Our Interview with CEOWorld.Biz - Widgets FAQ

Engineering Express was recently interviewed by a journalist for CEOWorld Magazine. She was doing an article about our widgets and asked several questions that we thought would be of interest to our blog followers:

From: "Juliana Rocha" (jurocha@gmail.com)

Dear EngExp PR staff,

I'm writing an article about your widgets to Ceoworld.biz Magazine and I'd like to clarify some data. My deadline is next Friday, 21st August, 5pm CET. Hope we can make it!

1) Since when does Engexp exist? How many different widgets have Engexp already created?

Engineering Express® was created in 2003 with a mission to seek next-generation solutions to engineering needs.

Our widgets started out as larger and more elaborate full page Flash calculator machines back in 2005, performing many engineering calculations and tasks in one ‘machine’. Recognizing the trends of the web, smaller machine components (Widgets) were created. We have 16 widget models on our site, along with dozens of full calculators and many more in planning and development.

2) In which ways can the widgets turn the engineering work easier?

Engineering Express Widgets are the Internet’s modern-day solution to math and problem-solving. A Widget is developed once a need is recognized. The greatest benefit is the quick forward and reverse (‘what if’) answers they can give to almost any math function, cutting down design time for any project. Widgets elegantly provide easy solutions to simple and complex engineering and everyday problems.

3) Can the widgets be also used for non-engineers?

Absolutely! We have Widgets slated to be made to answer many of the questions frequently asked to customer service representatives at local home improvement stores. They can help with cooking recipes in the kitchen, building in the garage, calculating fertilizer for your lawn, how much copy machine paper to buy and assist teachers in explaining math concepts from first grade through college.

4) Which widgets are more popular?

Our Widgets have only just begun which is why

we’re getting the word out. With our unique ability to combine engineering with the power of today’s Internet, there are so many possibilities.

Currently, our widget which calculates wind pressures on buildings is extremely popular especially here in South Florida with the local and county building departments’ strict hurricane velocity zones. Our unique interpolation widget is also popular and used by many non-engineers, as well as our quantity widgets that can easily calculate things like room size vs. paint cans and give you the quantity and price to purchase.

Our widgets can replace many of the tables and formula in any book, while providing more precise answers, allow for reverse questions, and an easier web, PDF, and PowerPoint friendly interface. Suggest a widget or take one of ours with you to your web or iGoogle page at www.engexp.com/exos/widgets.cfm.

Engineering Express Time Capsule Blasts Off!

Over the years, Engineering Express has helped so many with our amazing online tools. Some of these tools have been archived for one reason or another, whether it be because of code changes, evolving client needs, or changing industries that we’ve been involved in.

It’s hard to explain just how powerful these tools are to provide pre-engineering, help steer a user to a specific result, draw the actual design plans like our screen cage calculator does, or even to provide cost estimates for work as our archived dock calculator does (picture, right). That’s why it was the brainchild of our Technology Board to open some of the old ones up to the public… And thus the Engineering Express Time Capsule was born…

So hop aboard, take a journey back and see how they all began. Some of these were made as far back as 2004. And as amazing as they still are today, back then it was much more difficult to illustrate how easy they were to use, especially our clients on dial up! This Time Capsule should help make that easier.

Explore one of 10 calculators now made public for the first time ever, and you will better understand how these incredible machines can help you make the online experience better between you and your clients or you and your favorite engineering team, Engineering Express. For more about our calculators, click here or contact us.

Engineering Express Goes Green

Here at Engineering Express we are always looking for new fields to explore. We are proud to announce that we now have a LEED® AP on staff. With this added expertise we are now able to assist our clients as they adventure into the ever gowing LEED® certification program.

Because of our reputation we could not just stop there. Today we are introducing two new LEED® widgets to our widgets labs. The first widget calculates the full-time occupant equivalant (FTE). The result of this calculation, total FTEs, is required by multiple credits in the LEED® checklist. The second widget we have developed calculates the glazing factor for up to 10 different spaces. This widget also determines if at least 75% of the total area meets the 2% minimum glazing factor. These are just few of the widgets of many widgets still in developement. Let us make a custom widget for you!

Our Widgets Are Growing Up

Our new widgets interface features better access to our growing library of widgets, favorites, newest uploads, and better code access. New widgets are on their way that will do some very useful things! visit it at www.engexp.com/exos/widgets.cfm

Engineering Express Forms Alliance with E-Tempest

Engineering Express has formed a strategic aliance with E-Tempest, the leading software provider of software tools for businesses in the Hurricane Industry.

Together they will develop new software solutions designed to provide unprecedented engineering support

Born from the vision of E-Tempest's powerful yet easy to use software platform and Engineering Express' revolutionary widgets and online flash tools, a whole new generation of software is now in development to provide solutions to many industries, even beyond Hurricane Protection.

