Internet Resource Guide: Penn State Undergraduate Mechanical Engineers

Matt Murphy

February 12, 2015

English 202C – Technical Communications

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Table of Contents

1.0 Front Matter

1.1. Contents of Guide 2

1.2. Intended Audience 2

1.3. Assumptions about the Reader 2

1.4. Organization 3

1.5. Tips for Using the Guide 3

2.0 General Information

2.1. Penn State Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Site 4

2.2. American Society for Mechanical Engineers Site 5

3.0 Homework Help

3.1. Chegg –Study 6

3.2. The Engineering Toolbox 7

4.0 Research Materials

4.1. The Statistical Abstract of the United States 8

4.2. Catalog of U.S. Government Publications 9

4.3. ASME Digital Collection 10

4.4. Journal of Mechanical Design 11

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1.0 Front Matter

1.1 Contents of Guide:

Contained in this guide are resources relating to information useful for undergraduate

mechanical engineers studying at Pennsylvania State University. This guide contains vital

information about the mechanical engineering program at Penn State, websites to help

students succeed in their classes, information about mechanical engineering community and

recent developments in the engineering profession. This guide could be used for homework

help, scheduling classes, networking or even research.

1.2 Intended Audience:

This guide is intended for Penn State engineering students, specifically mechanical

engineering, of any year. Some of the resources in this guide contain high level knowledge

content or career help aimed more at junior and seniors. However the majority of the guide

would be extremely useful to all years of mechanical engineering students as well as any

engineering discipline. Some sources provide homework and class help for students who feel

they are behind or not fully grasping the content I being taught in class. This guide also

addresses students whom are looking for internships, full time jobs or even just help building a

resume or networking.

1.3 Assumptions about the Reader:

This guide is designed to help students find the help they are looking for. A student must

have an interest in learning more or seeking help about mechanical engineering. For example if

a student needs help with homework, research, jobs or networking this guide can be extremely

helpful. This guide merely contains links, abstracts and tips about websites that can help

students, not the information itself. It is also assumed the user is competent with a computer

and has internet access, as all resources are located online. Finally this guide assumes that the

user is a current student in or interested in mechanical engineering, however many of the

resources could be useful for undergraduates at other schools or of other engineering

disciplines.

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1.4 Organization:

This guide is broken up into 3 sections: General Information and Career, Homework Help

and Research. The “General Information and Career” section gives details about the mechanical

engineering curriculum at Penn State, where to find job opportunities and scholarships and

information about the mechanical engineering community in the professional world. The

“Homework Help” section contains useful websites that will help students gain a firmer grasp

on information taught in class. This section also features where to find solutions to many

textbook problems and even how to get help from an online tutor or learning module. The final

section “Research Materials” focusing on where to find articles about current developments in

the mechanical engineering community. The resources in this section also feature conference

proceedings, research papers and general statistics about mechanical engineering and its

profession.

1.5 Tips for Using the Guide:

Under each resource abstract are specific tips for that resource about how to navigate

the site and what relevant information can be found. The table of contents will successfully

illustrate where each section can be found and what particular resources are in each section.

Each resource is titled, and then under title is the type of resource it is, and next is the web

address to access the resource.

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2.0 General Information

2.1 Penn State Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Site

Website

Home page: http://www.mne.psu.edu

Undergraduate page: http://www.mne.psu.edu/Undergraduate

Description:

This is the home page for the Penn State Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering

Department. The website is a great source of information for faculty, undergraduate and

graduate students and even potential students applying or transferring to Penn State. From the

home page the reader can see a stream of recent news pertaining to the engineering world at

Penn State as well as full directory of staff and a calendar of upcoming events.

The Undergraduate page has an abundance of useful and practical information for any

Mechanical or Nuclear Engineer. The left hand side of the undergraduate page contains

headings for all pertinent information for the major like: Curriculum, Study Abroad, On Campus

Research and Undergraduate Teaching positions, Scholarships and Career Resources. One

particularly useful page is the “Curriculum” page where a student could find all courses

required for each major and even a recommended schedule for all 8 semesters. The Scholarship

and Career Resources pages are also very useful and redirect the users to a page full of

scholarships and job opportunities.

Tips:

Most relevant information is on the Undergraduate page; the main page is more for

recent news and upcoming events.

The Curriculum page is where most important and practical information is including

different options and programs within the major and a comprehensive list of acceptable

general and technical electives.

The link on the undergraduate page titled “Fall 2014 ME Student Orientation material”

is something to skip. This document only contains information for incoming freshman

and all important information can be found under the “Curriculum” tab.

