Engineering Education for the Mechanically Inclined

YouTube follow up

 Well things haven't progressed as quickly as I'd hoped but the process is underway. Check out the Inventor Back to Basics channel to see tips on the fundamentals of using Inventor that can be easily missed by anyone working on their own.

 On the channel page you'll see where I've subscribed to other channels with great content for more advanced and esoteric content. If you've found a channel that you enjoy please pass it on to me so that I can get the additional learning as well.

Another tremendous opportunity for Educators and Students

 For Faculty and Students who can't make it to Autodesk University there's another chance to take advantage of the learning opportunity.

 Autodesk University Virtual is a series of online classes some with interaction with the instructor. If you log into the Education Community you can register for Free. So take a minute and look over the offerings and make an investment in understanding the technologies that are changing the way Industry and Education are evolving.

Back to the basics of Inventor

Recently I've had some great opportunities to present to programs that have been using Inventor for awhile. While presenting I found myself falling into the trap of not pointing out the more basic nuances of Inventor. I would do something on the screen and people would say "wow, when did you add that capability"? Often what I'd done had been in Inventor for years.

  There are a lot of little things that are handy, simple techniques that I have taken for granted as Inventor has become more feature rich. Many of these things wouldn't be called out in a book or even the built in Inventor Tutorials. Right now I have a list of about twenty of these things. If you have a suggestion for something you'd like to see shared please send it to me at thom.tremblay@autodesk.com. I'm targeting videos of two minutes or less.

If you'd like to see where the limits of Inventor lie check out the Autodesk YouTube Channel another resource (and one of my favorites) is the irreverent, occasionally controversial, but always interesting Rob Cohee Unscripted series that also delves into interoperability between Mechanical Engineering and Architecture something that is happening more and more in Education.

Keep an eye out on this blog to see announcement very soon on when these videos become available and please send those suggestions.

Got Skills?

 I'm not talking about computer hacking skills or Nunchuk skills, I'm talking about the skills needed to make a positive impact on your career and your future.

 Last week I was honored to be a Skills Ambassador for the trade of Mechanical Engineering Design/CAD at World Skills 2009 in Calgary, Alberta. In this competition people from eighteen countries showed their skills at discerning the appropriate work flow and techniques needed to carry out the tasks that people working as Mechanical Designers do every day.  In addition they used Autodesk Inventor as the tool to execute these tasks.

As I ranted in a previous post; Inventor is a tool for carrying out the tasks of Design and Engineering. Understanding this and knowing the tools of Inventor allowed the competitors to focus on the task at hand and complete them in time frames that could not possibly have been believed by people in the field when I started out. For example; on day one the competitors were given a collection of part drawings but were not given any indication of what the assembly was. The competitors created the parts in 3D, worked out how they needed to be assembled, created detail drawings of the assembly including an exploded view with balloons and a parts list and then created an animation of how the device worked. OK, leaving out the animation because it’s hard to do that with a 2D CAD system (much less a drawing board) this sort of task could easily have taken days in the past. These rock stars of design did it all in six hours work.  Simply amazing.

In addition to their notable skills they were also a group that displayed extraordinary grace under pressure. Imagine trying to do the task described above while thousands of students, adults, and industry experts watched you as you tried to carry them out. Even more amazing.

If you’re a high school student or starting out in college look into these competitions. Classroom learning is valuable but excelling in this environment could show a future employer something others can’t.

Congratulations to all of the competitors and best of luck in what is sure to be a bright future. In addition I would like to extend my gratitude to the Experts, Judges and team representatives who supported the competition and the competitors. They worked extremely long hours all the while point the spotlight and credit to the competitors.

 Get involved in World Skills International eeither as a competitor or as a professional who can help guide the future of Mechanical Engineering Design or any of the many other skills, because you've got skills, and the world needs them.

Win a pass to Autodesk University 2009!!!

 OK Engineering students, you have the advantage here.

 Autodesk is sponsoring a contest where you can create a video of why you want/need/must attend Autodesk University 2009 in Las Vegas. The details can be found here. Be entertaining, enthusiastic and of course a little begging might not hurt either.

 Be sure to enter and tell all of your friends if you make it to the voting stage. Your friends will know how help to you on YouTube old people like me won't have a chance.

Best of luck and I hope to see you in Vegas!

How it's Made - Live!

