As you could guess from its name, Engineering Power Tools is an engineers’ oriented application. Two version of the software are available: STANDARD EDITION and PLUS EDITION. Here, we will be covering the PLUS edition. There are no many differences between them though. The application basically consists in a huge electronic collection of engineering utilities that can be used to solve, in an efficient and fast manner, a large variety of normally encountered engineering problems. Engineers know very well that sometimes they have to solve many times almost the same problems with minor differences, being the tools and procedures to do that the same. That’s why it’s very useful for them to have at hand the formulas, constants and algorithms, frequently used.
We’re going to summarize as short as possible, the main characteristics and reasons why you could be interested in buying this piece of software:
• It’s a fast, providing immediate access to more than 70 utilities and data sheets.
• It’s a well organized tool since its utilities are efficiently categorized with drop-down menus.
• It’s a very intuitive application which uses a typical graphic interface. This shortens up the learning process, increasing efficiency.
• It’s Powerful, solving very complex multi-step problems quickly with minimal input.
• It helps you save the time you usually use to gather formulas and to manually calculate results.
• It’s prepared to run on a network from one central location.
The first entry to the Engineering Power Tools can be really surprising and you could keep waiting for the program to finish opening. By what you see is all you’re going to get, a simple menu showing the categories in which the utilities are organized. The action begins when you choose one utility to use and the application opens up the corresponding interface and dialog to work. Nearly all option in the drop down menus will trigger a program module for a specific task.
Here’s a list of the groups that the Engineering Power Tools uses to organize the utilities:
• Math: shape areas, conversion factors, engineering constants, triangle calculations, and else.
• HVAC: flow calculations, blowers, solar radiation, pipe sizing, safety ventilation, and else.
• Mechanical: belt conveyor calculation, drill sizes, fastener torque, stress and deflection, v-belt drives, and else.
• Electrical: wire tables, Ohm’s law calculations, electrical motor, and else.
• Materials: mechanical, physical and thermal properties of materials, coefficient of frictions, pipe and tubing, among others.
• Structural: aluminum and steel shapes characteristics.
You can get an evaluation copy of Engineering Power Tools – in either version (Standard or Plus) free of charge, to use it for a 30 days period. If the program fits your needs and you want to buy the license, there are several ways to do it: on-line, by phone, by fax, and using postal mail. The price you are paying depends on the License Type you choose. Two options are offered:
- Single-User License: allows one copy of the software to be used on any machine by one individual at a time. In this case, the license price is $49.95
- Limited Site License: allows up to 30 individuals to use the software simultaneously, either on individual machines, or by accessing the software over a Local Area Network. Users accessing the software over a network must be physically located at the licensed site. In this case, the license price is $ 149.95