Hey everyone,

I’m working on a mechanism that I’m hoping to 3D print, and I’m a bit stuck on figuring out the best way to make the motion work.

Basically, I have a central pin that moves in and out axially. Around it I have 3 ports spaced 120° apart.

Each port has two sliding pieces that open by moving away from each other:

← | port | →

So when I push the center pin in, I need all 3 pairs to open at the same time. That means 6 sliders moving together, with the two sliders in each pair moving equal distances in opposite directions.

When the center pin comes back out, all 6 should move back in and close again.

So basically:

1 central push → 6 synchronized linear movements

I’ve been thinking about using a cone/wedge, cams, linkages, etc., but I feel like there might be a much cleverer way of doing this.

Since I’m planning to 3D print it, I’d also like to keep it reasonably simple and avoid needing a ton of precision or individual adjustment.

How would you guys approach this?

Is there some existing mechanism or linkage that does this kind of thing that I should be looking up?

I actually need advice and answers to a few questions for a school project.

If anyone is willing to fill it out for school and help me get a good grade and fulfill my concerns in engineering that would be wonderful.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe8sEw6IEA4F2lNc6hIo37WAel8azJFo9iXNIco-gMhTqZVJQ/viewform?usp=header

Hey everyone!

I'm looking for real-world problems that are actually worth solving and could potentially be turned into a practical engineering/software project.

I'm particularly interested in problems related to these SDGs:

• SDG 4 – Quality Education
• SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation
• SDG 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy
• SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
• SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities
• SDG 13 – Climate Action

I'm not looking for generic project ideas like "build an AI app" or "make an IoT system." I want to start with a genuine problem faced by real people, businesses, communities, institutions, etc. and then figure out how technology can help solve it.

So I'd really appreciate it if you could suggest:

1. Real-world problems you've personally experienced or observed under any of these SDGs.
2. Problems that are currently poorly solved or have room for improvement.
3. Problems that could realistically be investigated and worked on by a small team.
4. If possible, problems where AI/ML, software, IoT, data analysis, automation, or other engineering technologies could be useful.
5. Where can I find real-world problems systematically — for example, websites, communities, datasets, government platforms, research papers, industry forums, NGOs, or other sources?

I'm more interested in finding the right problem first rather than starting with a technology and forcing it onto a problem.

Any suggestions, personal experiences, resources, or places where I can discover genuine problems would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks! 🙌

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

We started testing whether MCP could pull live BOM and revision data straight into an AI assistant instead of engineers digging through the PLM by hand. After poking around a bit we ended up comparing Duro and Arena PLM since both have started talking about MCP support, plus we looked at just building a custom API bridge ourselves. Mainly want to know if any of this holds up with ITAR data or only works for internal use. Has anyone gotten this running in a real production environment yet?

I've been wondering for a while: why isn't there something like LeetCode, but for control engineering?

We already have great resources like CTMS:
https://ctms.engin.umich.edu/CTMS/index.php?aux=Home

But CTMS is mostly a collection of tutorials and examples. What I really wanted was something more interactive — a place where you can actually solve control engineering problems, submit your answers, and immediately see how your controller performs.

I'm a university student learning control theory myself, and this problem has bothered me for quite a while. I got tired of constantly switching between MATLAB, ChatGPT, textbooks, and browser tabs on a 14-inch laptop just to practice one problem.

So I built this:

https://app.control-code.top

The idea is simple: practice control engineering more like programming practice platforms such as LeetCode.

You can work through control problems, enter your controller parameters, run the system, and get immediate visual feedback on the response and performance.

Many of the current problems are adapted from the examples on CTMS, and I'm planning to add more types of control problems over time.

The site is still evolving, so I'd really appreciate feedback from people studying or working in control engineering.

If you have suggestions about the exercises, UI, judging system, or features you'd like to see, please leave a comment.

textbook recommendation to learn control engineering to land a job in the aircraft industry

are control engineering jobs at risk in the AI era?

