Topic: New LNF Aftermarket Manifold!!! Check it out

[Arabas]

@Carbon SkQ: out of business curiosity, which exactly graphic card are you using for the cad applications?

[Carbon Sky]

Yeah. You will be amazed when you are professional and skilled in a wide variety of things how much easier it is to find a job compared to some who have had narrow training in only one thing. I studied as a manufacturing engineer and I am currently working with the scheduling of the assembly lines and other inventory metrics. I found that being flexible and adaptive to new things makes you more marketable for when opportunities arise.

Agreed, but the important word there is professional, meaning you have already achieved a high level of training, both academically and professionally.  At that point, it's great to have a wide variety of abilities/experiences, especially in these times where the economy isn't exactly doing great.  But for a lot of young people trying to get into the market, they don't have enough specialization yet, and need to focus on one thing at least long enough, and with enough fluency to achieve accreditation for it.  All these high school and college/trades people think they can get amazing jobs without any specializing at all, and wonder why the only job they can get is as a lacky for some corporate minimum wage job.

[Carbon Sky]

@Carbon SkQ: out of business curiosity, which exactly graphic card are you using for the cad applications?

My school requires students to lease a laptop, and as part of that, they load it with any and all software you might need, as well as 24 hour technical support.  I keep it for 2 years, then they replace it with a new one, and I get the option of buying it for $1, and comes with all the software I was using during my degree.  I do however lease it a $1500/year.  But then again, UGS alone is over $2000.  Some of that software includes math programs for graphing in 2-space and 3-space, as well as to compute massive calculations quickly.

The laptop is a Lenovo with an intel Core i7 vPro chip, and Intel HD R 3000 video card.  UGS is quite stable, but the laptop does get bogged down a little once you start getting a lot of parameters input, or a lot of components in the same assembly.

[Arabas]

thx for the info.
we work with an American-French company, PNY for graphics and flash memories.
they are licensed by nvidia to make the nvidia Quadro cards (for desktops).
2 other companies have them but only as integrators, not for retail sales.
 
if you get a chance try working cad applications on laptop or desktop with Quadro graphics (models Q400, 600, 2000, 4000, 5000 or 6000) and check out the difference. you will be amazed on how faster and better these cards are for these applications.

[Carbon Sky]

thx for the info.
we work with an American-French company, PNY for graphics and flash memories.
they are licensed by nvidia to make the nvidia Quadro cards (for desktops).
2 other companies have them but only as integrators, not for retail sales.
 
if you get a chance try working cad applications on laptop or desktop with Quadro graphics (models Q400, 600, 2000, 4000, 5000 or 6000) and check out the difference. you will be amazed on how faster and better these cards are for these applications.

I have a few friends that work for Nvidia, and ATi in Cali, I know they make great stuff.

I'm sure it would be a great improvement.  When I rotate an assembly, with many components, and parameters already input, sometimes faces of objects disapear, or I get weird surface treatments.  I'm pretty sure it's the graphics card not being to handle it.

[Sly Bob]

Yeah but can you do a set of recessed grills for the Solstice in CAD?

Just kidding Carbon Sky. You sound like a smart fella and I have no doubt you'll do well in the field you have chosen.   

[Critterman]

Arabas, I don't think you can jam any of those video cards into a laptop.  We use the Quatro Pro for all our Graphics work.

[Arabas]

Critter, we only have them for workstations. i know there are Quadro NVS for laptops, not sure the FX series can be used for laptops. you are probably right, the fx quadro (q series now) can only be used in workstation. i have a 2000 for my use, but never actually used it since i know nothing about cad

[werks]

gmtech16450yz - "It's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than open ones mouth and remove all doubt" ­­- Mark Twain

One of my favorite quotes of all time!!!

Carbon...

That is some of the most intelligent and eloquent stuff I've come across on any forum in a long time. You're a smart young man. My son is in his 3rd year of Mechanical Engineering, and yeah, the math stuff is insane!

