Re: Economist vs. Engineer Message #7 Posted by papakanush on 25 Oct 2007, 2:04 p.m., in response to message #6 by DaveJ
There is an interesting observation at our office, which is an engineering company specializing in chemical plant design.
Every chemical engineer at our office has an HP48, 49, or 50g on their desk. There are a few TI-*?'s out there as well, but all programmable. Then, I notice that the other engineering disciplines in our office, which don't get out to plant start-up's and troubleshooting nearly as much as the chemical engineers do (like structural, vessel, mechanical, instrument) which, for the most part, just have a simpler HP calculator on their desk. In the office, sure, I use the computer for most of the design calculations I need to do (though I still use my HP for quick checks and stuff). But when I'm out on a new plant start-up or troubleshooting trip, I lean heavily on my HP50g. I have a lot of the heat capacity correlations I need, steam properties, equipment rating and some specialty programs, etc. that are real convenient for me when I'm out at a plant. Sure, I still have my lap-top with me, but the HP is nice to quickly pull out and check something without having to break out the laptop, boot it up, worry how long before I've got to plug it in somewhere, etc.
Over the years I used the HP34C, 42S, 48G, (all programmable, which I used on the job when I worked in chemical plant operations) and now my HP 50g is a great tool for me personally. If someone else wants a simpler calculator, fine. But it is presumptuous to assume that no engineers use the programmable capability. If you don't see any, you just need to get out more.
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