Integrating cross-disciplinary tools
Why We Created This website
This website grew from a project assigned through an Engineering Communications class at Cornell University. As current students, we saw that in the engineering school there was an increasing need for computational programs to solve complex problems inside and outside the classroom. Much of the time the instruction needed to use these programs would not be taught or simply glossed over in class, leaving students to fend for themselves. It was very difficult to find outside help and students in many cases would have to turn to documentation that was messy and hard to follow.
Additionally, it seemed that these programs were being used exclusively for their respective majors, with little crossover into other engineering disciplines. We believe that all engineers could benefit from learning these tools and using them in their own classes and projects!
Pandas Documentation Difficult to Navigate for New Users
A Common Example Problem in Physics: Wavefunction of a Three-Dimensional Particle in a Box
As a result, our team selected two programs. In particular, we chose Mathematica and pandas, which we believed were applicable to engineers across the entire College of Engineering, and wrote our own beginners guide for each. These guides provide everything you need whether you are just starting out or simply need a reference to brush up on your understanding. We then provided a case study of how these two programs can be used in conjunction to solve a real-world engineering problem.
Why Mathematica & pandas
Mathematica is a fantastic computational tool for solving mathematical problems that would be impossible to complete by hand. Not only can it do simple calculations like manipulating matrices, Mathematica can also integrate complex functions, perform statistical analyses, and much more--functionalities that are invaluable to the two physicists in our group.
Pandas is geared more towards the field of data science. A software package used with the python programming language, it is a great tool for the operations research engineers in our group for large data manipulation and analysis. It offers data structures that allow for manipulating numerical tables and performing transformations.
Bjorn Kvaale
Bjorn is a senior in ORIE at Cornell. He is an avid 49ers fan and enjoys playing hockey, skiing, and soccer. In his free time he enjoys playing video games and watching movies. He hopes to get an M.Eng. in Financial Engineering after he graduates.
Chloe Washabaugh
Chloe is a senior engineering physics student at Cornell. Her current research in quantum information science focuses on the transduction of information between different degrees of freedom in molecular quantum systems. Outside of the lab, Chloe is a TA and a captain of the Cornell Speech Team. In her free time, she likes to sew, run, and practice Filipino martial arts.
Chris Tyerech
Chris is a senior engineering physics student at Cornell. He is an avid Mets fan and enjoys playing baseball, basketball, and golf. In his free time he enjoys hiking, playing board games, and reading. He hopes to work in the healthcare field and has an interest in radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging.
Zach Katz
Zach is a senior in ORIE at Cornell. He enjoys biking, hiking, stargazing, and road trips. He hopes to get an M.Eng. in ORIE after he graduates.