Engineering Education for the Mechanically Inclined

PLM in Education? Is that really even possible?

PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) is a term that’s been around for a long time. It’s also a subject that has been made to seem so incredibly large in scope that only a few wise sages huddled in caves on steep mountain sides could possibly understand.

This perception has been driven largely by those who’ve been consulting with businesses on how to implement tools to execute this idea. Well as usual Autodesk has taken a different approach. We don’t think anyone can tell a business or even a student how they should be working or how they should be keeping track of the items and processes that they’re using better than they can.

The foundation of PLM is anyone that needs information being able to access it. If someone in maintenance needs to send out a replacement part they should be able to find out what was sent to the customer. An Engineer should be able to check on where a needed change to a component is in the approval process. A sales rep needs to be able to find out quickly if a customer request for a change can be done and if it’s cost effective. But what about a student?

Are you working on a Senior design project or are you collaborating on a project with students in another school? How do you know when others have finished tasks or found a source for purchased components you need? How do you generate a list of components that are easily recycled after you’ve gotten your grades.

PLM is NOT limited to Fortune 500 companies or those that can afford to spend millions to have their workflow analyzed by outsiders who somehow know how a company should be run. If you make something and you know how you did it or how you plan to, you can benefit from PLM and now you can do so without going broke.

Check out Autodesk PLM 360. This is taking a different approach one that is focused on you because you know more than we’ll ever understand about how you work and what you need. You can also work with others regardless of where they are easily because you don’t have to maintain the servers that they connect to. This is the smart way to use “The Cloud” to collaborate with complete control. It’s incredibly simple to set up and even easier to connect to others.

Check out this technology and let me know how you think you would be able to use PLM 360 with you work in Education.

Are you in a VEXing situation?

  For students working with the VEX Robotics curriculum or using their data through Project Lead the Way being able to design your robot in Inventor is a great way to understand what is needed to make your physical model.

  The standard sheet metal parts that come with the VEX kit have square holes. This makes it necessary to use two to three assembly constraints every time you want to locate a round part in a square hole. Even on a small robot that can add up to a lot of constraints very quickly.

  If the holes were round you could simply hold your Alt key and drag a round part to snap it into the round hole or use an Insert constraint but they’re not. But what if you could make them think they are? Since you wouldn’t want to change the shape of the holes in the real kit parts I’ve created a video on how you can make a simple addition to the standard parts that will make them easier to assemble.

           

By adding Inventor iMates to the square holes they will act just like they were round and therefore only require one constraint for each hole.

  Check it out and please share it with others if you think it is helpful.

Freedom meets Free-Body Diagrams

So, you say you’re tired of spending hours creating free-body diagrams but you’re just not sure if there’s an easier way?

Well don’t tell your professors but there is. Autodesk is committed to making things easier for our customers and as engineers-in-training you can benefit from the tools that make their lives easier by making the concepts you’re learning more understandable. Design Accelerators are a great example for machine design.

Autodesk ForceEffect is a new app for iPad that makes free-body diagrams so easy they’re fun! If you don’t believe me take a look at what the people in charge say:

“Autodesk ForceEffect is a mobile conceptual simulation app that brings engineering to the point of the problem,” said Robert “Buzz” Kross, senior vice president, Manufacturing Industry Group at Autodesk. “This user-friendly app can greatly benefit engineers, students and technical DYIers who need to quickly and easily evaluate their designs upfront in the design process.”

See, I told you. This is really an amazing thing to behold. Check it out for free at the iTunes App Store and see for yourself. You may want to hide it from your professors though.

Stand out from the crowd with Certification

Simply getting a degree is not enough to get ahead any longer. Getting the valuable application experience of being involved in a student teams will give you an advantage in finding the work that you will enjoy.

In the current highly competitive environment it is a good idea to get every advantage you can. Certification can be the differentiator that will get you the job that you want. Being certified shows that you not only know the theory but can use the tools to practice the trade and this can be an important distinction that can open doors for you.

Right now you can view the certification preparation classes for Autodesk University 2011 Virtual to learn more about the process and the things you need to know to pass the test. You can view the classes by going here and select the class or classes that you’re interested in.

The products that are covered include:

AutoCAD® 2012
AutoCAD Civil 3D® 2012
Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2012
Autodesk 3ds Max® 2012
Autodesk Maya® 2012
Autodesk Inventor® 2012

I cannot overstate the opportunity that having access to these materials and Certification offer. Take advantage of it before someone else gets your dream job.

Calling all cars! …and bikes, and canoes, and bridges –Part 2

Are you a student on a team or a faculty advisor for one? If so I have something that you really must check out.

SAE International and Autodesk are sponsoring a webcast event; Winning with Autodesk on Thursday, October 6th at 7 PM U.S. Eastern Daylight time.

While this webcast will focus on tools used primarily on the SAE sponsored these tools can be used for any Mechanical design or engineering project. This benefits secondary teams as well as collegiate.

We will be reviewing 2D conceptual design tools, complex freeform surfacing, 3D CAD, FEA, CFD, dynamic analysis, creating metal frames, electrical wiring diagrams and 3D routing, engineering based machine component design, and all of it will be delivered in less time than it will take to get pizza delivered.