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2.2 American Society of Mechanical Engineers Site

Website

Home Page: www.asme.org

Description:

This website is the home page for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers

(ASME), which provides information about all aspects of the organization including

membership, recent events and conference and conventions. A large portion of the site is

targeted at people already in the professional field, but there are many areas of the site

that could be useful to an undergraduate mechanical engineer. The top of the page has a

bar of tabs: Topics, Network, About ASME, Shop ASMER and a search bar. The “Topics” page

contains a list of all topics pertaining to engineering from business to boilers. Each individual

page contains recent articles pertaining to the field and upcoming events related to the

topic.

Under the “Topics” page there is also a section on “Education and Career” including

certification and training, job hunting and legal issues for engineers. Many of these pages

could be very useful to a Penn State engineer looking for scholarships or financial aid as well

as resume building and mentoring programs. Using the search bar is the best way to find a

specific topic or subject on the website. By searching “internships” a page about technical

internships in the renewable energy sector appears. On this page is a summary of what it

means to have that position as well as companies that offers positions in that field.

Tips:

Using the search bar is by far the best way to find specific information. The search

can be narrowed by selecting standards, events, jobs, courses, articles or many other

options.

The site contains many articles about recent achievements or events in the

engineering community. This site could be very useful for research on a specific topic

or just to gain a broader understanding of current advances in the field of

mechanical engineering.

There is also a directory of people and groups involved with the ASME, which can

also be found using the search bar and selecting either “people” or “groups” from

the drop down menu.

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3.0 Homework Help

3.1 Chegg – Study

Website

Home Page: www.chegg.com

Study Section: www.chegg.com/study

Description:

Chegg is one of the leading online textbook rental and purchasing service, but also has a

lot of information on available jobs, college search engine and even a page to help users find

scholarships. The site is very easy to navigate and has great heading at the top of the page for

users to easily find what they are looking for. This guide will focus more specifically on the

“Study” section of the website.

Chegg contains step-by-step solutions for other 3000 textbooks and has an in-depth

discussion board for extra help. However Chegg is a paid service, for either $14.95/month or

$99.95/year. Many students are wary of spending extra money especially with the high cost of

tuition and textbooks, but it is definitely worth the price. The annual price is about the same or

even cheaper than a typically engineering textbook, and the subscription lasts the course of 2

semesters. There are solutions to virtually all textbooks used by Penn State including those for

Math, Physics, Chemistry and all disciplines of engineering. Chegg recently introduced a service

where a user can be connected with an online tutor almost instantly. Chegg allows the 120

minutes of service free of charge, after that there is an hourly rate. This feature could be useful

for those users still needing extra help understanding material, when the professor is

unavailable.

Tips:

Use the search bar! A user can type in the partial name of a textbook and view all the

different editions available with step-by-step solutions. The search bar can also process

inquiries for textbooks, solutions or just general questions and return very accurate

results.

Solutions have a rating by users, grading how correct the information is. Beware

sometimes the solutions are incorrect, but that is only a small fraction. There is the

ability to comment on the solutions so usually the correct solution can be found there.

The textbook solutions are available through iOS and android as well so that they may

be accessed without the need of a computer.

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3.2 Engineering Toolbox

Website

Home Page: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com

Description:

The Engineering Toolbox is a website designed to provide relevant information on all

aspects and related aspects of engineering. The left hand side of the page has a list of

categories including acoustics, mathematics, thermodynamics and a variety of other

engineering topics. By clicking on a subject in the left hand side list, it opens a page with

links to over 100 different topics within that particular subject. For example by going under

“Mechanics” and then “Acceleration of Gravity and Newton’s Second Law” there is a

learning module describing how gravity works and the difference between mass and

weight. The page is full of useful equations, proper units, graphs and charts, and tons of

example problems. And at the bottom of the page is related topics and related documents

the user may be interested in. This particular page is only one of the thousands of pages this

website contains.

There is also a search bar on the website which claims to be the best way to navigate

the site. By simply searching “Inertia” the site returns over 200 results including an “Area

Moment of Inertia Calculator”, a general page about inertia and links to all topics that use

the property of inertia. The sire also contains an abundance of unit converters and

calculators, which eliminates the need to do trivial calculations and conversions. The site

also includes a complete 3D modeling feature to make models of parts and simulate their

use. Overall this site is a wealth of information and convenience for any engineering student

struggling with a topic.

Tips:

Definitely use the search bar when navigating the site, in order to narrow down

search to exactly what is desired.

Make use of the “Apps” page located in the top left corner. This page contains all the

functional calculator and unit convertors in one place. This can be a very big time

saver when performing a series of trivial calculations during a homework

assignment.

This site has information for any engineering class at Penn State, and can help

students understand a concept that may not have been fully grasped in class.

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4.0 Research Materials

4.1 The Statistical Abstract of the United States

Government Database

Home Page: www.census.gov

Description:

The Statistical Abstract of the United States is the authoritative and comprehensive

summary of the political, economic and social organization of the United States. This database

literally has statistics on any relevant aspect of the United States, which are broken up into

categories listed down the left hand side of the page. Hovering over the topic shows subtopics

and when those are clicked a list of documents pertaining to certain statistics are available.