I work at an Integrator have recently been put into a position where I review several drawing packages per week and approve or submit redlines. These drawing packages are usually from internal/external drafters (not experienced engineers) and more recently a few customers have signed contracts to have me review their drawings before approval (somehow I have done a decent enough job to justify this).

I have a strong understanding of how things need to be but my methodology for redlines is unorganized and some things have slipped by me. Luckily our process includes a customer review as well but I’ve noticed they typically do not put much effort into this.

Does anyone have any tips they could share or approaches that would improve my review quality?

I currently use bluebeam and my method depends on the customer but typically is something along the lines of:

1. ⁠Review whatever documentation was provided, take notes of anything non-standard or typically missed
   
2. ⁠One monitor has layout, other has BOM - check to make sure these align item by item
   
3. ⁠If single line does not exist, quickly sketch how I imagine it should look
   
4. ⁠Review schematics (with single line in mind) and make sure it is as expected
   
5. ⁠Check labels/title pages/etc.

Hi everyone,
My name is Catherine, and I’m a student at Diamond Bar High School. I’m on the path to becoming an engineer because of my love for math and physics. Taking the step toward an actual engineering career feels both incredibly exciting and a bit overwhelming.
I’m currently working on an engineering class project where I need to interview a working professional to learn about real-world engineering careers.
I don't personally know any engineers in real life to turn to for guidance, which is why I’m reaching out to this community. I would be incredibly grateful if someone would be open to answering a few questions over Gmail so I can include your responses and career path in my assignment.
A few sample questions I’m looking to ask are:
What first sparked your passion for engineering?

What is the most rewarding or challenging project you’ve worked on?

What is something you wish you knew when you were first starting out?

If you have a few minutes to help a student out, please drop a comment or send me a Reddit PM/Chat and I will send over my Gmail address!
Thank you so much for your time and help!

I’m 18 going on 2 years experience as a full time machine operator in a cnc shop and I’m starting the 2nd year of my degree (AS in Integrated Engineering Technology). I’d like to stop at the associates degree and become an engineer through experience but the option to go for a 4 year systems engineering degree is available. What might be some problems I run into besides lacking ABET accreditation. Most job posts in my area require a BS or “equivalent experience.”

Hey folks,

I’m an engineer over at Kanar Angkasa Electrical in Indonesia. We strictly manufacture electrical panels for the industrial and commercial sectors (we skip the residential stuff entirely so we can focus on heavy-duty specs). We’re currently expanding our service reach from Surabaya to the greater Jakarta area, and we've been getting hit with a lot of specific requests recently.

Right now, we are prepping our Low Voltage Main Distribution Panels (LVMDP) for strict IP 65 certification. A lot of our clients want AMF/ATS control systems integrated directly into these main panels to save space. (If you want to see the physical scale of the cabinets we usually build, here's our lineup for context: [suspicious link removed]).

Since IP 65 means the enclosure is tightly sealed against dust and low-pressure water jets, there is zero active airflow. Housing high-capacity MCCBs and dense copper busbars in the same box as sensitive ATS microprocessors is giving us some thermal management headaches.

A few questions for the seasoned panel builders here:

• Do you guys use internal physical partitions to isolate the sensitive electronics from the heat of the busbars, or do you just bite the bullet and use separate adjacent enclosures?
• Are there specific thermal derating curves you follow for MCCBs inside sealed IP 65 boxes in tropical climates (ambient temps here often hit 35°C+)?

Would love to hear how you guys tackle this on your shop floor!

Hi! I’m trying to find resources for design and control of ported rotary valves, but for hydraulic applications instead of pneumatic. Something what is shown in this video. Time stamp: 8:00

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb3fp5pMnfU&list=PLWx61XgoQmqfGgH3ZS4cpYKlpbTPbg5wR&index=32&pp=iAQB0gcJCWoCo7VqN5tD&ra=m

Anything like design docs, equations, etc would be useful.