Interesting example for versatile usage of MathCAD

I am preparing a modeling exercise that requires evaluation of 'water balances' ... I found some nifty code at the EPA website for looking at different models for infiltation ...

http://www.epa.gov/ada/csmos/ninflmod.html

Has anyone else bought into the notion of using MathCAD since it was mentioned in the 10k thread?

JR

jregieng said:

I am preparing a modeling exercise that requires evaluation of 'water balances' ... I found some nifty code at the EPA website for looking at different models for infiltation ...
http://www.epa.gov/ada/csmos/ninflmod.html

Has anyone else bought into the notion of using MathCAD since it was mentioned in the 10k thread?

JR

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MathCAD is great. It's really powerful. I just wish I had the time to learn it better to take advantage of more features.

I noted your link referred to MCAD 6.0 and 7.0. They're up to at least Ver. 14 (that we're running) in case you didn't know.

MA_PE said:

MathCAD is great. It's really powerful. I just wish I had the time to learn it better to take advantage of more features.

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I am having to do a few things that require others to follow easily, so MathCAD makes sense especially since I can hotlink the results and graphs. It's a tool - just like everything else we do.

I also have a Crayola Color Explosion pad on my desk. There are some days where that works better.

MA_PE said:

I noted your link referred to MCAD 6.0 and 7.0. They're up to at least Ver. 14 (that we're running) in case you didn't know.

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I am using an older version (personal version) - I probably need to work on the company purchasing a copy for me.

JR

jregieng said:

I am using an older version (personal version) - I probably need to work on the company purchasing a copy for me.

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definitely the way to go. It ain't cheap.

I was at a Pro/E conference where they showed it and I tried to think of a way to justify asking for it at work... couldn't come up with anything.

^^^ I had the opportunity to point out the functionality of MathCAD to my supervisor and dropped some of my dope, mad skillz ... and he said he thinks he can budget me a license!!! :bananapowerslide:

:w00t:

JR

jregieng said:

^^^ I had the opportunity to point out the functionality of MathCAD to my supervisor and dropped some of my dope, mad skillz ... and he said he thinks he can budget me a license!!! :bananapowerslide:
:w00t:

JR

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Excellent!

I just figured out how to vectorize, and I like it.

Paul S said:

Excellent!
I just figured out how to vectorize, and I like it.

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Awesome Paul!!!

In your line of work, being able to readily embed images or schematics in-line with analysis would go a long way, I would think.

One of the things I will be doing soon is some vectorization of my own to show differences in force components and how they evovle over a period of time, so I can tell a story.

JR

MathCAD is especially nice for in-line documentation. We have a fairly complicated model that a summer intern re-implemented in MathCAD a few years ago. It was in Excel/Visual Basic before and virtually no one could modify it when required. It took well over an hour to run. Now it's very easy to figure out what to change, and it runs in 3-4 minutes. It has very clear documentation/plots throughout and tells the user exactly what to do to modify the model.

I prefer Matlab for most tasks involving matrices/arrays but it's not nearly as easy for a novice to be able to pick up and use. MathCAD programming does take some getting used to. I have a Quick Reference card at my desk that comes in handy.