Link to article: https://eng.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_Engineering/CAD_Skills_for_First-Year_Engineers%3A_A_Hands-On_Guide_to_Sketching_Drafting_and_Prototyping/02%3A_Modularity/2.01%3A_What_Is_Modular_Design Note: The image above was taken from: https://www.designboom.com/architecture/buildner-competitions-revolutionize-housing-architecture-modular-design-archdaily-05-07-2024/ The article linked above is about modular design. I am going to provide an example

Link to article: https://ctherm.com/resources/newsroom/blog/what-is-thermal-conductivity/ Note: The image above was taken from the original article. The article linked above is about thermal conductivity. We should first start by defining this term. Thermal conductivity is basically a number that tells you how easily a material will be able to transfer heat to something else. Let’s now think about a real life example: if you placed your hand on a metal sheet versus a wooden

Link to article: https://randrmanufacturing.com/blog/the-three-types-of-fit/ Note: The image above was taken from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QuVB012loc This article talks about fit. There are three types of fit in engineering: clearance, interference, and transition fit. Our simplified version here will go through all three types of fit and break down what each of them mean. Before I get into each one, I will quickly talk about why fit is important. When engineers ha

Link to article: https://engineerscanada.ca/news-and-events/news/iterative-process-in-engineering-benefits-of-pivoting-resetting-or-starting-fresh Note: The image above was taken from the original article. The article linked above talks about iteration, which in my opinion, is probably the most important concept in all of engineering. Iteration means repeating specific steps in the design processes so that you can improve your design. Oftentimes, you will be going back into

Link to article: https://www.iflscience.com/why-are-pencils-hexagonal-79206 Note: The image above was taken from the original article. The above article talks about a question that I feel many people don’t ask: why are pencils a hexagonal shape? I mean, they could be a cubical shape, or perfectly circular, but no. They are hexagonal. Why is this? One of the reasons why the hexagonal shape is applied to pencils is because the hexagonal shape just feels better in your hands.

Link to article: https://99percentinvisible.org/article/canny-design-cylindrical-cans-combine-best-spheres-cubes/ Note: The image above was taken from the original article. The article linked above talks about the science behind soda cans. Yes, I am talking about soda cans that you drink Sprite or Coca Cola out of. Have you ever wondered why these cans are cylindrical? Why aren’t they just a rectangular prism or in a triangle shape? It turns out, there is a reason why the c

Link to article: https://www.atlassian.com/agile/project-management/gantt-chart Note: The image above was taken from the original article. The article linked above talks about Gantt charts! A Gantt chart is basically a calendar that lets you plan out the timeline of a project. While working on the project, you can compare your progress to the schedule that you set up on the Gantt chart. This chart will essentially include what exactly you will be doing over certain periods

Link to article: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12065106/ Note: The image above was taken from the original article. I have simplified articles that talk about microbial fuel cells before on this website. I have covered what they are/how they work, in addition to current research going on to improve microbial fuel cells. If you have not read those yet, I highly recommend that you do so first so that you understand the context of this simplified article. The articl

Link to article: https://astromachineworks.com/what-is-reverse-engineering/ Note: The above image was taken from the original article. The article linked above talks about reverse engineering. You can kind of figure out what reverse engineering is just by the name; it is the process of taking apart finished products to figure out the components of that product and how that product was built. Most engineers work like this: they think of an idea, they research potential solut

Link to article: https://www.machinedesign.com/learning-resources/whats-the-difference-between/document/21834474/whats-the-difference-between-conduction-convection-and-radiation Note: The image above was taken from the original article. The article linked above talks about conduction, convection, and radiation. Understanding the difference between these three topics is practical for engineering because all three of these concepts deal with heat, specifically heat transfer.

Link to article: https://spikeelectric.com/what-is-difference-between-voltage-current/ Note: The above image was taken from the original article. The article linked above talks about the difference between voltage and current, which is an important concept to understand if you want to go into electrical engineering. Voltage and current are, in my opinion, two of the most important concepts when learning about electricity. I’ll start with voltage. The unit for voltage is th

Link to article: https://www.uscargocontrol.com/blogs/blog/tension-vs-compression-force-whats-the-difference?srsltid=AfmBOopZvoKjWVnt2rhuCM1Ao-A4VLtgO3u2ZBartJmsTibc8pegJic2 Note: The image above was taken from the original article. The article linked above talks about the difference between tension and compression. I have already simplified an article that deals with tension force, and that simplified article can be found under the physics tab. If you want to learn more ab

Link to article: https://steminthemiddle.net/the-role-of-criteria-and-constraints-in-the-engineering-design-process/ Note: The above image was taken from: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Engineering-Design-Constraints-and-Criteria-EDITABLE-4190035 The article linked above is about criteria vs. constraints! It is very difficult to categorize what is a criteria and what is a constraint, but hopefully our simplification of that article will help you do just that.

Link to article: https://phys.libretexts.org/Courses/Georgia_State_University/GSU-TM-Physics_I_(2211)/06%3A_Mass_and_Inertia/6.04%3A_Center_of_Mass Note: The image above was taken from the original article. The article linked above is about the center of mass! This concept can probably go under physics, but it is still crucial to understand in engineering, so I put it in this category. So, what is the center of mass? It is the point in an object where all of that object’s m

Link to article: https://www.hellobonsai.com/blog/what-is-a-design-brief Note: The image above was taken from: https://www.scribd.com/doc/244262707/design-brief The article linked above talks about design briefs. What is a design brief? It is a document that basically lists everything you need to know about a project. It includes what the project should accomplish, who it is for, the criteria, the constraints, the problem statement, the design statement, the schedule, you

Link to article: https://asq.org/quality-resources/decision-matrix?srsltid=AfmBOoqAO9-C5jY26FiacdghO50e73nCxGBtr8qsIxzaa4NxLNYhsX25 Note: The image above was taken from the original article. The article linked above talks about decision matrixes! These are very important when you need to pick one choice out of many possible choices, and they can be set up in a lot of different ways. You specifically use a decision matrix when you have many possible designs but you don’t k

Link to article: https://dovetail.com/product-development/engineering-design-process/ Note: The image above was taken from: https://hartzleruniversity.weebly.com/11-design-basics.html The article linked above talks about the engineering design process. In my personal opinion, the engineering design process is one of the most important concepts and ideas to understand if you want to be an engineer because it essentially acts as an outline for all projects. There are variou

Link to article: https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/BridgeValley_Community_and_Technical_College/Consumer_Chemistry/05%3A_Solids_and_Liquids/5.02%3A_Phase_Transitions_-_Melting%2C_Boiling%2C_and_Subliming Note: The image above was taken from the original article. Matter is always changing to different states of matter. Ice melts into water, water boils into steam(gas), and frost can form on a cold window. Even though these are just a few examples, there are many more phase

Link to article: https://phys.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/University_Physics/University_Physics_(OpenStax)/University_Physics_III_-_Optics_and_Modern_Physics_(OpenStax)/06%3A_Photons_and_Matter_Waves/6.03%3A_Photoelectric_Effect Note: The image above was taken from the original article. The article linked above talks about the photoelectric effect! In my opinion, this is one of the most fascinating topics in physics, and the photoelectric effect is usually taught with nucle

Link to article: https://physics.bu.edu/~duffy/semester2/c28_lenses.html Note: The image above is from the original article. The article linked above talks about mirrors and lenses. I am not going to get into the mirror and lens equations, but rather, this simplified article is going to act as a cheat sheet for solving mirror and lens problems. When studying mirrors and lenses, you will frequently run into problems along the lines of “if I have a mirror and the focal p