Today’s Android Apps for Engineers

Technology constantly changes and many people have grown a lot more attached totheir mobile devices. Smartphones and tablets have become the one-stop-shop forcommunication and entertainment, and people are also increasingly using them toaccomplish work-related tasks, with just a simple swipe of the finger.

As the smartphone and tablet market continues growing almost exponentially, apps arealso growing. Just a few years ago, smartphone users were downloading more apps onthe iPhone than on Android. The scale has tipped now and it’s about half and half today.

Regardless of the platform, the multitudes of apps being added to the App Store andGoogle Play every day are giving engineers an opportunity to perform simple andrepetitive tasks now while they’re on the road. Here are nine useful Android apps thatmight be handy for mechanical engineering professionals and students alike.

EngCalc

This app includes formulae and property tables for mechanical, hydraulic, structural,machine design, fluid mechanics, electrical, heat and mass transfer, thermodynamics,HVAC, pipe flow, and automotive, just to name a few. It also integrates a unit convertorwith units and conversions.

Heat Transfer Calculator

This app offers calculators related to heat transfer calculations. There are calculatorsincluding a conduction and convection calculator, which calculates the conduction andconvection phenomenon and then outputs the temperature or heat transfer rate. It alsowill allow unit conversion of heat transfer-related units from Metric to English units.

Engineering Unit Converter

This is an amazing engineering unit converter that allows engineers to choose anycategory they like from a list, such as length, energy, entropy, or electric charge. Theavailable units appear in two spinning wheels, and you can change the input value, sortunits, or use the swap button.

Fluid Mechanics Converter

Here is a conversion calculator that translates different units of measure related tofluid mechanics. The app includes a fluid converter, flow rate (mass) converter, flowrate (volume) converter, viscosity (dynamic or oil and water) converter, and a viscosity(kinematic) converter. Engineers are able to simulate design options during the conceptphase using Autodesk’s ForceEffect Motion app.

Engineering Cookbook

This app is a reference guide for mechanical designers. It provides access to frequentlyneeded information, such as heating and cooling load estimating, sound and vibrationguidelines, ventilation rates for air quality, and design formulas and conversion factors.

Mechanical Engineering 101

Mechanical Engineering 101 is an on-the-go learning app that teaches you the basicsof mechanical engineering. The app provides bite-sized learning through tutorials,flashcards and quizzes.

Mechanical Engineering Magazine

Here’s the monthly flagship publication of ASME in app form. It delivers aninterdisciplinary view of engineering trends, and gives readers a road map tounderstanding today’s technology and tomorrow’s innovations.

CAD View 3D MFC

This 3-D data file viewer is designed for CAD users. It supports the most popular 3-D CAD formats, such as STL, DXF, and JT. With the help of this app, users can taketheir 3-D files with them, no matter where they are, and then view them using theirsmartphone or tablet. The app provides 3-D features that include a rotating model withfinger movement, changing object material color or even rendering a new backgroundcolor, plus changing the intensity of the rendering light.

Autodesk ForceEffect Motion

This app lets engineers develop functional moving mechanical systems right ontheir mobile devices. Unlike the traditional approach of paper, pencil, and using acalculator to develop equations for design options, this app does all the simulationand engineering calculations right there on your mobile device. It enables engineers tosimulate design options during the concept phase and determine the viability of a new

design.

Technology is constantly changing with smartphones and tablets becoming more andmore capable of accomplishing work-related tasks. Newer smartphone and tabletapps appear daily and they’re getting smarter and smarter. If you are a mechanicalengineering professional or a student, one or more of these apps may be just the KEYto you becoming more successful, today, tomorrow and in the future.