The alliance also allows Engineering Express to help better E-Tempest's engineering service to their clients by providing additional design tools, easy access to over 50 pre-engineered plans, and direct linking to new Widgets. Engineering Express benefits by being able to use E-Tempest's easy design interface to help their clients with window, door, and shutter design solutions even faster and with better quality.

Together they offer a compliment of services to both of their existing clients, while using their combined expertise to design and deliver the next generation of online engineering. Visit E-Tempest's acclaimed permitting, quoting, cut optimization, and engineering design software's website and sign up for a free demo at www.e-tempest.com and subscribe to this blog or our Twitter posts for more updates as they occur.

Time For A New Look...

Engineering Express is pleased to present our new webpage look, complete with easier access to our latest online features. We have assembled a team of web designers to bring our web look up to speed with new store, online job request system, client services, technology applications, and information resources.

This look has also been carried over to our new online store, now with over 50 unique master engineering plans for sale in many of our company departments. Check it out

It's all part of a strategic vision mapped out by our Technology Advisory Board, another small step to a world of new possibilities on the horizon.

Digital Momentum

OK, we're on a roll.  Our store is up and running, and new and existing clients are creating accounts and learning the new inerface.  Seamless links are up and running to pass logged in store customers directly to Engineering Express's acclaimed services including our calculators, project tracking, file access, and quote management.

We're now in development of our new homepage look and our next big frontier, one to provide a fresh approach to all the information we know and share.

Check out some new coupon codes now being distributed to get discounts on store items.  Look out for them online, in mailers,  and future email advertisements.  OK, want one?  10% off your first order, use code EXSTORE61.  go to http://store.engexp.com to shop and get your first online order of engineering design plans...

EX Delivers in Style!

Just in time for Hurricane Season 2009, Engineering Express has launched their biggest web movement yet - our full feature Online Store! http://store.engexp.com/

This store is the first and only of its kind for engineering. You can browse, order, and pay for over 50 Florida pre-engineered master plan sheets in areas such as:

• Wind Pressure Charts for windows, doors, and storm shutter permits
• Awning & Canopy Engineering
• Railing & Fence Master Plan Sheet Engineering
• Custom Shutter Condition Installation
• Many More Coming Soon!

We also have the ability to sell anyone's engineering, product, or service publicly or through a private portal set up just for you.

This effort is the first leg of a bigger picture for Engineering Express to redefine the business of engineering, and bring today's desperately needed technologies to our industry.

Read more about our efforts on our main website at http://www.engexp.com/ and in upcoming blogs and news feeds... Shop away!!

And now for the good stuff...

I never planned on going this long between my posts, but we've been working on some back-end programming while strategizing our big move.  In case you don't know about Engineering Express's back end, we have a complete proprietary project tracking system written entirely in-house that handles every job that passes through the office.  We needed some internal facelifting in preparation for our next big act.

Honestly, until just a couple of days ago we had no idea how big of an improvement we are about to make to the website.  We have long visioned clients coming to our site, creating their own logins, and being treated to a host of services never before seen in the world of engineering.  A few accidental turns in the office led to exactly what we have been looking for, and we've been hard at work realizing just how much we can do and redo with what we now know.

We have a dedicated team working on bringing the latest web technologies to Engineering Express, and we're going to release our incredible new web services in a big way very soon.  So big in fact, that it warranted me checking in on my blog just to pre-announce it.  So get ready, the good stuff is just around the corner...  

A Defining Moment

Engineering Express has long been about more than just engineering.  We've always boasted about what incredible new discoveries we've made and use every day with technology and how we see it helping our industry looking forward.

It took 

a series of business changing events for us to finally have that decisive moment to concisely answer what exactly it is that we do and want to be known for?  Those business changing events can be told another time, but my focus at the moment is on the discovery of our new operating agenda, the three things we strive to be.

Breaking our existence down to these three concepts allows us to better organize our efforts, and build up each to achieve our vision of becoming the industry standard in engineering and construction.

What are these three life-changing realizations?  It was on the tip of our tongues all the time, it just needed the inspiration of our Technology Advisory Board to bring them to light:  

Engineering Express is:

1) Engineering Design - the services we perform our specialized engineering field, which harnesses the power of #2 and #3.

2) Technology Services - These are the ever advancing technological wonders we create for ourselves and for others that are revolutionizing the way engineering is perceived.  Our Online 

Tools, Widgets, and online abilities are part of this division.

3) Information Resources - Sharing what we know and learn helps everyone.  By implementing our own WiKi, our new acclaimed Decision Machines, news, blogs (like this one), and forums, we are able to pull together the complex web of engineering and construction related decisions that must be made to achieve a result.  Formally defining this division as one of our three operating agendas now allows us to refocus our efforts and advance this important service.  

We have a lot on the drawing board for our technology and

 information divisions and we will be continually rolling out improvements over the next few months to our web page in these areas. It's

 also our focus to help other businesses with this technology to be more effective and increase their value to their customers. 

