This blog brings together STEM subjects at all levels for middle school, high school, technical/vocational and college levels.
The lessons reinforce classroom theory in the areas that students find most challenging such as the unit circle, force and stress, 3D geometry and material properties.
As we contribute to your students’ global future, we hope you utilize and participate in these lessons.
When I first saw a rocket at SolidWorks World, I thought how did that fit in the elevator? How did we get a rocket past security? Would 5600 engineers and designers sneak into the Partner Pavillion at night and try to ingite the rocket? Luckily the rocket was not set off by the engieers and I got a chance to meet one of my new heros at SolidWorks World, Tom Atchison. Tom designed his rocket using SolidWorks and SolidWorks Flow Simulation and now works with students to inspire us all. The video below shows his story. If you would like to find out more about Mavericks, Mentoring Opportunities, or how to support their efforts, you can visit their website at: http://www.rocketmavericks.com Marie
When Jeremy Losaw, NASCAR Racing Engineer and SolidWorks Mentor for the Ten80 STEM Racing Challenge sent me this video, I could not help but ask to share it with all of you.
Jeremy also sent me the part model he created in SolidWorks.
You can download the SolidWorks model. Download Mini
Jeremy learned SolidWorks 98 at Union College and was a member of the FSAE team. I love SAE collegiate events. SolidWorks sponsors the SAE events and I have learned a great deal from these young student engineers, especially as we developed our SolidWorks SAE curriculum with the University of Wisconsin FSAE racing team.
.Jeremy is the perfect mentor, he has worked in designing carbon fiber machines to NASCAR Racing parts. Jeremy's outreach goes beyond the middle school and high school students too. He helps out for the Clemson FSAE Racing team in his free time. Marie
STEM - Science Technology Engineering and Math is truly integrated into the Ten80 Racing Challenge. This project makes physics and math exciting and fun.
With mentors like Jeremy and support from the US Army and NASCAR, Ten80 is certain to drive students towards science and engineering. Marie
This video shows how you obtain your SolidWorks serial number, create an account and access the Customer Portal right inside of the SolidWorks Education Edition.
The projects are new for the 2011-2012 Education Edition. Now the "Instructor's Guide to Teaching SolidWorks" and the "Student Guide to Learning SolidWorks" are available in 14 languages. 20 engineering design projects for students are found on the customer portal.
Students can access the workbooks and projects from within the Resources area under Student Curriculum or in the Design Library under SolidWorks Content.
Mate References - In the assembly file parts with Mate References; wheels, axles, spacers "snap" in place on the body!
Z Component Velocityin SolidWorks Flow Simulation calculates velocity trajectories rather than pressure. Makes it easier to see problem areas.
Rendering in PhotoView 360 - makes you want to buy the dragster right off the racetrack.
There is MasterCam and CAM Works instruction too.
If you are looking for more engineering projects for your students of all ages try out one of the other SolidWorks Tutorials on boats, rockets, planes and springs. Thank you Pat for your amazing work and helping so many students have fun learning. Marie
SolidWorks Education Edition contains hundreds of FEA Tutorials right inside the software. I decided to talk about classic examples I did for my students in Engineering Mechanics - Statics and Engineering Physics.
SolidWorks has Verification examples.and NA FEMs examples. These examples provide the analytical solution in algebra form. Engineering textbooks by Hibbler, Beers and Johnson, Bedford and Fowler and a host of other authors would also contain the calculus solution - but I will leave that for math class.
The Cantilever Beam example looks at deflection of a beam loaded in sheer or an end moment. The results are presented to you by SolidWorks both graphically and numerically. It is important to understand units. If the exercise is presented to you in IPS (Inch Pound Seconds) or SI units, understand what is required and the units needed. In this example, you will have to use Edit Definition on the Deflection results and change the units to inches.
Now you can double-click on a dimension to modify the length or cross section of the beam and see how the deflection, stress and strain results will vary all in one interface, just double-click on the beam to modify the dimensions. If you want to put a notch in the beam, select the Feature Manager at the top to modify the geometry. Click the Study tab at the bottom of the Graphics window, Right-click to "mesh and run" on the Mesh entry to review the new results. Sure beats the days of when I had to use a pre and post processor and import geometry!