Information on the site could be useful to learn more about the engineering job market,

average salary of a graduate or even for research purposes.

Under the Energy & Utilities: Solar and Renewable Energy, Emissions relevant

information about energy consumption by source, summary of ethanol and biodiesel use , and

solar collector shipments can be found. The document “Renewable Energy Consumption

Estimates by Source” has information about renewable energy consumptions by residential,

commercial, industrial, transportation and electric power. It also breaks up each category into

what specific renewable energy source is used. This article could be very useful to a student

doing research about how Penn State could be more “green” by trying to find which renewable

fuel source used to power a building.

Tips:

There is a search feature if the user is trying to find a specific piece of information. The

search bar is located in the top right corner of the homepage.

More topics are available apart from those listed on the left hand side. These can be

found by clicking on “Index A-Z” in the top right corner above the search bar.

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4.2 Catalog of U.S. Government Publications

Government Database

Home Page: http://catalog.gpo.gov/F?RN=938939732

Description:

The catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP) is a finding tool for publications from all branches of the U.S. government. It contains more than 500,000 records since 1976 and is updated daily. The website has a general search engine that returns all relevant documents to keyword, author subject or title. An advanced search is also available which features the option to find by year, format, language and specific catalogs. A simple search of “Penn State Engineering” returns a plethora of documents about research done at Penn State or that involved Penn State professors. One article in particular “Marine hydrokinetic turbine power-take-off design for optimal performance and low impact on cost-of-energy “is a report done by Penn State that is available for immediate online viewing. This particle article is about hydrokinetic devices which are able to harness energy from moving water. This is a great example of a current event or particular project an undergraduate student could be interested in.

Tips:

The website is rather straightforward and easy to navigate. A broad search can be rather overwhelming, but the search can be narrowed by a variety of methods through the “Advanced” tab at the top of the page.

The “Advanced” tab also has a list of tips towards the bottom of the page. It contains many useful facts for the user on how to efficiently and effectively find exactly what they are looking for.

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4.3 ASME Digital Collection

Electronic Index

Home Page: http://www.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org

Free through the Penn State Library:

• Go to www.psu.edu

• Click on “libraries” then “libraries home”

• Click on “Databases By Title”

• Click on “ASME Digital Collection” and enter your Penn State id and password

Description:

ASME Digital Collection database provides full text access to the American Society of

Mechanical Engineer’s online journals since 1960 and conference papers since 2002 as well as

E-books on a variety of topics. The database has a contents bar at the top of the page below the

search bar, which is organized by journals, conference proceedings, e-books or by separated by

topics. The search feature is actually pretty useful but could be slightly overwhelming. For

example, searching “automotive” returns over 4500 results on all documents containing the

word automotive, however there are features to help refine the search. On the left hand side

results can be narrowed by publication type: Journals, Proceedings and eBooks. The

“automotive” results can be narrowed by topics such as: design, stress, engine, manufacturing

and many other practical areas of the automotive industry.

Tips:

The database included a variety of different engineering journals which could be useful

for finding recent news and developing technology of a specific field. By using the “Topic

Collection” tab, then choosing specific topic, a reader can view recent article published

in relevant journals. The articles are listed by title so a reader can choose which article is

pertinent to their inquiry.

For overall use the search bar is probably the most comprehensive feature because of

the ability to narrow down the search. A reader can quickly and easily find a wealth of

information and publications about a very specific topic.

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4.4 Journal of Mechanical Design

Electronic Journal

Home Page:

http://mechanicaldesign.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/journal.aspx?journalid=126

Description:

The ASME Journal of Mechanical Design (JMD) provides scholarly research in all aspects of

the design process, focusing on design synergy, to the entire community of engineers. The

journal contains most in depth research articles, but also communicates technical briefs, design

innovations papers, book reviews and editorials. It is possible to view previous and current

issues of the journal as well accepted manuscripts and articles published ahead of print. Each

issue of the journal has a table of contents that outlines the title of the articles and provides a

brief summary. The user can also view a stream of articles either by “Newest Articles” or

“Popular Content” if they aren’t looking for specific content or just want to see what trending.

On the right hand side of the page there is an abstract about the journal, the scope and a list of

external links to: submit paper, author resources, permissions, announcements, etc… This

journal could be very useful to an undergraduate student wanting to learn more about the

design process for a class like ME 340 or ME 440. Both those classes are semester long design

projects, which could greatly benefit from information found in this journal.

Tips:

In order to search for information within the journal the main search bar must be used.

Then the user has to narrow the search to the journal they are interested in.

The journal is part of the ASME Digital Collection, which contains a number of journals,

articles and conference proceedings. If the information cannot be found in this

particular journal there are options to search in other journals or just conduct a general

search of the entire index.