Our Homepage is also undergoing a transformation to define these areas and steer visitors and clients to best harness the power of these divisions.  Take a  look at our new 'about our tools' page for an example of how technology services and information resources can be used to revolutionize the way engineering is perceived on the Internet.

We've launched our operating objectives- Enjoy the ride with us...

Letter to Jeff Jarvis, Author of What Would Google Do (WWGD)

"The Engineering Chapter"

 

Mr. Jarvis,

My name is Frank Bennardo and I am the founder of a unique company called Engineering Express.  We have been working for a long time on ways to revolutionize, systemize, and computerize the business of engineering.

I just finished reading your enlightening book, and bought four more copies for my newly formed ‘technology advisory board’.  I almost didn’t want to finish it, until I realized it keeps on going online.  I’m now a faithful follower and proponent of your blog and mindset.  I was excited to see that you mentioned architects in your book, but I think there’s a much bigger picture out there for the future of engineers who also can no longer live in their consulting business models of the past.

We have some revolutionary web creations that can change how engineering is presented to and used by the public, which we see working their way into places like the isles of the Home Depot, architects and other engineers, homeowners, field inspectors, building officials, just to name a few.  If we could simplify and catalog the questions of engineering, and give easily obtained answers away for free, the ‘side door’ revenue of networking, targeted advertising, pre-engineered referral work, and minimum to no help engineering ordering from our firm would be industry-changing (we’re already living this model to a small extent).

We’ve recently started implementing many ideas in your book, blogging, creating widgets of our more complex online tools, and simplifying our processes, and our roadmap quickly targets us for national exposure.

I’m  writing in hopes that you will take interest in our campaign and recommend a direction, a contact, or maybe even write a blog about our achievements, and steer us toward our goal.

You can visit one of our current public tools (over 40 private ones are being re-coded now for free widgetbox distribution), at www.engexp.com/exos/tools.cfm.  We’ve perfected (and have a pentent pending on) a quick and easy way to bring engineering to the web in a video-game style interface.  Our decision machines are our next frontier (www.engexp.com/plex/window_plex.cfm), as well as our own WiKi, blogs, news, and client login wonderland, all being steered to a social networking concept (we could use some help there too!). 

I’d love to share our next generation of free online tools with you (and to places like engineering.com for that matter) as they come online, all inspired by you.  It’s our goal to take the formulas out of the textbooks and out of stuffy, expensive consultant’s offices, and light them up for the public using the latest technologies and free business models, work to modernize any online catalog that has a table or graph, and help navigate people through the maze of decisions in the construction industry like no one has done before.

Thank you for your time, my compliments  again on your book and your vision, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Frank L. Bennardo, P.E.

President

Engineering Express®

 www.engexp.com 

First Engineering Decision Machine Now Online

Engineering Express proudly presents our first interactive online tool designed to guide you to the proper engineering needs for permitting windows, doors, and shutters in South Florida.

The first of its kind, this tool illustrates how Engineering Express can make complex decisions easy, helping the user save time and money by getting things right the first time.

With the success of this application, plans are underway for decision machines for our railings and fences, product approvals, and to collaborate with other companies to expand the machines beyond engineering, offering full service assistance to homeowners, contractors, architects, developers, and other engineers, all free of charge.  We can even help create a decision machine for other businesses.

Visit the online tool by clicking here 

Then, Now, Coming Soon

Engineering Express has come a long way in recent years, and we're just getting a stronghold on our unique combination of talents and defining our direction.

How far have we come?  We were pioneers of the engineering web from way back when.  Want to see for yourself?  Check us out in the WayBackMachine by clicking here.  You'll see we envisioned web orders, online calculators, and online payments before PayPal was even around.

Well, it's time to once again pioneer the direction of Engineering.  You'll already notice subtle enhancements to our website, but the biggest improvements are yet to come.  From a redesigned client experience to far-reaching, out-of-the box new methods of offering and delivering engineering, Engineering Express is working hard to remain on the cutting edge and offer revolutionary methods to make your job easier.   

You'll soon be introduced to our decision machines, free engineering widgetboxes for your website, new calculators, and other communication features like this blog, and some other really neat surprises.

Stay tuned, more announcements coming soon.

Welcome to the Online Journal of Engineering Express

2009 - A unique and uncharted year. There has been so much development in technology and the world over recent months that I have been compelled to seek ways to share information with the community. I believe knowledge is power, and these days, it's our best bet to stick together and share what we know. I created this space on our website myself for a number of reasons- First, to get back in touch with our clients and friends, but also to take advantage of our incredible website abilities and share information and experiences we come across as a leading engineering firm in so many areas. So check back often for my frequent posts which I intend to make about whatever's on my mind. I'm also inviting my office staff to share their ideas and visions along with me which you'll see evolving right here. I hope this new communication portal brings useful information and tools to our clients and friends, enabling us all to grow and prosper as we continue to build the world around us Frank L. Bennardo, P.E. President Engineering Express