Finite Element Method Magnetics

I want to share some software that I stumbled on that is real interesting and easy to use: http://www.femm.info/wiki/HomePage

With it you can simulate magnetic fields and all sorts of other things. It takes very little time to learn how to at least do basic simulations. For example I did a 2D simulation of the magnetic field that the aluminum dampening slug experiences:
Attachment 3547

All I needed to do to make this was install the software, watch a twelve minute tutorial on YouTube, then work on it for probably under ten minutes. It is really really simple. I am now trying to design a more powerful magnetic dampening system. I think that there is huge room for improvement here!

That takes me back 24 years to 1991. I needed to do a finite element analysis of the magnetic fields surrounding three phase power distribution cables and I used what appears to be the first iteration of that software. No one had written any at that time and the one I got was a one floppy programme running under DOS that came slotted into a sleeve at the back of a really dry textbook.

I could not believe how much number crunching it saved me.

Wow yeah I can't imagine how much harder so many engineering tasks must have been prior to nice computer programs (and going back further even calculators for that matter). Also the internet is so darn helpful. This is a major hope I have for the Peachy and 3D printers in general. I hope that 3D printers can be ubiquitous and lead to nice innovations in all sorts of fields, potentially in all sorts of unexpected ways. Of course I don't see them rivaling computers or the internet in terms of importance, but I think that they could prove to be an extremely valuable technology. Far more so then I think most people realize today.