Living Walls can Reduce Heat Loss from Buildings by 30%
Researchers at the University of Plymouth in England are studying how utilizing living walls can reduce heating and cooling costs in older buildings. A pre-1970’s building (called the Sustainability Hub) on campus was retrofitted with flexible fabric sheet systems with pockets allowing for soil and planting. After 5 weeks of measurements, the heat loss in […]
Deep into the Sea and the Imagination
I grew up watching the TV series “Sea Hunt” staring Lloyd Bridges. The lead character had been a former Navy frogman, what is now called Navy Seals. With his sophisticated scuba gear he seemed to be able to go anywhere under the water. What I would come to learn in my fluid mechanics classes is that […]
Russian City Is Cooling Ground to Preserve Buildings
Norilsk, a city of 170,000 in northern Russia, is mechanically cooling the ground in places to prevent the permafrost from melting. When the permafrost melts, the ground becomes soft and large buildings (like apartment blocks) will sink or tilt. So, about 8 million Euros are being spent to thermally stabilize the ground. This issue is […]
The Mothership – Science Non-Fiction
I think the first time I heard the term “mothership” was in the sci-fi movie “Independence Day.” The term is now commonly used to reference a space ship that can deploy and recover smaller versions of itself. However, up until now this concept was only science fiction. Well, according to a recent Breaking Defense article, DARPA, […]
A Sincere Thank You to Veterans
On Veterans Day, everyone here at Dr. Tom’s Classroom would like to thank all veterans for their service to our country. We appreciate their dedication and contribution to preserving our freedom. We especially honor the many engineers who have served in the United States military. Their work is an inspiration to us all. U.S. Military […]
Rollover Alleys – The Dynamics for Disaster
Vehicle dynamics are an important consideration for highway design and construction. Large trucks are a common design vehicle for highway infrastructure. A variety of factors focused on large truck characteristics include: turning radius at intersections/driveways, lane widths, acceleration on upgrades, control of speed on downgrades, and more. Due to the high center of gravity (which can be exacerbated by […]
Flying into the Future
Having a BS degree in Aerospace Engineering, a recent ASME article titled, “5 Aerospace Technologies and Trends,” caught my eye. Noting the 5 technologies and trends identified in the article, it was clear that this article was important to mechanical engineers as well. In fact, I believe these technologies and trends will affect the entire engineering community. I […]
FEATURED TESTIMONIAL – “I Felt Prepared and Confident”
“After spending the last 12 months completing your course, I am happy to say that I passed the PE exam on my first attempt! I felt prepared and confident going into the exam with the methods that you teach. I have been out of school for 10 years and my wife and I just had […]
Start for Only $50 and Pay-As-You-Go
With our Pay-As-You-Go option, you can now try out our courses for only $50 before you buy the remaining course modules. We’re so sure you’ll like what you see that there’s no obligation beyond your initial purchase. Just buy the next course module when you’re ready for it – a nice way to spread out […]
FEATURED TESTIMONIAL – “Great Course!”
“Thank you Dr. Tom and team for this great course! I was very unsure with all the new changes that have been made to the standard PE Exam with the introduction/changeover to CBT format. With the help of God, lots of hard work, and what I’ve learned through this course, I passed the PE Thermal […]
