My style is to provide you with tools that help you express the ideas in your brain to the computer.  This makes you more accurate, efficient, and gives you the power you need to push the envelope of what is possible.

About Me

I am Eric Wilhelm, the founder and sole-proprietor of Scratch Computing.

I have a bachelor's degree in Architectural Engineering and an EIT, so I could be working on structural steel or concrete designs for beautiful buildings, bridges, and the like.  However, given my study of engineering software and how little it has progressed since the early 70's, I've dedicated myself to making a difference in the way engineers work.  The computer is no substitute for an engineer's judgement, and though it makes calculations faster, it hasn't been taught how to help us efficiently verify those calculations.  Furthermore, instead of facilitating communication between disciplines, it tends to hinder it.  Even so, there seems to be a trend where one engineer is given a computer and expected to do the work of two or more engineers.  Thus begins the vicious cycle of bottom-line competition and a dangerous downward spiral of the profession.

Computer software may be helpful, but the computerized slide-rule (spreadsheets, etc.) and the computerized scratch-pad (drafting and modeling software) do very little to improve the design, analysis, or construction process.  With a focus on the big picture combined with a healthy dose of pragmatism, I believe I can make a difference in the long run by solving your problems today.

You can download my résumé here.  For a more in-depth biography, see this page.  Contact me if you would like a list of references.