General FEA User group. 1

[jxc]

Morning,

I am a user of one of the non-regular FEA programs & what I am looking for is a user group that would be none product specific, but touch on the technology & techniques involved in using FEA & interpeting results.

I am living & working in SE Wisconsin, so a group located in SE Wisconsin, NE Illinos will workout fine for me.

I appreciate any suggestions.

John Campbell
Freedman Seating Co.
Chicago, Illinois

 

[TheTick]

ohmigod! John Campbell! The John Campbell, star of screen and stage? or just the guy that used to work at Jac?

Due to illness, the part of The Tick will be played by... The Tick.

http://www.EsoxRepublic.com

 

[corus]

With the advent of the internet you can now have a user group with members from around the world, without having to leave your armchair. I suggest you post your topics here.

corus

 

[jhardy1]

I can't help you out with an FEA user group in Illinois (I'm based in Australia), but I agree whole-heartedly with corus - use the Internet for posting queries. The best places I have found for on-line help:

a) Here!

b) Dermot Monaghan's FEA Portal at

http://www.dermotmonaghan.com/

c) Most reputable software developers have some sort of support desk. (I wouldn't contemplate an FEA vendor who didn't!) They will usually also put you in touch with other users of their products. While the public forums like this one are great for general advice and non-product-specific FEA issues, and they can also be very helpful if you are using one of the mainstream packages, you may need to talk to the developers or other users for product-specific issues.

Hope this helps.

 

[TheTick]

There used to be such a group in the Chicago area. Unfortunately, it losts its sponsorship and is no more. (John knows this already). These group meetings focused on non-program-specific issues of FEA, and were quite good.

As much as I enjoy internet fora like this, there's no substitute for getting people together. This is especially true for FEAnylists, who are often alone in the workplace. If you could have attended one of these meetings, you would agree.

 

[jxc]

No, not the star of screen & stage, but yes in a former life I did work for Jake...

 

[jxc]

P.S.,
I again thank everyone for your reponses, this is an excellent forum, I have let other friends & colleague & have responded to posted questions from time to time when I feel qualified.

 

[bjpil]

JXC,

I have to agree with the Tick. You can have better discussions face to face. What about starting one. Maybe just start off as an informal meeting (Saturday morning breakfast club?) and go from there. I'd be interested. There may be more that read this thread and want to participate.

BJP

 

[jxc]

bjpil,

That is a good suggestion, I will give it some thought & consider locations that maybe convienent for individuals from both WI. & Ill.

JXC

 

[mloew]

jxc,

You may want to contact Vince Adams of IMPACT Engineering Solutions. He currently runs The Chicago/Milwaukee Mechanica User's Group but attendance has been down and he may be intereted in having it morph into a general purpose FE or even CAE user's group.

Best regards,

Matthew Ian Loew
"Luck is the residue of design."
Branch Rickey

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

 

[jxc]

MLeow,

Sorry for not replying earlier. Vince & I are old friends & actually developed a group earlier, but situations in both of our lives changed & the group was forced to go the way of the "Dodo". I will take your advice at see if Vince has any interest in such a group again.

jxc