The SES Newsletter

An Engineer's Perspective

All of the SES newsletters are available on this page, dating back to the dawn of SES. This all started as a monthly newsletter posted to this site as pdfs to discuss a variety of topics from an engineer’s point of view. As it progressed, it looked more and more like a web log (“blog” for all of you interwebs types), but was still in letter format. Since that time, it has evolved and the presentation has morphed to an engineering blog (e-blog on the menu) and the content is now easier to read on the website! Contributions from other engineers are always appreciated, whether it’s interest in writing about a topic, recommending future topics, or commenting on one of the topics covered. Any contributions can be sent through the contact form.

July 2021, Ed.27 - Testing? Analysis? Simulation?
June 2021, Ed.26 - Partnerships
May 2021, Ed.25 - The Power of Pretotyping
April 2021, Ed.24 - Engineering Compromise
March 2021, Ed.23 - Variable Attention to Detail
February 2021, Ed.22 - Engineer Skills
January 2021, Ed.21 - Suburban Mass Transit
December 2020, Ed.20 - The Design Process
November 2020, Ed.19 - The Risk of COVID Infection
October 2020, Ed.18 - To Inifinity and Beyond!
September 2020, Ed.17 - 3D Printing for Manufacturing
August 2020, Ed.16 - Urban Mass Transit
July 2020, Ed.15 - Visionaries
June 2020, Ed.14 - Our Energy Future
May 2020, Ed.13 - Automation #2
April 2020, Ed.12 - Collaborative Mentorship
March 2020, Ed.11 - COVID-19
February 2020, Ed.10 - Commercial Grade Dedication
January 2020, Ed.09 - 3D Printing
December 2019, Ed.08 - Management
November 2019, Ed.07 - Training
October 2019, Ed.06 - Automation
February 2019, Ed.05 - Quality Program Creation
November 2018, Ed.04 - Risk
September 2018, Ed.03 - QA
August 2018, Ed.02 - Engineering Method
July 2018, Ed.01 - Engineer

Copyright © 2020 Sigma Expert Solutions, LLC

Explanation of Fields in the SMARRT form submission

Reference Scenario Inputs:


Number of People Infected – How many potential members of the gathering are infectious. The simulation starts when they enter (time=0).

Type of Activity – Impacts the number of particles spread as aerosols per respiration. More strenuous activities result in more viroid particles being released.

Air Changes per Hour – This is the air exchange rate with fresh air for the volume of air being breathed by the gathering. If you use forced air exchange, you can calculate the number of air changes per hour for your specific situation.

Space Floor Area and Ceiling Height – These are used to calculate the total space volume.

Duration Infectious Person is Present – This is how long the infectious person stays in the space after their initial entry. For the reference scenario, this defines the end of the simulation.

Gathering Scenario Inputs:

See the reference scenario for all inputs up to Time of space entry.

Time of space entry and exit – These values represent when you enter and leave the space referenced to the infectious person. For example, if you show up fifteen minutes late, but stay an hour after the end of a one hour party, the Duration Infectious Person is Present is 60 minutes, the Time of Space Entry 15 minutes, and the Time of Space Exit 120 minutes