In late 2006, the web forum iMechanica was launched at
http://imechanica.org/
The forum is an interactive discussion forum and multi-user blog for
people interested in mechanics and including a large proportion with
interests in biomechanics.
The site includes a range of information in both general mechanics
and biomechanics including, but not limited to, conference
announcements, job postings , opinions, and technical forums.
Further details are contained in the text below, including the
mechanism for posting a job opening or conference announcement.
Introducing iMechanica
iMechanica (http://www.imechanica.org) aims to use the Internet to
enhance communications among mechanicians, and to pave a way to evolve
all knowledge of mechanics online. iMechanica is hosted on a server at
Harvard University. A growing team of fellow mechanicians volunteer to
serve as architects and moderators. iMechanica is free: writers are
free to post, and readers are free to read.
You can read every post without registering. To write in iMechanica,
you need to register for a free account. You can post findings in your
lab and observations of a working day, exhilarating or otherwise. You
can post advertisements of conferences and jobs. You can upload
preprints of your recent papers, a practice permitted by most journals.
You can even post a preprint of a paper already published in a journal,
so that your paper gets one more chance to find its readers. You can
also post your lecture notes, or post a question about mechanics in a
forum. Really, you can post anything you see fit. Be creative. What you
post is a decision of yours.
Why do you want to post in iMechanica? Because you love mechanics and
because you want to help others learn mechanics. Well, these may be part
of the reason. Perhaps more importantly, you would like to help yourself
by helping others to discover you and your work.
Suppose you post an entry of interest to other mechanicians, say an
entry on an upcoming conference. If a reader is impressed by the quality
of your post, perhaps she would like to know who you are. Click your
name attached to the post, and she lands on your profile, which has the
URL of your homepage. Also appearing on the post is a link to your blog.
She will see your recent research if you have posted any. She might be
so impressed and decides to subscribe to the RSS feed of your blog. You
now have a fan for your work. She is notified whenever you publish
anything in your blog.
If you are concerned that you may not find useful things if everyone is
posting, you should try the search engine of iMechanica, or just Google.
Perhaps it is also time for you to discover RSS feeds and social
bookmarking. With all the creative energy pouring into the technology of
the Internet, it is safe to say that the development of the Internet
will far out pace that of mechanics. If a post is worth finding, you
will find it.
Traditional modes of communication in our community under serve students
and industrial practitioners. iMechanica aims to provide an easy
platform for students and industrial practitioners, as well as
academics. Creative uses of mechanics in industries have already been
heavily discussed in iMechanica.
iMechanica runs as a common, like Boston Common or Central Park. A
common belongs to no one in particular, but belongs to whoever uses it.
There is time to relax in a common, there is time to build one. Both
bring you enjoyment. The best way to help building iMechanica is to
think what is good for you. Let software and the collective behavior of
all users take care of the community. And so, fellow mechanicians: ask
not what you can do for iMechanica - ask what iMechanica can do for you.
Features in iMechanica are powerful yet simple to use. However, they are
difficult to describe in words, just as it is difficult to describe how
to ride a bicycle by an email. So, why not explore? Stop pondering over
this post, and go straight to visit http://www.imechanica.org.
Michelle L. Oyen
Cambridge University Engineering Dept.,
Trumpington St.,
Cambridge, CB2 1PZ, UK
phone: +44 (0) 1223 332 680
email: mlo29@cam.ac.uk
http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/~mlo29/
http://imechanica.org/
The forum is an interactive discussion forum and multi-user blog for
people interested in mechanics and including a large proportion with
interests in biomechanics.
The site includes a range of information in both general mechanics
and biomechanics including, but not limited to, conference
announcements, job postings , opinions, and technical forums.
Further details are contained in the text below, including the
mechanism for posting a job opening or conference announcement.
Introducing iMechanica
iMechanica (http://www.imechanica.org) aims to use the Internet to
enhance communications among mechanicians, and to pave a way to evolve
all knowledge of mechanics online. iMechanica is hosted on a server at
Harvard University. A growing team of fellow mechanicians volunteer to
serve as architects and moderators. iMechanica is free: writers are
free to post, and readers are free to read.
You can read every post without registering. To write in iMechanica,
you need to register for a free account. You can post findings in your
lab and observations of a working day, exhilarating or otherwise. You
can post advertisements of conferences and jobs. You can upload
preprints of your recent papers, a practice permitted by most journals.
You can even post a preprint of a paper already published in a journal,
so that your paper gets one more chance to find its readers. You can
also post your lecture notes, or post a question about mechanics in a
forum. Really, you can post anything you see fit. Be creative. What you
post is a decision of yours.
Why do you want to post in iMechanica? Because you love mechanics and
because you want to help others learn mechanics. Well, these may be part
of the reason. Perhaps more importantly, you would like to help yourself
by helping others to discover you and your work.
Suppose you post an entry of interest to other mechanicians, say an
entry on an upcoming conference. If a reader is impressed by the quality
of your post, perhaps she would like to know who you are. Click your
name attached to the post, and she lands on your profile, which has the
URL of your homepage. Also appearing on the post is a link to your blog.
She will see your recent research if you have posted any. She might be
so impressed and decides to subscribe to the RSS feed of your blog. You
now have a fan for your work. She is notified whenever you publish
anything in your blog.
If you are concerned that you may not find useful things if everyone is
posting, you should try the search engine of iMechanica, or just Google.
Perhaps it is also time for you to discover RSS feeds and social
bookmarking. With all the creative energy pouring into the technology of
the Internet, it is safe to say that the development of the Internet
will far out pace that of mechanics. If a post is worth finding, you
will find it.
Traditional modes of communication in our community under serve students
and industrial practitioners. iMechanica aims to provide an easy
platform for students and industrial practitioners, as well as
academics. Creative uses of mechanics in industries have already been
heavily discussed in iMechanica.
iMechanica runs as a common, like Boston Common or Central Park. A
common belongs to no one in particular, but belongs to whoever uses it.
There is time to relax in a common, there is time to build one. Both
bring you enjoyment. The best way to help building iMechanica is to
think what is good for you. Let software and the collective behavior of
all users take care of the community. And so, fellow mechanicians: ask
not what you can do for iMechanica - ask what iMechanica can do for you.
Features in iMechanica are powerful yet simple to use. However, they are
difficult to describe in words, just as it is difficult to describe how
to ride a bicycle by an email. So, why not explore? Stop pondering over
this post, and go straight to visit http://www.imechanica.org.
Michelle L. Oyen
Cambridge University Engineering Dept.,
Trumpington St.,
Cambridge, CB2 1PZ, UK
phone: +44 (0) 1223 332 680
email: mlo29@cam.ac.uk
http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/~mlo29/