KiCad — The Complete Guide: Professional Schematic and PCB Design for Free
KiCad is open-source schematic and PCB design software with no layer or board size limit. Schematic, libraries, routing, simulation, fabrication files and gaps.
Guides and Articles
OpenFOAM — The Engineer's Guide: What It Is, How You Work With It and Why It Is Not Simple
OpenFOAM is the most widely used free CFD toolbox. The two versions, installing on Windows via WSL, meshing, choosing a solver, ParaView and what to know first.
QGIS — The Complete Guide for Engineers: Maps, Coordinates and Spatial Analysis for Free
QGIS is free, open-source GIS. On engineering projects: coordinate systems, terrain and water analysis, key plugins and what ArcGIS Pro still does better.
FreeCAD — The Complete Guide: What It Does, Who It Suits and What Is Missing
FreeCAD is open-source parametric 3D modelling software. What you can design, which workbenches matter, what is missing versus SolidWorks and how to start.
Free Fire and Smoke Simulation Software — FDS, Smokeview and CONTAM
FDS, Smokeview and CONTAM from NIST — free software for fire modelling, smoke spread and stairwell pressurisation in performance-based fire safety design.
Free Coastal Engineering Software — Waves, Currents and Beach Erosion
SWAN, Delft3D, TELEMAC, XBeach and OpenDrift — free open-source models for waves, currents, sediment transport, beach erosion and spills, and when to use each.
Free MS Project Alternatives — Project Scheduling Without a Licence
ProjectLibre, GanttProject, OpenProject and more — free tools for schedules, Gantt charts and critical path that open MS Project files, and what is not free.
Free Aspen HYSYS Alternatives — Chemical Process Simulation Without a Licence
DWSIM, COCO, ChemSep and more — free software for chemical process simulation, thermodynamics and kinetics, and what is really missing versus Aspen HYSYS.
Free Groundwater Modelling Software — MODFLOW, ModelMuse and PHREEQC
MODFLOW, ModelMuse and PHREEQC — in groundwater engineering free software is the professional standard. A full workflow for flow, transport and geochemistry.
Free Online Engineering Calculators — Anchors, Steel, Building Components and Pumps, No Installation
Free browser engineering calculators by field — anchors, steel connections, railings, curtain walls, pavements and pumps — and which follow Israeli standards.
Free SolidWorks Alternatives — Parametric 3D Modelling Without a Licence
Free SolidWorks alternatives — FreeCAD, SolveSpace, CadQuery and more: which allow commercial work, which are home-use only, and how to handle SLDPRT files.
Free FEA Software — Real Alternatives to ANSYS Mechanical and Abaqus
Which free FEA solvers really replace ANSYS and Abaqus — PrePoMax, CalculiX, Code_Aster, OpenSees and more — what each does well, and what is still missing.