Engineers and engineering students frequently need data from suppliers or manufacturers. Why? You might need to locate a specialized product, component, or material. Or you might need detailed data on the product, component, or material. This information is often available from manufacturers and vendors.
How do you find this type of information? You can always use your favorite search engine but you can save time by using a specialized website. For example, the Thomas Register (ThomasNet) is often a more efficient way to shop for products from small vendors than a Google search.
For those of you in Bioengineering Senior Design, you will likely need to purchase your materials through the UMass BuyWays program. For others, you will likely be able to purchase materials directly through the vendor.