Excel Exclusively for Engineers...
Microsoft Excel can be a powerful engineering tool. Do you often feel you could do more with it, if only you had the knowledge?
Excel is versatile and tempting to use.
It has great flexibility. You can enter almost any formula. To dismiss it as an accounting program is to seriously underestimate it.
There are many features we engineers can use: Matrix functions, curve fitting, statistical analysis, square root, logarithms, raising to a power, Imaginary and Complex numbers, charts, pivot tables, goal seek, macros… the list goes on.
How many of these do you know how to use in Excel?
This very flexibility is also dangerous...
It is easy to make mistakes.
For example:
In 2012, JP Morgan was hit with $6 billion trading loss due to an Excel copy-and-paste error
Financial giant J.P. Morgan’s infamous London Whale debacle was caused by none other than an Excel user error. It seems the company was using spreadsheets to create value-at-risk (VaR) models, and an employee copied the wrong information from one spreadsheet and pasted it into another. The resulting model grossly understated the company’s risk and was a major factor in its $6 billion trading loss.
In 2010, MI5 bugged the wrong phones due to a spreadsheet formatting error
A formatting error on MI5’s list of phones to be tapped resulted in the agency’s tapping 134 people entirely unrelated to investigations. The formatting error changed the last three digits of these phone numbers to 000 within the spreadsheet. As a result, random British citizens had their phones tapped by their government while the suspects went unobserved.
In 2003, TransAlta lost $24 million due to Excel copy-and-paste error
Canadian power company TransAlta lost $24 million when an employee misaligned the rows in an Excel spreadsheet. The copy-and-paste error led to bids being aligned with the wrong contracts, wiping out 10% of TransAlta’s profit for the year with a quick click.
This kind of simple yet catastrophic error is quite possible:
Let’s Summarise the Problem:
Excel isn’t taught to Engineers at University. A general Excel course makes a great starter, but doesn’t focus on Engineering. Mostly, you are expected to pick it up on your own. Who has the time to search for things you don’t even know are there? Wouldn’t it be good to at least have an idea of the possibilities?
Then, many Excel users are not aware of the common errors they can be making. Even an intelligent engineer like you can be making mistakes: Errors that can cause your dam to collapse, your bridge to fail, your spacecraft to crash. This won’t merely put you behind your peers; it will ruin your promising career.
Excel won't display all your mistakes. There are tools you can use, but –again– you have to know about them first. And then apply them.
Ultimately, you have to spot the mistakes yourself. But our mind plays tricks: It will read back to you what you meant to write, not what is really there. This is why it is so hard to proofread your own work.
But luckily for you, there's now a solution to your problem!
Introducing... the “Excel for Engineers” course.
Software Africa’s “Excel for Engineers” course Helps You:
- Always start right –with Good Worksheet Design.
- Get confident with Formula-building, including when to use $, and when it will break your copy.
- Discover Advanced Functions you never knew existed.
- Tame powerful number-crunching Tools like Outlines, Pivot Tables, Scenario Manager, Goal Seek and Solver.
- Crack the secrets of Iterating for a solution when you can’t solve directly.
- Save time and support your team by automating repetitive operations with robust Macros.
- Squeeze more out of other programs by using Excel as a Pre- and Post-Processor.
- Master shortcuts to increase your efficiency, which means you'll save hours later...
...and much, MUCH more!
So... who am I to help you master this Excel complexity?
I am Rick Raubenheimer. I am an engineer like you. I’m also a long-time power user of Excel. Thirdly, I’m a trainer, mentor, and coach.
Since the 1990s I’ve been helping professionals just like you go from a patchy knowledge of Excel to saving hours a day by putting the power of Excel to work.
Your Instructor
Rick Raubenheimer
Me wearing my class tie (infrequent!).Hello! I'm a trained civil engineer, graduating with my B.Sc. (Eng)(Civil) from Wits (the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg) in 1975. I use Excel a lot. It wasn't always so...
I started using computers at university. First, it was an IBM 360, which we programmed in FORTRAN with punched cards. Later we got Hewlett Packard desktop computers using HP Basic.
The first spreadsheet I used –in the mid-1980s– was Lotus 1-2-3 on MS-DOS. I liked the idea of automating it, and learned how to record and edit macros.
With Microsoft Windows, in the early 1990s we got Excel. I learned how to use Excel and program it in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).
