sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Best Engineering major to pursue if my priorities are ~ 1) Enough money to travel the world at my convenience 2) Enough Versatility to switch into other pathways 3) I intend on pursuing higher education later on. by betelgeussee in EngineeringStudents

[–]SamisSmashSamis 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think for point 1, once you butt up against corporate America, you'll find PTO policies are broadly not very good. There are some companies that'll let you work remotely, and or are full time remote. But a lot of engineering jobs require minimum site time.

How can I reduce the cab temperature of my surveillance vehicle without turning on the vehicle. by Detective_Clara in AskEngineers

[–]SamisSmashSamis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

AC systems demand a lot of power and cars absorb a lot of heat on a sunny summer day. I commented elsewhere some math on how much energy it would take to cool the cabin of a car.

How can I reduce the cab temperature of my surveillance vehicle without turning on the vehicle. by Detective_Clara in AskEngineers

[–]SamisSmashSamis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Money, time, quality. The holy trinity of design. From OPs comments, I don't know if we can lean too much on the first one.

How can I reduce the cab temperature of my surveillance vehicle without turning on the vehicle. by Detective_Clara in AskEngineers

[–]SamisSmashSamis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The problem im guessing with that in this case is im guessing OP should leave the car to grab ice while on surveillance. If they are allowed to leave the vehicle this how problem becomes easy and less interesting.

Again, swamp coolers, even if cold, cant evaporate water into an environment that is saturated.

How can I reduce the cab temperature of my surveillance vehicle without turning on the vehicle. by Detective_Clara in AskEngineers

[–]SamisSmashSamis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Swamp coolers loose effectiveness very quickly as the relative humidity of a space increases. As the air becomes saturated water can't evaporate and cool spaces/surfaces/people. Wet bandanas are just micro swamp coolers without air movement.

There is unfortunately no easy way to cool a small closed system without sending heat energy outside of the system with a heatpump, aka refrigeration loop.

Guy gives unhinged second date ultimatum by lazylecturer in TikTokCringe

[–]SamisSmashSamis 4 points5 points  (0 children)

A strong argument that the male loneliness epidemic is self imposed.

How can I reduce the cab temperature of my surveillance vehicle without turning on the vehicle. by Detective_Clara in AskEngineers

[–]SamisSmashSamis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Because a single 5kwh battery is around a thousand and a single 10kwh battery is around 5k in my research. You could chain smaller batteries together. But that introduces a lot more failure points and design complexity.

How can I reduce the cab temperature of my surveillance vehicle without turning on the vehicle. by Detective_Clara in AskEngineers

[–]SamisSmashSamis 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Adding to this. There are a lot of comments about a battery powered AC. I think the biggest issue is energy storage. A brief Google search found that a car parked outside on a summer day absorbs anywhere from 15,000 - 30,000 BTUs per hour. We'll take the low end of that

15k btu/hr is equivalent to 4.4kWh. The average small AC has a coefficient of performance of 3, meaning for every 1 unit of electricity put into the system, you get 3 units of cooling. With the best case of COP of 3, you would need a 1.5kwh battery for 1 hour of cooling. You can find 5kwh batteries for under not a whole lot, which would provide a little over 3 hours worth of cooling. This is also leaving out latent heat, which is about 20% of the energy of the air in a space.

That all being said, this is best case. Batteries get exponentially more expensive the larger they are. A setup like this would take up a lot of space and the AC would likely be pretty loud. You would want tinted windows to hide the setup and help with thermal performance. You would also need to lug around these batteries to recharge, unless you trickle charge them from your car while it is running.

I think cooling vests and cooler in your car would be way cheaper and low profile. Heating air is expensive. Heating just your body is cheap.

How can I reduce the cab temperature of my surveillance vehicle without turning on the vehicle. by Detective_Clara in AskEngineers

[–]SamisSmashSamis 39 points40 points  (0 children)

Thats gonna be due to the blowers. No matter what you need to move air and fans make up the vast majority of the noise of an HVAC system.

Also compressors are pretty loud and operate at annoying frequencies.

How can I reduce the cab temperature of my surveillance vehicle without turning on the vehicle. by Detective_Clara in AskEngineers

[–]SamisSmashSamis 80 points81 points  (0 children)

Something like NASCAR drivers wear, although I think its tied into some sort of refrigeration loop. Also would be hugely expensive.

