Mike Gayette is a marketing professional and freelance writer based in North Dakota. He writes about engineering software, marketing technology, customer service, and team building. He also spends time at the local humane society as a dog walker and cat entertainer.
James Menders: This Mathcad Pro hack saves up to 90% of my time, every time
James “Jim” Menders knows fiber optics, and he knows how to make the most of his software tools. Ask him if he prefers Excel or PTC Mathcad and you’re in for a frank, entertaining sit down. We did just that and got his take on what Mathcad is doing right in the world of optics.
To understand Menders’ clever, no-nonsense character, it first helps to understand his work. He is a seasoned optics engineer, and his typical day is spent in a photonics lab building instruments and using Mathcad to model all the signal paths for those instruments.
The phase contrast microscopes, atomic line filters, and interferometric sensors that Menders builds require strict tolerances and must operate in extreme conditions. Mathcad offers them ease of use combined with precision and rigor that are integral to advanced electronics and avionics.
“Excel is made for accountants.”
Of course, Menders begins with two of the most notable features: natural math notation and units. He starts, “Excel is made for accountants. And Microsoft Equation Editor is difficult. I don’t know if you’ve done it both ways, but once you get the hang of Mathcad, it’s a far easier way to write down equations.”
He continues, “And it’s extremely useful to have unit handling built in. There is no other software analysis I know of that takes care of units for you. It’s a strong differentiator versus Microsoft Excel.”
Building teams of Mathcad users
Menders also creates PowerPoint presentations for other engineering teams to help educate them on the benefits of Mathcad. He uses a photo like the one below that shows a Mathcad plot of a black-body spectrum parameterized by temperature, then lists the reasons he believes Mathcad is simply better for these kinds of tasks.
- Formulas are displayed like a math book! Note the following:
- Standard math symbols and operators
- Subscripts, indices, superscripts
- Supports visual formula checking
- Documents are immediately understood by your peers
- Documents can be printed or saved as pdfs
- Use like pseudo-code to share process flows with MATLAB or C# programmers
- Copy formulas and plots directly to Office documents
- Areas can be selected and pasted into PowerPoint or Word docs
When he does find a team using Excel, Menders jumps in and helps them see the possible time and cost savings.
“People who use Excel don’t recognize the benefits. I try to make it crystal clear how much more efficient it is to use Mathcad. It’s really evident that the people who author Mathcad know what they’re doing.”
Mathcad templates: saving 90% of his time, every time
Menders says his favorite Mathcad trick is also his go-to timesaver.
He’s frequently faced with stacks of test data sets to analyze. It’s a daunting task if you’re using old school methods. But not so with Mathcad.
He explains, “I develop a template where everything is contingent on a data import. Then I’ll arrange the template so the data import is the first step at the top of the worksheet. All of the analysis falls through from there.” Menders says these templates allow for more uniformity in testing, and this technique saves him up to 90% of his time, every time.
You can’t argue with that efficiency boost!
Douglas Hilts: The Mathcad technique that shrinks “massive” engineering timelines
Protecting our reservoirs presents several engineering challenges. In outdoor reservoirs, you must hinder evaporation, collect and pipe out rainwater, and practically eliminate any chance of contamination from wildlife and wind-blown debris.
One engineer in a unique position to solve those problems is Douglas Hilts, P.E., S.E., owner of Hilts Consulting Group Inc. The company specializes in protective covers for drinking water reservoirs. One recent project was the geomembrane floating cover and liner for the Morro Reservoir Rehabilitation Project in Fallbrook, California. The reservoir covers nearly 13 acres, is up to 60 feet deep, and holds 150 million gallons.
The results were so extraordinary that, after completion of the Morro project, the Fabricated Geomembrane Institute (FGI) presented Hilts Consulting Group with its inaugural Fabricated Geomembrane Engineering Innovation Award.
Did Mathcad play a part in that project? You bet. Hilts isn’t shy about describing Mathcad’s role in his award-winning work. He says he’s relied on Mathcad for all his projects since 1995.
Mathcad vs. that other popular program
When asked how Mathcad helps him save time, Hilts first references another popular application. “In Excel, the equations are embedded in the cells. There could be an error in a cell and you can’t find it. Mathcad is transparent and all the equations are visible. You can see everything right there. Nothing is hidden.”
Mathcad beats Excel in several other ways, too, says Hilts. “Mathcad virtually eliminates math errors because of the natural notation. Input errors disappear. Unit tracking definitely helps to prevent errors. I still use Excel occasionally, but most of the time I’ll import the spreadsheet into Mathcad. I use Excel more as a supplemental tool for Mathcad.”
Not only does Mathcad reduce mistakes in ongoing work, it also helps Hilts Consulting Group get a jumpstart on new projects.
Secret weapon - Mathcad templates
Every reservoir is different and requires a unique solution. That doesn’t mean starting every piece of the project from scratch. Hilts has developed his own method of saving time on these massive undertakings. “What I've done is develop a template in Mathcad. I can input the variables and a lot of the calculations are churned out fairly quickly.”
Hilts goes on to explain the time investment and payoff. “I took a lot of time to develop the calculations and the templates. Where it reaps savings is the next project, and the projects thereafter. I'm able to pull up a past project and reuse calculations in a template...”
High ROI doesn’t have to be complicated
Developing templates is a straightforward method for rapidly launching new projects. More importantly, it’s proof that you don’t need to know every Mathcad trick to get big results.
Hilts is the first to admit he may not use it to its full potential, but still realizes a significant return on his investment. “I think I’m probably a lower-end user. Civil engineering can be less sophisticated than say aeronautical engineering, for example. But Mathcad is a real reliable tool. I’m glad I found Mathcad a couple decades ago, and I’ve been happily using it ever since.”
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