My knowledge was in demand. I started training people to use computer programs, including Excel. First, I trained staff at the firm of consulting engineers where I worked. Later I joined my future wife in her company, now trading as Software Africa. We offered computer training and, later, computer programming.
I have written many Excel spreadsheets, often with macros, both for clients and in-house use. I've created programs in Microsoft Access, Visual Basic, VB.NET, and others. I have excellent knowledge of Excel, Access, Outlook and Word.
I have trained people on computers in person for many years. Now we are putting our proven training material online to let more people benefit.
Meanwhile, I have honed my presentation skills at Toastmasters International: I'm now a "Distinguished Toastmaster", the highest level a Toastmaster can achieve.
I have an informal, easy-to-follow training style. I hope you enjoy it. Let's get started...
Course Curriculum
This is what you will learn:
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1
Chapter 1: Welcome to the course!
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A Message from the Instructor
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How to use this Course
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Introduction
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Before we begin...
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2
Chapter 2. Excel as an Engineering and Scientific Tool
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Excel as an Engineering and Scientific Tool
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Test your learning
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3
3. Review of Basics
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3.1 Screen Layout
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3.2 Moving Around and Selecting Cells
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3.3 Copying and Moving Cells
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3.4 Formatting Cells
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3.5 Entering and Editing Data
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3.6 Overview of the Ribbons
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3.7 Useful Shortcuts
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3.8 The Quick Access Toolbar
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Test your learning
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4
4. Simple Formulas and Formatting
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Example: Schedule of Quantities / Bill of Materials
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5
5. Other Useful Features
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5.1 File > Options
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5.2 Range Naming: Pipe Flow example
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5.3 Freeze Panes
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6. Printing
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6.1 Print Area
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6.2 Preview and Print
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7. Good Worksheet Design
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7.1 Plan Ahead
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7.2 Organise in Modules
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7.3 Keep it Simple
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7.4 Document the Worksheet
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7.5 Test It!
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7.6 Extra Tips
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8
8. Some Advanced Functions
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8.1 What are Functions?
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8.2 Financial
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8.3 Date / Time
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8.4 Mathematical and Trigonometric
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8.5 Statistical
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8.6 Lookup & Reference
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8.7 Database
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8.8 Text Functions
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8.9 Logical
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8.10 Information
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Functions and Formulas EXERCISE
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9
9. Creating and Working with a Database
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9.1 Using a List as a Database
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9.2 Data Forms
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9.3 Filtering and Sorting Data
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Database EXERCISES
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10
10. Groups and Outlines
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10.1 Creating and Removing an Outline
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11. Pivot Tables
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11.1 Creating a Pivot Table
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12. Scenario Manager
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12.1 Creating a Scenario
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Scenario Exercise
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13. Goal Seek
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13.1 Goal Seek
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14
14. Excel Add-Ins
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14.1 Introducing Excel Add-Ins
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15
15. Solver
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15.1 Using Solver
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15.2 Solver Special Reports
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15.3 Linear and Non-linear Problems
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15.4 An Example of Solver and the Reports Created
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15.5 Other Examples
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16
16. Graphs
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16.1 Creating a Graph
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17
17. Introduction to Macros
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17.1 Macro Security
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17.2 Recording a Macro
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17.3 Running a Macro
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17.4 The Visual Basic Editor
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17.5 Modifying Visual Basic Code
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17.6 Assigning a Macro to a Worksheet Button
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18
18. Iterating for a Solution
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18.1 Iterating with Copy Down
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18.2 Iterating with Circular References
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18.3 Iterating with a Macro
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19. Using Excel as a Pre-Processor: Exporting Data
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19.1 Exercise: Exporting Data
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20. Using Excel as a Post-Processor: Importing Data
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20.1 Exercises: Importing Data
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21. Final Examples
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21.1 Pipe Flow Calculation
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21.2 Survey Calculations
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21.3 Reservoir Simulation
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22. Farewell - and Next Steps
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Congrats! Here's what's next...
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More Resources for You
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Before you go...
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Here's the bottom line with Excel for Engineers:
- The longer you delay, the more irreplaceable time you are losing...
- You will get hours of your day back to use more productively –or go home early!
- This is your opportunity to become the "office expert" and get your promotion and raise –instead of it going to one of your colleagues...
