The authors used Microsoft Excel as an instructional tool assisting engineering students in the mastery of mathematical concepts pertaining to the topic of related rates in an introductory calculus course. Often overlooked by both educators and students, Excel can be effectively used to illustrate several topics in a calculus course that are mandatory for all engineering disciplines. Related rates problems are often perceived as challenging by most students. To help students get more familiarized with the subject, the authors have designed a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet producing solutions to a couple of classic related rates problems. Students can change key parameters of each problem and explore the variations of the solutions accordingly.