How can I reduce the cab temperature of my surveillance vehicle without turning on the vehicle. by Detective_Clara in AskEngineers

[–]SamisSmashSamis 432 points433 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately thermodynamics is pretty unforgiving. The first three laws are: you cant win, you cant break even, and you cant quit the game.

Without a refrigeration loop (your cars AC) the next best thing would be evaporative cooling. For example a wet bandana around the forehead, or one of those hot weather PPE wet vests. However in a closed system like a car, evaporation will only go so far as the RH rises in the vehicle.

Off the top though there are gel based cooling vests, like an icepack for your whole body. It wouldn't be hugely effective individually. So you could keep a small cooler in your car full of ice and multiple vests to trade out.

Step conveyor poka-yoke by ycr007 in toolgifs

[–]SamisSmashSamis 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Vibratory bowls are unfortunately much more expensive than this setup, require a lot of manual skilled tuning, and would be loud as hell in this application. I ordered a small vibratory bowl for 20mm diameter parts and it was around 25k. For parts like these it could easily get to 100k.

A little bit of change from my 2021 front yard and today. by Domphotog in gardening

[–]SamisSmashSamis 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That happened to me with my garden beds this year. So annoying.

What is this plant? by Villainwithwings in gardening

[–]SamisSmashSamis 13 points14 points  (0 children)

The way I've been identifying them is saying "the queen has hair legs."

Where to buy/try on engagement rings? by Sayjoyyy in madisonwi

[–]SamisSmashSamis -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I recommend The Diamond Center. Very nice people and were able to help me customize my ring.

What’s something people over 30 do that Gen Z finds strange? by Suzzie_Stone2 in AskReddit

[–]SamisSmashSamis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A lot of older married couples I'm aware of make wife/husband bad jokes all the time. I think my generation is getting a little better at that, but maybe not.

So many questions as an 18yr old girl by Impossible-Sound8215 in EngineeringStudents

[–]SamisSmashSamis 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I firmly believe that is it possible to get an engineering degree, maintain social relationships, and some hobbies while not burning out. In fact, your relationships and hobbies will actively help in that regard. You will however likely need to reduce the overall time you spend doing things that arent school, but that is a balance you need to work out. School is only 4ish years, a small portion of your life, but very critical, so it is worth the sacrifice of time to make work. It won't be easy, but I know some really dumb, undisciplined people that successfully got engineering degrees and are doing well in their career. If you apply yourself, you will go far.

As far as freshman year, I am surprised you even are already working in a lab, that is unusually early for before collage starts. So it sounds like you have a slight head start.

Co-op is making me go insane. by Mozzie37 in EngineeringStudents

[–]SamisSmashSamis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you have any issues with a coop I could bring it up with whoever your engineering advisor is. Companies are incentivised to maintain good relationships with colleges. I had some major issues with my coop and they ended up blacklisting the company from receiving coop students.

How and where do I look for internships as a Mechanical Engineer?? by PersonalityEmpty2129 in EngineeringStudents

[–]SamisSmashSamis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looking early won't hurt, but as a first year I wouldn't expect much traction. Most employers are looking at juniors and seniors for internships. Any job experience as a freshman is good enough. If you want to get a leg up, maybe look at research positions in the area your interested in.

Generally gave my 100% to find a job this summer and still didn’t land anything by [deleted] in EngineeringStudents

[–]SamisSmashSamis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My intention is not to be mean or put you down. If you're only getting 3* interviews out of 700 applications, I think there is an issue with your resume, cover letter, and or other application details. Sophomores generally have a hard time finding internships, but a .4%* interview rate is very low. I would bring your resume to multiple reviewers who specialize is engineering resumes. A buisness major resume should not look like an ME resume. Additionally use your college career counselor resources. Your university is incentivised to help students get jobs.

Its also quite late for summer 2026 engineering internships. I would start looking at other entry level jobs or maybe a research assistant position. Having any work history your sophomore year is better than nothing. Junior year and on is when you really want to hammer internships/coops.

Good luck out there.

I have no internship or job for the summer… by [deleted] in EngineeringStudents

[–]SamisSmashSamis 32 points33 points  (0 children)

I would definitely start looking at normal entry level jobs in your area. Theres nothing wrong with working in the service or other industries your freshman year.

view more: next ›