“DTC Is Worth Its Weight in Gold!”
At Dr. Tom’s Classroom, we have worked hard to make our courses the absolute best preparation for the Mechanical PE Exams. We strive to keep our courses as affordable as possible. We know that purchasing a PE Exam prep course is a major investment, and we want to make sure that your investment pays off […]
A Gift That Keeps on Giving
This coming Thursday is Thanksgiving, a celebration of all that has happened in our lives over this past year. It is also a time when families get together more so than on any other holiday. Then the next day is Black Friday, followed by Cyber Monday. We will be challenged to find the perfect gift […]
Getting your House to Sweat When it Gets Hot Outside to Save Energy?
In many parts of the country, air conditioning is a significant energy use and cost in the summer. Painting your house a lighter color can reduce cooling costs by reflecting solar energy away so the air conditioner doesn’t have to work as hard. What if we could also get your house to sweat, just like […]
FEATURED TESTIMONIAL – “Not only did I pass, but I felt confident throughout the exam.”
“I took the Thermal and Fluids CBT exam, and the first thing I want to say is: I PASSED! I was very happy to see that all of my hard work and discipline paid off. I went through your course in the standard 20 week timeline and put in 15-20 hours of studying per week. I […]
Half Empty, and Half Full
There were several “engineering” related topics that caught my eye last month. One was a news feed by CNN about a new material called “Superwood” that has 10 times the strength to weight ratio of steel, while also being 6 times lighter. It’s manufactured by the US company InventWood. Very interesting article that I highly […]
Carbon Dioxide Can Also Be the Solution to Reducing Carbon Emissions
Internet giant Google is working with an Italian company to develop a battery that uses carbon dioxide as a storage medium. The idea is to compress low pressure carbon dioxide gas into a high-pressure liquid. The liquid has a high density and lots of CO2 can be stored in a small vessel. Then the liquid […]
Modern Data Centers — Just Add Water?
It’s no secret that data centers are becoming more important with the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and applications like ChatGPT. These AI platforms can use ten times the electricity of a standard internet search. All this requires lots more electricity (which is becoming another issue) and that means lots of cooling. At many data […]
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 […]
Cooling Load Fudge Factors Can Foul Up Actual Efficiency
It is well-known and common practice for HVAC engineers to overdesign or apply a fudge factor to their cooling load calculations in order to size a cooling system. A Steven Winters Associates analyst looked at the load calculations, the installed cooling system size, and actual performance data for a number of buildings. The maximum cooling […]
Tetra Pods (Simple Shape for a Complex Problem)
My wife is an avid gardener; however, she picks up on many of the things in my world of engineering. She has heard me say the Bernoulli Equation enough that she plans to name our next cat “Bernoulli.” Last week, she was checking her smartphone news feed and noticed an article about “tetra pods”, not […]
