The Future of Engineering Apps | Careers in Engineering
March 27th, 2013One of the nice things about mobile apps is the convenience they provide to a variety of technical disciplines, including music creation and software development. Traditional engineering is no different; a variety of useful engineering apps enhance the daily work of engineers in the field.
As mobile development becomes more prevalent with more software engineers moving over from desktop platforms, expect the quality and efficacy of engineering apps to continue to improve. Electrical and civil engineers currently enjoy a wide variety of apps, and while there aren’t as many available for mechanical engineers, that number is currently on the rise.
iPhone Mechanical Engineering Apps Provide Value and Convenience
Despite the relative lack of mechanical engineering apps on the iPhone compared to their electrical and civil brethren, there are still a few on the iTunes App Store worth checking out. One such app is called Mechanical Engineer, and it sports a collection of over 300 mechanical engineering formulas, including 300 conversion formulas and 70 area formulas. The interface fits perfectly on the iPhone, and as a universal app, it looks great on the iPad as well.
AutoCAD users need to check out AutoCAD WS which allows the viewing, sharing and editing of drawing files on both the iOS and Android platforms, as well as the web. Despite being a mobile app, AutoCAD WS also features a decent subset of the functionality found on the desktop version of the software.
The Future of Engineering Apps Remains Bright
By 2015, the mobile application market is slated to grow to $25 billion, an increase of nearly $20 billion compared to 2010. As software engineers get used to programming for mobile devices, and cross-platform tools mature, expect a growing number of engineering apps on the iOS, Android, and even the Windows 8 platforms.
With younger engineers continuing to enjoy higher productivity through the use of apps, it stands to reason that their valuable feedback will improve the quality of future generations of engineering apps.
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