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http://www.bcit.ca/appliedresearch/gait/projects/scada.shtml

give these guys a phone call, if their tool sucks for you, I'm sure they can give you some pointers

enjoy

I'm currently taking an Environmental Engineering degree at BCIT in British Columbia. Five years ago, I took the Mechanical Engineering Technology diploma there. During my first program, we always joked that the difference between a mechanical engineer fresh out of university and a mechanical technologist fresh out of BCIT was that, although both could design a machine, the former could understand exactly why every part of it functioned, down to the quantum level, while the BCIT grad could find the ON switch.

When I got out of school, I was productive from day one. Not as productive as I was after six months, by any means, but I understood enough theory to do any design work the company needed me to, but I could also talk to the shop guys on their terms, understanding why they disagreed with the engineers on certain matters--and why one or the other was right in each case.

My current degree is proving to be much the same. We're not learning as much in-depth theory as a Masters student in Environmental Engineering would (even though this is a Bachelor's degree, the general level compares to the Master's-level studies two of my classmates have taken in other countries), but we're learning skills that we will be able to apply immediately when we graduate--mainly because our instructors are current industry professionals (more P.Eng's than Ph.D's) who take time away from work to come teach a class.

So what's the route to a high-quality Engineering education?

• Instructors, not professors - The last thing you need is some ivory-tower academic who hasn't had a real job since slide rules were cutting edge technology. Find a school where the faculty not only works closely with industry, they are industry. This also gives you valuable employment connections.
• Short programs - Forget the four-year ordeal that gives you nothing but a huge debt and a head full of fluff. Take a short program that will give you a lesser credential and some real skills. Go back to school to upgrade your credential later. The practical experience you will gain will be well worth the extra time.
• Forget the fluff! - You only need so much theory. For example, I learned enough Thermodynamics in my Mechanical Design diploma to design heat exchangers and related devices. Unlike a former co-worker (a university grad), I could not describe the quantum physics of the airflow over the heat exchanger. But how many employers want to hear about quantum physics? They just want you to design the damned heat exchanger!

You don't have to make a binary choice between being a master engineer and being a wrench monkey. There are schools out there that will turn you into a competent designer (in whatever discipline they specialize) without requiring a third mortgage and a second brain implant. If you're in Canada, polytechnic institutes are becoming more common as technical colleges start offering more degree-level programs. The only problem, of course, is that enrollment tends to be limited, so you need a good combination of marks and experience just to get in. But that's really no different than getting into a prestigious university.

You mean radon. Radium is a solid which glows noticeably, as illustrated by the famous photograph that Marie Curie took when she isolated radium from a huge amount (three tons) of pitchblend.

This comes as the British Columbia Institute of Technology, or BCIT, is about to introduce its own Mechanical Engineering degree for those who have completed the two-year Mecanical Design diploma. Previously, the only way for a Mechanical Technology graduate at BCIT to finish his Engineering degree in two years was to transfer to Lakehead.

Let's look at the pros and cons of finishing your degree at Lakehead as compared to BCIT:

Pros:

• Well-established degree program

Cons:

• Summer school bridge program required
• No wireless Internet
• A tin-foil-hat president
• Moving from Vancouver, BC to Thunder Bay, Ontario for two consecutive winters

Anyone else see a slight enrolment falloff coming?

could you explain how the magnetic flux of a permanent magnet retains the same strength over time

The gravitational attraction of a given mass of matter also remains constant over time (proton decay notwithstanding), but I would also ridicule any PMM based on known gravitational forces.

Keeping an open mind does not preclude rejecting extraordinary claims (unless there is correspondingly extraordinary evidence, which is clearly lacking here).

Be careful what you dismiss as pseudoscience

Good advice indeed -- but given that the inventor claims something that has never been demonstrated in a reliable or repeatable way, and has huge reams of both experimental and theoretical evidence against it, and has furthermore been repeatedly used in hoaxes and frauds over the years...

May I suggest easily-google-able sites detailing the unworkability of PMM's in general, and electromagnetically-based ones in particular:

http://www.phact.org/e/z/freewire.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_motion_mach ine
http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/museum/unwork.htm
http://www.kilty.com/pmotion.htm
http://www.phact.org/e/dennis4.html
http://burtleburtle.net/bob/physics/whythere.html
http://commons.bcit.ca/physics/rjw/pmm/text/em_pmm s.htm

<bitter>It doesn't say what year these students were, but here is a game I worked on second year at BCIT (a CS course obviously). It was networked with nice graphics, sound, physics, a nice level designer and even pretty fun to play. All I got for it was a good grade.</bitter>

A.The cable company. My basic cable package is about 20 bucks for 28 channels. On top of the basic package there is only one other station that I would like and that's the space channel. But can you buy just one station from the cable company? Nope you have to buy a package that includes your desired station. In my case the package is 15 dollars and has one station that I want and about 9 stations that are useless to me.(Needless to just keep the basic package instead of paying an extra 15 dollars for mostly crap).

By the way, the recording industry in Canada has managed to lobby a 20% levy [cb-cda.gc.ca] on each blank CD-R that is sold (21 cents on a $1 CD). That eliminated the last moral reservations I had with copying music (now that the artists get my money anyway).

We recently had a co-op student working for us (fresh out of BCIT). It seems that the law classes in Canadian schools support your theory. He said that his business law prof confirmed that the levy legalizes copying and sharing music cd's in Canada.

I would like to say that school isn't always a bitch. My advice, don't go to a university to get technical knowledge. Universities teach you how to learn, tech schools teach you how to do. Example: I took a two year CST Diploma at BCIT majoring in Data Communications. When I was there I had numerous industry standard projects, as well as 2 projects actually working for local companies (like the CerfCube people at Intrinsyc) My older brother on the other hand took 4 years of commerce at UBC, worked 3 years as a loans officer at the bank of montreal, got pissed off with his job and is now taking what I took at BCIT. I enjoyed school so much, when I was there I had a job in computer resources, I had classes 6-8 hours a day, worked 12 hours a week, and stayed at school until at least midnight doing projects. Usually I ended up sleeping at school because going home was a waste of time. I landed the first job I asked for at a higher salary than I asked for, and every single person from my class got exactly what they wanted. Just the flip side to school being a bitch...