true potential that you have.

• Since you began with one topic and now drifting to difference software or task, chances are you have two half-baked software skills. If might look on resume but might glaringly come out when you are in a technical interview.

So what can you do?

3 simple steps.

• Before joining any training know why you are joining? Have a clear goal for your training. If you don’t have a goal, Do it now. See what you want to take away from this training? Write that purpose down. Make it short but write it. In my days of training my focus was to apply my aeronautics knowledge and to create software aerospace or engineering tools. And I concentrated my maximum time on the activities that lead to me to fulfill my focus area.

• Now when you know you are to focus on one area of your training, chalk out the activities that you need to do. Some will be related to the task you are assigned by your guide. Align them to your focus area. One of the tasks I got while in NAL was development of an access database for the account database. So where was my aerospace knowledge here? Since I was assigned to do this work, I learned access to accomplish this and then applied this access learning skills to create a database of all the data of military engines that I had for my work on gas turbine engine of a UAV. So work with your focus area always in your mind.

• Get a small percentage of your time to do that fascinating thing that that your friend on the next computer is doing. Yes programming and making software tools was exciting, but seeing my friend doing magic and creating all those colorful graphs in fluent was also mesmerizing. So everyday I took half an hour and tried my hands on that software if I got the change. This is how I tried so many software including NASTRAN, HYPERMESH, UNIGRAPHICS, GAMBIT etc. Doing this not only gave me a welcome relief from my work but also opened up opportunity to see how my primary focus area skills can be applied to this software.

So these are my thoughts on the training. This post itself got longer than interned. So I’ll be post the other tips for getting the maximum out of your training in my next post.

Related : 3 things i have learnt in NAL during training!

Before you hunt for Catia, Nastran, UG, solidworks, ANSYS etc training centers

Getting pretty good at things is merely a first step, but one that you need to take in order to be ready to spend the money to get great.

This is a quote from a recent post of Seth Goldin titled Why aren't you (really) good at graphic design?

Now what does that mean. Essentially what he says is that self learning should come before you shell out some money to the institutes. Before you hunt for Catia, Nastran, UG, solidworks, ANSYS etc training centers.

This applies more to AeSI students as we lack the facilities that graduates from other institutions get by default. With labs and dedicated tutors these things come as part of the curriculum. But for AeSI, your initiative is the weapon.

And you know what? Getting pretty good in catia, nastran or any other software, programming language is the matter of sitting with the software one hour each and every day. IF you can discipline yourself to put in that one hour.... your are on your way to be pretty good at that software.

Net is an abundant source. Google's technology is there then what is stopping you. Put in that hour.

Once you have done this you will not have much doubt to choose which CATIA training centre or NASTRAN training centre to go to get great in that software!!!

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Some latest posts

1. TATA Nano can Help You in Your Studies!
2. Training is all about your Mentors work
3. Take baby steps to enjoy the journey.
4. Some Tips to learn from Tutorials
5. Energy, Interest, and Time.

Slowing down......

Slowing down is the key to increased speed.

Past couple of months I am dabbing with fortran GUI and trying pgplot graphics library. I have produced gui's in c and then integrated them with fortran, but creating GUIs from fortran is new to me.

As the exploration began i took the fire aim adjust approach!! I dived deep into the tutorials and anything that I could lay my hands on.

Quickly from tutorials I graduated to actually creating my own programs. This has been going on for a couple of months now.

In the begining I was sprinting as hard as possible. Learning,doing, getting stuck, reading and then doing again. The pace was fast.

But now as I become comfortable, my approach has shifted. I have slowed.

I write a program and ponder how and what am I actually doing. This slowing down and pondering has doubled my learning. It feels like I am learning at greater pace with this slowdown.

So the technique I want to advocate to anyone learning a new programming language, a new analysis or cad software, is to run in the first few weeks. Race and learn as much as you are able to handle. Dive deep and continue the pace as long as you are able to.

When exhaustion, sense of acheivement begins to creep in, slow down. Become deliberate in what you are doing? Question why and what you are doing?

I hope applying this method will help you as much as it has helped me.

What are your views, do let it out in the comments.