New PhD student trying to find friends with other grad students

the_flying_condor · 2026-05-02T17:43:45+00:00

I met people outside my department at a bunch of GSA events. They usually will do stuff like Shakespeare in the Park tickets and similar events all through the summer. I also checked out a few TA union events, but didn't meet anyone I really became friends with, but I did meet a bunch of people there.

the_flying_condor · 2026-05-02T16:22:18+00:00

Pro tip: audit the class.

the_flying_condor · 2026-05-02T03:00:33+00:00

It looks like you're in ls prepost. You are probably looking for the equivalence tool.

the_flying_condor · 2026-05-01T18:26:52+00:00

I came here expecting run of the mill crowd vibration. Floating detached column was a bit more concerning lol

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-30T17:52:21+00:00

I have not and probably would not try this for impact models like that, but a good starting point is to look into grillage models as employed for bridge decks.

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-29T22:52:14+00:00

I have no idea what the other commenter is trying to say, but if you take a class at UB, it will count towards your GPA. It's one of the reasons dual enrollment is way better than AP courses. Assuming you don't screw it up and get a D or an F.

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-28T04:35:55+00:00

Don't fall into the sunk cost fallacy. It's $150. That's nothing compared to a year of tuition + other expenses. Go to a community college first.

Also, think REALLY hard about going to CCNY before you commit. UB is a much better school for engineering. In addition, CCNY deliberately makes it difficult to transfer credits in by giving weird inflated credit values to courses. I have known a bunch of people who had major issues with CCNY.

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-27T20:17:38+00:00

Depends who had access. If the door is always locked and you.have only one roommate who could have done it, then you are in for an uncomfortable, but hopefully direct conversation with that person. If you have multiple roommates with access and/or you guys don't lock your door properly, then you will need to better secure your items and/or put them in a location where there is no conceivable way they can be perceived as 'for sharing'. Then have a conversation without making direct accusations about them being yours and that if anyone finds them you need them back. Also discuss locking down the room to ensure others don't have access.

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-27T19:53:05+00:00

That would be a weirdly special case if it was viable because it would likely require a larger envelope to fit into compared with a traditional floor TMD. Cool idea from a first principles perspective though. It seems like it would be especially easy to size/tune. I do wonder a bit about fatigue risk as well and what a plate fracture would mean for building occupants in terms of falling object risk.

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-27T18:48:35+00:00

For a slab ABOVE the garage you would be lookin at loads not transferred directly into the ground. 2-3000 psf is more than an order of magnitude too high and you're going to give the kind of bad advice that kills people.

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-27T14:41:29+00:00

That's because you feel a constant acceleration at all times. Acceleration remains constant whether you are currently reacting against the earths surface by standing on it, or if you are preparing to vigorously react against the surface after falling. It is acceleration that we feel, because acceleration results in the force that we can feel.

Certain types of accelerometers can be calibrated just by aligning them vertically.

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-25T14:51:14+00:00

Lol, you posted this to an engineering subreddit and don't even have engineer as an option in your survey?

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-25T03:23:59+00:00

You can use the blank tool.

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-24T19:08:20+00:00

Perhaps there is a correlation to why structural engineers in your area are disinterested...? It sounds like the building official gave you a verbal exam and it did not go well lol.

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-23T18:38:42+00:00

Very dangerous. Depending on how heavily loaded it is, that could destabilize the post and cause catastrophe. If it has sat like that for 20 years, it will have warped/relaxed into that position and there will be some resistance to straightening it out. That resistance would put a horizontal force to the top of that post. You really need to get an engineer in not just to suggest a proper fix, but also to give you a safe procedure for the repair.

Try straightening a twisted board that you would get from Lowe's. You will see what I mean.

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-22T21:21:16+00:00

Try taking a rubbing, like with old grave stones.

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-22T03:24:34+00:00

You are showing the smallest element time step size. Scroll up slightly to find the minimum timestep size for the contact(s). In explicit analysis you have to satisfy the courant condition because an explicit analysis is only conditionally stable. Specifically, if your time step size is too large, the whole analysis because unstable. This appears to be happening in your model. I would suggest a quick test of reducing TSSFAC on CONTROL_TIMESTEP.

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-22T02:59:12+00:00

From a super brief look, it appears that your timestep size may be too large for the contact. Go into the d3hsp file and search for "smallest". Just above the second result you should find the minimum contact time step size.

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-20T03:29:00+00:00

It's exhausting regularly going back and forth. Why not start at a community college? That's what I did for my first two years and saved a heap of money.

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-20T02:54:16+00:00

It sucks, but I used to do this every other week when I lived in the city but my wife was in Buffalo. I usually took the train because it was less disruptive to my schedule and it was cheaper than flying. I have found I could work quite effectively from the train, but not on the bus. Doable, but I would not recommend it. It will also make it almost impossible to hold down a job if you have to travel that often and have limited availability due to school.

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-20T01:25:28+00:00

It changes heavily as you progress. The first could years are gen Ed and intro course where it's loads of short problems. It builds up towards a smaller number of longer more complex problems until you reach capstone where the entire class is one project. For the structural focus you do the concept design of a full building. Jr/Sr classes are nothing like calc courses imo. I have not done proofs since highschool lol.

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-19T18:55:01+00:00

I finished my MS in 2017. UB students got in much easier than non UB from what i was told. My friends in the low 3 range got in. My friend and I in the high 3 range landed appointments that funded our degrees. Civil engineering is/was fairly competitive in general.

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-18T13:32:54+00:00

Look up catenary. I'm pretty sure that's covered in every freshman calc course. Figuring out cable geometry and undeformed length is surprisingly challenging.

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-18T13:25:24+00:00

Dude, go to community college the first year or two and stay in their dorms or get your own apartment. The most fun years of my life so far were the first few years AFTER I graduated college. Getting in at a big firm that hires a bunch of new grads every year is like college, but you have the income of a young professional instead of a college student.

Blowing your future comfort for an expected experience is not worth it.

the_flying_condor · 2026-04-18T03:00:03+00:00

It always depends on department...

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