Machinedesign 6206 Blogs 0
Machinedesign 6206 Blogs 0
Machinedesign 6206 Blogs 0
Machinedesign 6206 Blogs 0
Machinedesign 6206 Blogs 0

Best of the Web: Best Engineering Blogs

Jan. 7, 2014

Who says engineers don’t like to write much? These engineering blogs cover a variety of topics ranging from the travails of home-engineering projects to observations about developments that impact the engineering profession.

Reshoring initiative blog

The Reshoring Initiative is an industry-led effort to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States. Its blog offers comments by industry leaders, discusses reshoring trends, gives tips on resources for manufactures, and highlights important upcoming events.

Hydraulics troubleshooter

This blog, as the name implies, offers troubleshooting tips for hydraulically powered equipment. The author’s primary area of expertise is cranes, but the advice applies to many fluid-power circuits. It also provides basic design, operation, and maintenance info on various types of valves and other components, gives practical filtration guidelines, and explains ways to improve overall system efficiency.

Fluid-power advice

Brendan Casey’s blog on HydraulicSupermarket.com offers practical information for designers and users of hydraulic and pneumatic systems, along with money-saving tips to reduce equipment operating costs. Recent topics include new troubleshooting tools, ways to maximize hydraulic power output, and guidelines for low-temperature operation.

Screaming circuits blog

This blog is run by the Screaming Circuits PCB house but is a lot more than your typical commercial blog site. Our favorite entry is the top-10 geek-trivia challenge.

How pneumatics stuff works

The pneumatics section of this blog explains how to build your own automatic Star Trek door, and how to make a T-shirt cannon. Other categories in this wide-ranging site include “Stuff Mom never told you,” Stuff to Blow your mind,” and the “Coolest stuff on the planet.”

Curious cat science and engineering blog

This blog by John Hunter covers a variety of gee-whiz areas and topics. It is so large that engineering is a subtopic.

Chris Gammell’s Analog Life

This blog by an electronics engineer covers a lot of home-project electronics and construction techniques as well as a few technology basics.

Engineering TV

This sister site to Machine Design specializes in engineering videos of all types. Lots of new technology, products coverage, and gee-whiz engineering topics.

Engineering ethics blog

Essays on various developments such as drones, mobile monitoring, etc., and their implications for engineering ethics.

The online community at Engineering.com

Posts about engineering developments in a variety of disciplines.

Machine Design blogs

Here is where you’ll find commentary from Machine Design Editors Leland Teschler, Lindsey Frick, Stephen Mraz, and Elisabeth Eitel. Typical posts opine on topics ranging from engineering education to novel uses of 3D printing.

Engineering education blog

Maintained by an organization called Engineering Pathway, this blog features short vignettes of engineering developments throughout history as a means of inspiring future engineers, though the stories themselves are likely to appeal to practicing engineers as well. There are subcategories in mechanical, electrical, aerospace, civil, and many other engineering disciplines.

Cars

All things automotive, from concept cars to vintage antiques, the industry, rumors, and myths. There are also images and videos of cars, cars, and more cars.

Pumpkin-throwing machines

Stay up-to-date on all the rules governing the sport of pumpkin chunking, as well as the world records in at least 15 recognized classes ranging from Catapult to Trebuchet to Centrifugal. It even includes an online game to sharpen your pumpkin-chunkin’ skills

Cooking for engineers

This site takes a somewhat analytical approach to cooking and dining. It features restaurant reviews, a look at traditional and new kitchen tools, a list of substitutes for ingredients your pantry may be missing, and tested methods for optimizing classic dishes ranging from soft-boiled eggs to beer-can chicken. There’s also an active forum where engineers exchange cooking tips, favorite restaurants and recipes, as well as a wide range of engineering topics.

Engineering management

This site aims to sharpen engineers’ and engineering managers’ interpersonal communication, management, and leadership skills. It’s run by an aeronautical engineer who has worked as a technical manager, organizational leader, and entrepreneur. He now concentrates on training others, writing, and speaking at engineering-oriented events. He also serves as adjunct professor in the Technology Management Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he teaches critical communication and business/entrepreneurship skills to graduate students.

Engineering ethics

Stay on the right side of the law by following this blog which “comments on current events with an engineering ethics angle. Some of the events covered recently include self-driving cars, privacy and social media, Obamacare, global warming, and OSHA. The author once worked as a consulting engineer but now teaches engineering courses at Texas State University, San Marcos.

Energy from thorium

This is the place if you’re curious about nuclear energy supplied by thorium. There are educational discussions and debates about the technological details and safety of a host of different type of reactors, as well as updates on what is going on around the world with regards to thorium. It covers 2,487 topics and has garnered 42,104 comments.

Toolmonger

This site’s motto is: “All tools; all the time.” And it lives up to that slogan with posts on new tools, how to refurbish or update old tools, and a images of odd, old, and forgotten tools. There are also links to a host of podcasts so you can download talks on LEDs, flashlights, garage doors and other tool-centric topics to keep you entertained away from the computer.

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