Author Topic: So, I need an engineer.......  (Read 2133 times)

DocMcStuffins

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So, I need an engineer.......
« on: January 27, 2018, 07:36:44 AM »
Hey guys, I open / operate multiple medical clinics as my business........but my son has taken a course called Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA) which is a great class for your kids if your area has it (21 week course, 3 hours once per week).  We are going to build a business together.  He is 12.  I am creating a rock wall climber for indoor pools.  Need an engineer to help with...........well engineer stuff...... when it comes to strength of materials.  Didn't know which type of engineer and where I could possibly find them.  Will be inplanted into concrete, made of stainless steel, and plexi-glass.  Smaller versions / more residential than http://aquaclimb.com/  I feel confidence in the industry analyses, marker, manufacturing, distrubition, advertising / sales.  Thanks if you have any help.

Of note, I may make this into a case study on this board, thought it would be fun to keep people updated and makes me have accountability. 

MetalCap

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Re: So, I need an engineer.......
« Reply #1 on: January 29, 2018, 11:21:21 AM »
Doc,

You'll need a structural engineer to help with this.  Your best bet is to find a small construction engineering firm that can give a decently low rate for a licensed engineer.  You may also want to look into liability coverage (that either they provide or you maintain) to cover any issues with the engineering.

Good Luck!

GuitarStv

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Re: So, I need an engineer.......
« Reply #2 on: January 29, 2018, 11:33:30 AM »
Huh.  Rock climbing and wet slippery hands don't seem like the kind of thing that would go together, but more power to you if you can make it work.

Fishindude

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Re: So, I need an engineer.......
« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2018, 11:39:04 AM »
I'm a contractor and have gotten some great deals on small jobs using retired engineers that wanted to earn a little side money.

Toad

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Re: So, I need an engineer.......
« Reply #4 on: February 04, 2018, 01:44:02 AM »
I would second Fishindude's suggestion, although I will say you might have a hard time finding a structural engineer willing to take on your project.  Reason being the materials you are looking at using (plexiglas mainly) are not materials most structural engineers would be comfortable dealing with.  The anchoring into concrete would be child's play for any structural engineer worth their salt, and stainless steel is close enough to the more typical A36, A572, and A992 we deal with all the time that it shouldn't present issues.

I have designed an indoor plexiglas platform for a clean room, but no other structural engineers I know have dealt with the material.  Personally I would be somewhat concerned with using that material due to the combination of UV exposure and chlorine/bromine.  Any UV coating would be useless since it would be scraped off with that application.  There might be an acrylic blend of some variety that would be ok to use for these...I'm not really familiar enough with the material to know but I suspect there would be.

The only industry that comes to mind which would have people that are very familiar with that material for structural uses would be the aerospace industry.  So if you happen to know a structural engineer retired from Boeing or similar, you will be in luck!  If not, best of luck finding someone.  We do occasionally get calls at our office for people looking to do smaller oddball projects like this and we generally farm them out to a few people we know that used to work for the company.  So perhaps calling around to some smaller structural engineering firms will get you some options.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!