These are the top 19 Reddit communities for engineers
Penny Hoelscher | October 30, 2023Reddit (typically stylized as reddit) is one of the best social media networks for engineers because it appeals to certain personality traits often associated with engineers, like an insatiable curiosity for learning, an innovative mindset, a practical world view, and sometimes, let’s be honest, a tendency to argue the toss.
If reddit wasn’t a social media network, it would be a search engine, as it was designed to help people like information-hungry engineers to find answers to their questions, share their knowledge and expertise, explore the world, and engage in discussion and debate in virtual communities.
World’s first 3D-printed steel bridge, Amsterdam.| Source: r/bridgeporn
The reddit learning journey is also a serendipitous one. If reddit was neither a social media network nor a search engine, it would be a giant mind map for learning. Exploring one community, the user is continually tempted to stray down a new path.
Mind map of electrical engineering. Source: r/ElectricalEngineering
Engineering niche communities
Get started on reddit by hooking up with fellow engineers in the same discipline. Pick your specialty.
· chemistry: r/chemhelp
· electronics: r/AskElectronics
· aerospace: r/aerospace
· civil: r/civilengineering
· electrical: r/ElectricalEngineering
· bio and biomedical: r/bioengineering
· software: r/computerscience
· mechanical: r/MechanicalEngineering
Got a question?
Ask a question and get answers to both entry-level and technically complex engineering problems, explanations about how things work and advice about the engineering communities your colleagues are following (there’s no such thing as a stupid question). The tagline for this community is: “Stop nodding, start asking questions.” Check out What are the pros and cons of magnetic gears over conventional gears?
This community was created for professionals, not engineering students asking entry-level questions. But, the subreddit offers something for (nearly) everyone, from job boards to weekly discussions and links to articles of interest to engineers. Find out if Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot is sentient and voice your opinion about an enterprising redditor's design for a hypobaric water distiller.
The tagline for this subreddit is: "Got Questions? Get Answers" and posts can be filtered by mathematics, astronomy, chemistry and engineering. Find out how we know that the sun has burned half of its fuel and whether there is DNA in human waste.
What’s new, notable and exciting?
Here you can find all the trending news, statistics, rants and gossip around technology and the economic state of the nation. Apparently AI bots are so good at solving CAPTCHAs — their accuracy is up to 15% higher than that of humans — that it may be time to say goodbye to CAPTCHAs. Stay digitally safe — read about the latest cyber hacks.
This community’s moderators and redditors share innovations not only cooked up in laboratories but inspired by the world around us. Robotics engineering takes center stage. Meet SandStorm, a solar panel cleaning robot that doesn't use water or gas. And learn about the impact of blockchain technology on supply chain management and its potential for use in the construction industry to accelerate decarbonization.
The latest news, current events and information about current and future space missions. View images of Earendel, the most distant star ever detected, and join the debate around NASA's Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team.
Sea turtle-inspired robot. Source: r/innovations
Manufacturing and tools
Anyone, from factory engineers to makers and hobbyists can seek ideas about how to make something. The “How to manufacture my product?” flair filter is for practical tips and advice about how to manufacture their product. There are also some business opportunities listed — perhaps it’s time to start your own manufacturing venture. Check out the best type of plastic to make a small book for taking wet erase notes or how to manufacture fabric-covered parts.
Share images of your favorite tools, ask the community to ID something you found in gramp’s basement, get advice before you shop for tools, sell your unwanted tools or buy what someone else is getting rid of. Join the discussion to cord or go cordless.
Attention black holds
This subreddit will use up hours of otherwise productive working time. There are loads of quality gifs and animations for engineers, DIYers and serial social media sharers. Learn how the scroll compressor compresses refrigerant gas in an AC system. If you’re an armchair engineer, virtually play with a mechanical iris window shade. This community ranks around 550 of the most popular subreddits and is very addictive with lots of comments, upvotes and debate.
Bad (and funny) design and design errors, from buildings to plumbing, like really tiny public benches to discourage the people from sleeping on them and a toilet for (apparently) legless people. These posts will make engineers laugh out loud at their colleagues’ mistakes.
Suspended Channel of Guizhou, China. Source: r/Infrastructureporn
This unfortunately named community speaks to its admiration of humanity’s civil and structural engineering accomplishments. Be inspired by the engineering ingenuity and elegant design of some of the most beautiful and functional structures around the world. Noteworthy are North Coast 500, Scotland's answer to Route 66, and The Oosterscheldekering.