Tell your friends, parents, children, pets, and even complete strangers to register for this webcast and see how YOU can win with Autodesk!

2012! (The Mayans never saw this coming…)

Well it’s spring and of course that means Baseball, Student Team competitions, and new releases of Autodesk products on the Education Community.

This year the focus of many of the new products was interoperability and consistency of the interface. These may seem like minor change and maybe even like they’re not very much fun but this work is very important. Why?

In the world of Digital Prototyping knowing Inventor is important but not all you need to know. Having a working knowledge of tools like Autodesk Simulation Multi-Physics (formerly Algor Simulation Pro) will be critical to you future. By making the interface consistent with other tools like Inventor you can spend more time learning how to use the tools to evaluate your designs and less time focusing on the interface.

I will be posting a “What’s new in Inventor 2012” soon but why wait for me when you can find out for yourself?

Coming to a theater near you!

  You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll kiss ten bucks good-bye, but you also just may end up with a career that brings you satisfaction and joy.

  Join the students at Huntley Boarding School as they meet their new teacher, Mr. McCluskey. Learn how Mr. McCluskey's unorthodox teaching methods educate and inspire the next generation of artists, engineers, architects and designers. And wait until you discover the secret that is making Mr. McCluskey's Method the viral sensation for Autodesk customers worldwide.

Autodesk presents this tongue-in-cheek parody of the classic film genre -- the all-boys boarding school. Please enjoy and share with your friends.

Autodesk YouTube channel

How to build a better future; one student at a time

Last fall I had the pleasure of offering several presentations to teachers and students at the Project Lead the Way conference in Washington D.C.

At the end of one of these presentations a colleague of mine introduced me to a teacher from Pike Central High School in Petersburg, Indiana. His name was Ray Niehaus and he assured me that the work his students were doing with awe and inspire me. He invited me to come visit their school and see the program he was so obviously proud of. I make frequent trips to the area so I agreed to take him up on the offer.

Well now that I’ve been to the school and I’ve seen the work the students are doing I am compelled to share. I was offered an opportunity to spend an entire day with a group of students in their lab to show them what was possible in Inventor as well as a few other applications that I though would fit their needs. Even though I had a full day with them I could’ve used more time. These students weren’t asking how to use the software for the sake of learning features. They were asking how to use the technology to solve design problems, complex design problems. Evidently Mr. Niehaus recognized my surprise and showed my the workshop these students use. That’s where the shock came in. Almost two thirds of the class were Freshmen!

These students are involved in helping the top tier Universities, local industry, and inventor’s with their ideas. These students are learning how to create, how to build, and the value of engineering. Most of all they’re experiencing the pride, pleasure, and the sense of possibility that accomplishment brings. The problems they’re solving vary from the entertaining and interesting to things that can save lives; many lives. They are learning that manufacturing, the materials you have to work with, and the tools you have to work with have a tremendous impact on how you can even approach a design process.

The success that they’ve had in helping the people of the community is reflected in the tools and support that they have. They have what is simply the most impressive shop facility that I’ve seen in any school including major Universities. The students at Pike Central High are showing what can be done in an environment where things are kept in perspective. Mr. Niehaus may not be an expert at any single aspect of all of the tools, design methodologies, or technologies that the students use but like all great leaders he has a vision and wholly believes that the students and their future is too valuable to place limits on. He is also their greatest fan and promoter. He coaches, encourages, challenges and expects the students to do the best they can and they respond. They see a clear path to use their imagination to do good things and they do good things that many can’t imagine. And the respect between them all is immediately evident.

To build a great program doesn’t take a lot of money up front. When a school is showing the public that supports it that they’re doing great work and building partnerships, they will get the support they need in time. Start out with focusing on challenging the students to exceed their expectations and continue to do so and amazing things will happen. Doing more with what you have is a better teacher than having everything except creativity or ambition.

Bringing it all together for you

You may or may not have noticed but while everyone was on their Winter break the Education Community and the scary smart people at Autodesk Labs were hard at work.

The changes are “behind the scenes” but will make your user experience better as they’ve made it easier for you to join the community, activate software and move back and forth between sites to try different technologies.

A huge change is the elimination of the need to have a school e-mail address so if you’re a secondary student you don’t have to have a teacher sign you up. This is great news for the Home School community as well.

Another, more subtle but great change is the move to a single log in for the Community, Autodesk Labs, and most importantly the Activation site. One username and password for it all. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone helped you have to remember fewer passwords?

So go check out the Autodesk Education Community if you’re not yet a member, revisit if you are and check out all of the additions and improvements. If you hurry maybe you can be the 2 millionth member!

More Sustainability content on the Autodesk Education Community

A new series of videos focused on Design for a Lifetime have been added to the Sustainability content on the Autodesk Education community.

 

You can find them on the Education Community and it doesn’t even require a log in to see the content.

Check them out and don’t be shy about sending them to your friends, playing them in your classroom or showing them to anyone interested in engineering and design.