Reinventing Glass with Beer, Food Scraps, and Paper

Windows have been part of our buildings for hundreds of years. Glass allows in sunlight and keeps most of the weather out. But windows have a serious drawback when it comes to sustainability – they conduct out heat in the winter and in during the summer– accounting for 25% of building heat losses. Scientists have […]

“Forever Grateful to Dr. Tom’s Classroom”

“It has long been a personal goal (as well as a professional goal) to get the satisfaction of fulfilling the requirements to be recognized as a licensed professional engineer. Kansas State University did a very good job of emphasizing the importance of licensure during the curriculum as many of my former classmates and current colleagues boast having […]

When in Rome

There is a saying, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Well, in a recent ASME article. author Mark Crawford talks about five major engineering achievements by the Romans that we engineers could well study. These five, several of which are still in operation today, are: 1) Aqueducts – brought water from the countryside […]

Top Ten Reasons DTC Is the BEST PE Exam Prep

For over a decade, it has been our passion here at Dr. Tom’s Classroom to help Mechanical engineers pass the PE Exam and become Professional Engineers. We’ve worked hard to make our courses the best. Want to know how we did that? Check out this video count down of the top ten reasons DTC is […]

Not All Batteries Store Electricity

Researchers at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania have developed a modular thermal battery – a device that can store thermal energy (heat) efficiently. The battery tested has a capacity of 150 kWhthermal and can be charged and discharged at a rate of 16.4 and 19.8 kW respectively. The battery is contained in a 5 foot diameter […]

PE EXAM TIP – Make the Reference Handbook Your Own

Mechanical Engineers, for better or worse, the NCEES Reference Handbook will be your only reference during the PE Exam, so becoming as familiar as possible with what is in it and how to find what you need should be top priority. You don’t need to know where everything is, but you should be very familiar […]

Using the Earth as a Thermal Battery

Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab are studying using aquifers as a thermal battery to store excess heat in the summer and as a source of heat in the winter. The systems are called ATES – Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage. The idea is similar to geothermal heat pumps – which can heat and cool homes […]

With DTC, Perseverance Can Pay Off!

While there are plenty of people who pass the PE Exam on the first try, there are are quite a few who don’t. We have lots of folks who come to DTC after trying to study on their own or taking review courses from other sources, and we have helped many of them pass on […]

AHR Expo 2023 – DTC Was There!

Watch our video! This was the first AHR Expo for the DTC Team and we had blast! This short video gives you a glimpse of the great time we had. We enjoyed meeting other vendors and seeing the wide array of products on display. AHRI, ASHRAE and the Georgia World Congress Center put on a […]