Best of all?... You'll start seeing results with the “Excel for Engineers” course in a single day and this introductory price is very good value.
So again, if you're an Engineer using Excel, who wants to save hours and avoid errors...
Get on board with the Excel for Engineers course now!
Act Now — Before you make one of those fatal mistakes...
Testimonials
This is what trainees say about the live course:
"The course was indeed very informative. Also being a daily user of excel, the course aided me in enhancing my excel skills. Again thank you very much for sharing your experience with me on excel. ... In a nutshell, I enjoyed it. Thank you." —Masivuye Ndinisa (ECSA Candidate), Technician, Eya Bantu Power, East London.
"It was a great course." —Johan Olivier Pr Eng, Pr CPM, CEO, Ilifa Africa Engineers, Harrismith.
"Really enjoyed the course and have tried to use what I learnt to write useful spreadsheets that take monotony out of repetitive tasks.
"The course was invaluable, even though I got lost at times due to internet interruptions and my limited computer skills.
"I have been telling my wife and daughter, who both use Excel extensively in an accounting capacity, of how this course opened my eyes to the power of Excel and without proper training how they could be missing out on many time-saving features Excel offers."
—Neil Carroll: May, Houseman & Associates (MHA), Consulting Civil & Structural Engineers, Durban.
What about the course cost?
What is your time worth?
You know; I don't. Let's take a guess.
In 2021, average hourly pay for a Mechanical Engineer with Microsoft Excel skills in the US was around $32/hr.
You are going to invest 14–20 hours studying this course. I expect it to save you at least two hours a week. Over the course of a year, it's about 100 hours. Deduct, say, 20 hours you spent studying the course.
This leaves 80 hours saved in the first year. Using our average, there's a value of $32 x 80 = $2560 value.
And this is only in one year!
But your investment in this course is not $2560. How about around one-fortieth (2.6%)?
Of course (pun intended), we've looked at the benefit in mere money. Yet an hour or two a week (or many more) could be time you don't have to work unpaid overtime. It could be extra time you can spend with your loved ones, your children, your dog, your cat, your hamster. You could use it to catch up on sleep. Meditate. Do yoga. Have more sex. Even study more advanced Excel... 😊
Can you afford to pass up this opportunity?
FAQ - Frequently-Asked Questions
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When does the course start and finish?
The course starts now and never ends! It is a completely self-paced online course –you decide when you start and when you finish. However, do aim to finish the course in under a month –preferably two weeks– and use your continued access for refresher purposes.
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How long do I have access to the course?
How does lifetime access sound? After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.
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What if I am unhappy with the course?
We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, contact us in the first 30 days and we will give you a full refund. You can keep the free bonuses.
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I'm already an Excel Power User. What can you teach me that I don't already know?
And I'm not arrogant enough to claim that I know everything about Excel. I'm learning, too. Why not take the course, and use the 30-day refund option if you feel you did not get enough value?
Bonus!
Enroll now and receive our report, "Are You Making These Microsoft Excel Mistakes?"
We have seen how disastrous mistakes in Excel can be. They can ruin your career and seriously hurt, even bankrupt, your company.
How about preventing them with some tips, tools, and techniques not everybody knows about? This valuable ten-page report outlines 7 must-have methods for avoiding errors in the first place, or trapping the blighters afterwards!
Considering the cost of failure, this report on its own could be worth the entire course cost...
Second Bonus!
Free Support Group
Only course participants get free entry into our Excel for Engineers Support group. Here you can crowdsource solutions to your problems, chat with other engineers, and get help from your instructor.
Third Bonus!
Enroll now and receive, free, our Excel file "Excel Shortcut keys & My Macro Shortcuts" (you'll want this once you start building macros).
When you have created some macros, you will want a record of which shortcut keys you have allocated to them. This resource includes a list of the shortcut key combinations in Excel. We also list all the pre-allocated Ctrl+ shortcuts (which you should avoid for your macros). This sheet also has space for you to note the shortcut keys you allocate to your universal and local macros.
Not Ready to Enrol?
Get Your Bonus Anyway!
How about it if we give you Bonus No. 1 in exchange for letting us stay in contact?
Click the button "Claim My Bonus Now!" directly below, give us your email address, and we'll give you our report, "Are You Making These Microsoft Excel Mistakes?".
When you find it valuable, come back and enrol in the course later. Bookmark this page NOW to find it easily again.