Here's a little bit of advice from an old "trial and error" guy...

Keep learning everything you can about a wide range of areas since you never know what you might end up doing. You already realize that success comes from a mix of ALL kinds of skills, don't ever forget that. Yes, you absolutely need the math and theory, but don't be blinded by that and nothing else. (Not saying you are.) My point on that is 99% of Engineers work in black and white (in this case, the theory and math), and forget that there HAS TO BE a grey area (again, in this case, the hands on, trial and error or experience part) too. If you already realize that there IS a grey area, don't loose that and nurture it as well as the black and white. Amazing Engineers are the ones that have both skills and can work in both worlds. My Dad was one of those, he changed the way the Airline Industry worked by the things he did. I got his hands on skills, but my brain is not wired to do math. My "outside of the box" vision and being able to see a finished product in my head long before anything is even drawn up or started building is much better than even my dad's was. Just don't ask me to put anything on paper or give you calculations about it! Interestingly, unlike me, my son has amazingly strong mathematical and memory brain wiring. He was drawing train pictures IN 3D when he was like 3 years old! He did a pencil drawing of his shoe when he was in 3rd grade that would blow your mind. It was a class assignment, they had to put their shoe on their desk and draw a picture of it. His looked like a blueprint! I couldn't do much more than a stick figure even at 50! He isn't as strong on the vision (I mean seeing into the future, not eyeballs. Although interestingly enough, he wears glasses and at 50 I still don't. weird.) and hands on part, but he's getting there. I actually can't wait to see what my son ends up doing with his skills. With his math and Engineering wired brain, and my hands on, can make something up in my head and build it with my hands kinda brain, we could make some crazy stuff! (Can you tell the way the brain works and is wired fascinates me? lol. Learning and understanding how the brain works is almost as big for me as cars has been.)

Sorry to ramble, I think you get my point. My favorite saying is "Moderation In Everything." In this situation, it means theory and math is good and vital, but trial and error and experience is also vital. It's all a balance. Get the balance too far one way or another and things don't work as well. One of the most important things to keep in mind in EVERYTHING you do in your life. I think you already got that, just don't ever forget it.

Oh, one more piece of advice...
Don't bother arguing with Miller, it's not worth it. I've told him in the past everything I hear him say reminds me of another one of my favorite sayings...

"It's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than open ones mouth and remove all doubt" ­­- Mark Twain

Good luck in school!

[Carbon Sky]

Yeah but can you do a set of recessed grills for the Solstice in CAD?

Just kidding Carbon Sky. You sound like a smart fella and I have no doubt you'll do well in the field you have chosen.   

Ha ha, honestly the principles behind it are pretty straight forward.  I would create a sphere, the remove a smaller sphere within it, leaving a hollow ball.  I would create one hexagonal extrusion for one of the openings, then instance (repeat) the feature over the entire surface.  That would create the hexagonal grill area, now for the outlining portion.

I would create a cross sectional shape for the edge portion.  Then have it "sweep" along a path, that would be the opening.  Then cut out a section of the first piece, and attach it to the opening pieces.

But, more importantly, what's the point?  Tooling up is what costs the big bucks, not the CAD design.  It would probably take me about 2 weeks as an assignment, or a few days as a full-time job and an 8-9 hour day dedicated to it.  So it'd be a few hundred in CAD, and thousands if not millions in tooling.  I have a mech eng buddy that's worked for a while now in injection molding, dash boards, panels, airplane fuselages, common components like battery trays, etc.  And the tooling up to make an air-bag cover or something like that is WAY more than what the CAD part costs.  Because this isn't a structural piece, you won't need a P.Eng to approve it for sale to the public.

[40rtyp]

Well, lol as long as everyone is getting along and the conversation is contructive, I'll enjoy what I'm reading. Best of wishes to you Carbon. You sparked my interest with your Tiny turbo for 1 cylinder engines.