Smartphones and tablets are taking the world by storm, with just about any programme now available as an app – from gaming and social media to Microsoft Word and Adobe. We take a look at apps that are improving the way the engineering industry does business.

With all the fast-paced developments in today’s world, it’s almost impossible to imagine our lives without technology. The convenience of emails, the vast amount of research available on the Internet, real-time feedback from social media sites, and the video conferencing facilities via WebEx and Skype – available at the click of a button on just about any smart device and tablet. All of these have become ‘essentials’ that Generation Y just doesn’t know how to exist without. And just when we thought information access, transfer and sharing couldn’t get more instantaneous, enter the app: a special type of software programme used on a smartphone or mobile device such as Android, iPhone, BlackBerry or iPad. A ‘shortened’ or narrow software application – if you will – that does one function or that provides a small bit of entertainment.

 Market specific

Although apps are still new territory for many, it is a global phenomenon that is rapidly developing and expanding. In the engineering industry, for example, apps range from the LuxCalc Fluid Prop – a mechanical engineering app that allows engineers to quickly and accurately calculate the thermophysical properties of common fluids found in heat transfer – to the Graphing Calculator – a useful tool for engineers and scientists as it turns an iPad into a high-resolution function plotter and scientific calculator. Similarly, apps for the civil engineer are very specific.

According to Dirk Odendaal, Technical Consultant at Lafarge, the use of apps in the civil engineering field is still rather limited to young engineers. “The number of available apps for civil engineers are also limited to only a handful,” he continues. “Apps such as the EngineeringDictionary, CAD 3D lite and Cngineering Calculators seem to make up the only apps available inthe Google App Store. The bulk of available apps aredirected atmechanical and fire engineers. How functional and easy they are to use, I’m unsure.”

Advancing technology

Locally, the most commonly used apps are those that support 3D drawings and online changes to these drawings, such as those available from AutoDesk. Two years ago Autodesk introduced the market to its Design and Creation Suites, with the Autodesk Infrastructure Design Suite specifically designed for Infrastructure projects. The Autodesk Design and Creation Suites help customers rapidly explore and visualise multiple design ideas, analyse and test ideas digitally, predict real-world performance at a fraction of the cost and access designs through the web or mobile devices, and collaborate from almost anywhere.

“The introduction of the Autodesk Design and Creation Suites to the market was one of the company’s most exciting developments for the engineering and construction industries,” says Marius Esterhuyze, major accounts manager at Autodesk. But the company didn’t stop there. By turning to Cloud computing, they took their online suite offering one step further. “Leveraging the Cloud was the next logical step in taking technology to the next level.Whether you realise it or not, you’ve probably been living – and working – in a Cloud for some time,” he comments. Autodesk 360 is a Cloud-based framework that provides customers with a powerful set of tools and services that can dramatically improve the way they work and share their work. “Something we see more and more with our competitors is that the more advanced technology gets, the more advanced computers and desktops are required to actually run the programmes. Why place the strain of heavy analysis or simulation on your desktop? In the case of Autodesk, we’re saying: let’s leverage the infinite computing power of the Cloud, upload designs to the Cloud, run your analysis and simulation in the Cloud, and take the strain of our desktops,” Esterhuyze further explains.

For the team at Autodesk, the approach is not limited to 3D designs – it extends to 4D and beyond. “We talk about 4D when we add the component of time; 5D when we add the component of cost; and 6D when we add the component of operation and maintenance to the design model.”

Easy does it

Regardless of the type of app used, there is a common denominator that ties engineering apps together: simplicity. “I don’t know the apps that engineers regularly use, but I feel whatever they are, it has to be user-friendly,” states Mike Fisher, key account manager national construction at Lafarge. “For example, the road guys use a real-time web-based app to monitor weather conditions in order to properly plan for stabilisation. If this data could be consolidated into a smart device app, then it would be great. Another thing that could work is an app that allows users to make updates in the project chain, such as physical pole markers that measure distance alongside a road. Markers could be built into an app so users could insert notes, GPS coordinates and instructions at specific points along a project.”

For Odendaal, he couldn’t agree more. “Apps that allow me to post comments and questions to a large audience have made my life a whole lot easier, mainly because I receive a range of responses from a variety of individuals around the world – individuals who have dealt with a similar problem. This allows me to make a better judgment call on an issue,” he says reassuringly. “Is there is a market or an opportunity for apps that can make an engineer’s life easier?Then the answer is definitely ‘yes’. Apps containing material properties, material selection procedures, and material availability would undoubtedly be of value to any engineer.”