When I was a strapping young man preparing for college (a long, long time ago) I wasn't aware of the job that a Manufacturing Engineer performed. Then again the only machine around way back then was something they were calling "the wheel" and no one was sure that would catch on. 

If you've seen the wonderful television show 'How it's Made' and a couple of other similar programs you have been offered insight to the manufacturing processes used to create the things that surround us. I have a longtime friend who designs tooling in aerospace using amazing technologies and in my years working in the Autodesk commercial sales team I had many opportunities to admire the ingenuity of the craft.

Recently I had an opportunity to work with one of the fines Manufacturing Engineering Technology departments in the U.S. at Purdue. Programs like this prepare people to use a broad array of the latest technologies available to manufacturers. While "multi-disciplinary" education is a theme for discussion at conferences and in the halls of academia; understanding materials, process, electrical controls, hydraulics, pneumatics, as well as design and manufacturing software is just part of the job for a Manufacturing Engineer.

If you're looking for a major or a change in career, you're intrigued by how things are made and enjoy the challenge of finding a way to improve on something that is already working well, then take a look at the programs like the one at Purdue. You may just find yourself telling amazed listeners "How it's made".

Bring back the Abacus!

 Is it possible that Education is the only part of our world that is not enhanced by technology? That’s the impression I sometimes get. When I propose incorporating the advanced tools of Autodesk Inventor into the engineering curriculum the typical response is that there isn't enough time.  Is that really a valid response? Why can't the technology be incorporated into the curriculum as a tool taught as part of the curriculum?

  In the commercial world (which many of the students will someday join) tools like Inventor are not used for the sake of using them, they’re used to make the job of the engineer easier, make the design more comprehensible, enhance the safety and quality of products and validate a fresh idea without the need to build a physical prototype. And that’s all before lunch!

  Why then is the technology not viewed as a tool to teach engineering when it is a tool to execute it outside of academia? I think the problem lies in the assumption that CAD is an accessory to engineering and not a necessity. I don’t blame anyone for allowing that perception to take hold based on the technology of ten years ago but as engineers and designers aren’t we supposed to on a noble and eternal quest for better, faster, and easier? The tools that are available for free on the Autodesk Education Community today are functionally superior to anything at any cost that was available just a few years ago so why don’t students use them to learn engineering.

  What if the assignment was to take a set of data that was missing one value and enter those values into the CAD system, do the finite element analysis and see the faulty result. Then use the principles to calculate all of the necessary inputs and run the analysis again. This would teach the importance and asking the complete question and give them some experience in using technology with a critical eye. The visual feedback that is given will be easier to understand and more completely relay the information to the Generation Net student. There are hundreds of ways this could be used ranging from understanding stresses, visualizing a complex mechanism, to seeing the values of minimal bend radii for the wires in a harness.

  Could it be that one of the reasons that we’re struggling to find the engineers of the future is because we insist on teaching them using the tools that their grandparents used? If we’re not going to use CAD as a teaching tool then why bother with Calculators when an Abacus worked for centuries or even those troublesome ink pens, did da Vinci ever “flick a Bic”?

 The tools are readily available; the technology has advanced beyond the wildest dreams of most and now is the time to make them an integral part of teaching engineering not an afterthought or an accessory. This is not an option and everyone from the Teaching Assistants to the Dean must become more aware of what is possible using todays technology. I promise you will be amazed and inspired.

Aspire to Inspire - always

A fantastic (and free) learning opportunity

 Are you interested in learning about Autodesk Inventor, Alias Studio. or perhaps Revit? The Autodesk Authorized Training Centers are holding great events that allow you to learn about these technologies (and many others) at no cost.

 These events are referred to as Open Doors sessions and you can find out when and where they are happening near you at http://www.autodesk.com/opendoors. The website includes a search capability where you select a time range, products you're interested in, and the state where you're interested in. Once you've found an event that fits your needs you can register with the host through the list of available sessions. This program is not limited to the U.S. or Canada. I was able to track down open doors sessions on several of the International Autodesk sites as well by going to the Autodesk web site and searching on the Training Centers link.

 This is a great opportunity for Faculty and Students to gain great insight into the technical capabilities of the Autodesk Products and how those technical capabilities can aid in their education. Learning from expert trainers and networking with professionals that will use the software day to day makes it even better. I'm considering attending a Civil 3D event so I can understand my buddy Sanjay when he tries to explain Civil Engineering to me.

Happy learning!