More than half of all cell phones in use today are smart phones. In many cases these phones are used in place of computers, books, and other reference materials. Many smart phones have big screens to be more user-friendly and easier to read. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that app developers have exploited this opportunity by developing a wide variety of applications that can be used by professionals in their respective fields, as well as non-professionals in their daily lives. Students in one of the numerous fields of engineering will also benefit from these useful smart phone apps.
The nature of the engineering profession is that the engineer has to rely and base his calculations on a wide array of facts and numbers. Applications that are useful to engineers will enable the professional to research or calculate a wide variety of different materials, definitions, conversions, terms, interactions, translations and more. Useful applications should either save time or minimize the number of mistakes, such as miscalculations of some kind. They have to be reliable, easy to use, affordable, and functional.
Engineering Handbook
The most useful app is probably a reference app called the Engineering Handbook. This app allows the professional engineer to have instant access to formulas, dimensions, weights, and components without carrying around numerous books and tables. Smart phones across the board are capable of utilizing this application, and engineers should take advantages of this powerful reference.
Engineering Dictionary
Equally useful is another app that serves as a reference. It is called the Engineering Dictionary and is particularly useful to look up engineering terms and definitions. Thousands of engineering terms are available for reference and this app is even capable of looking up commonly used engineering phrases. Acronyms and abbreviations are conveniently stored and easily accessible.
Engineering Unit Converter
Engineers, like so many other professionals, work in an environment of international projects. More and more engineers are confronted with a variety of measurements used by other countries. Converting measurements from one set of units to another can not only take time, but can also be the source of mistakes if done by hand. The Engineering Unit Converter saves time and is very user-friendly with an intuitive interface.
Engineering Pro
Engineering Pro is another valuable application for smart phones. Engineering Pro contains over 650 need-to-know formulas for a variety of engineering fields. They include hydrology, mechanical, chemical, civil, electrical, and also environmental engineering. This app also has a feature that allows all favorite formulas to be saved for faster access in the future. Engineering Pro is available for a low price and includes future updates and revisions if applicable. This eliminates the need for other applications of this kind.
Engineer’s Calculator
The last application in this list of smart phone apps for engineers is the Engineer’s Calculator. This low cost app offers a good basic calculator with mathematical functions for the engineer. This app is straightforward and the interface is intuitive and easy to use. The advantage of this calculator is that the number notations that can be displayed in long calculations are unlimited.
Most of these engineering apps are available on the android market and some are even free. The pricings are very reasonable considering the time the user will save by utilizing these apps on their smart phones. As smart phones get more sophisticated, apps will adapt to the phone’s capabilities and evolve accordingly. Bigger and faster processors will allow smart phones to run nearly everything pretty soon. Utilizing your phone’s capability to its fullest seems logical and in line with the nature of an engineer’s mind.
Author Bio: William Stevens is a writer and blogger who creates articles relating to technology. In this article, he sheds light on a few new smart phone applications for engineers and wishes to promote continued study with a Civil Engineering Masters Degree.