Model: Download Static_16 part (SolidWorks 2011-2012 Education Edition. Also available in SolidWorks 2010 from Help>SolidWorks Simulation>Verification examples
Can SolidWorks Simulation be used with Pumpkins? Engineering students from Team Ethos and Wright State University say YES! They produced this video covering 5 years of their development and design changes using SolidWorks Simulation to analyze structural members and drag of pumpkins. Projectile motion is cool when pumpkins are invovled.
The world finals of this year's Pumpkin Chuckin will be televised on Discovery Channel on Thursday Nov 25 after the Mythbuster Marathon. Check you local tv listings.
Fun TV for the entire family and it invovles Physics - lots of Physcis! For SolidWorks educators, you can try out the Trebuchet Curriculum located on the SolidWorks Customer Portal for more fun with engineering, math and science.
Deepest congratulations to Amir
Abo-Shaeer, inspiration to the next generation of engineers and new recipient
of a $500,000 no-strings-attached MacArthur Genius Grant.
Abo-Shaeer was selected for his ground-breaking work as a
physics teacher and founder of the Dos Pueblos
Engineering Academy, a model of the kind of education that can dramatically
change students' lives. The school within a school in Santa Barbara, Calif., delivers a
rigorous applied science curriculum that integrates physics, engineering and
math; hands-on building projects; and competitions like FIRST
Robotics. DPEA has managed the rare feat of attracting young women to
engineering education – they make up approximately half the DPEA student body,
well above the national average in advanced sciences.
“Abo-Shaeer’s novel and effective model of science
education is instilling a passion for the physical sciences in young men and
women and is contributing to the preparation of the next generation of
scientists and engineers for the twenty-first century,” says the foundation.
The DPEA program is weaving entrepreneurship and business
into its programming and building a new 12,000-square foot engineering
campus, which will be a far cry from its current 900 square feet. The
campus will include a machine shop, prototype shop, computer lab, conference
room, and three classrooms. Abo-Shaeer’s team is hoping to triple enrollment
and turn fewer heartbroken students away.
We’d also like to give a shout out to DPEA’s FIRST
Robotics team,
“Team 1717,” also known as the D’Penguineers, winners of multiple awards at the
regional and international levels of FIRST. Team members work full time for six
weeks to design, build, and program their Penguinbot. Earlier this year, the
team requested and received our sponsorship – 50 licenses of SolidWorks
Student Edition, which includes our high-end simulation products. This is
Team 1717’s fourth year using our software. We bumped into the team most
recently at the national championships in April at the Georgia Dome. They’re an
impressive group who are pretty enthusiastic about engineeringand using SolidWorks to design excellent robots.
Here are the complete instructions to develop a F1inSchools SolidWorks 2010 car with a step-by-step .pdf and 2010 model files for the complete project. Create the body part, car assembly and drawings. perform a stress analysis for the axle and flow analysis to determine drag. Available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, and German. See our customer portal, www.solidworks.com/customerportal for instructor solutions.
Download the model files, project file and view the video. Marie
The SolidWorks Sustainability - An Introduction to Material Choice and Sustainability Redesign is a compact introduction to the engineering design process that incorporates material selection, stress analysis and thermal analysis. Your students will edit an assembly and explore how different materials can effect the environment. This is a great example to show the engineering student how to combine sustainable design with heat tranfer and applied forces. Requires SolidWorks Education Edition or SolidWorks Student Edition Academic Year 2010-2011. To access SolidWorks Simulation, select Tools, Add Ins. Check SolidWorks Simulation. SolidWorks Simulation is required for Stress Analysis and Thermal Analysis of an assembly. Once I completed the assembly, I used Photoview 360 - drag and drop a blue background. Marie
The Windmill Tutorial takes you through the design of a component utilizing SolidWorks Sustainability Xpress to perform a Life Cycle Assessment on a part. The first document illustrates a parts list and the assembly. The second document develops the sustainable part by selecting the material, manufacturing process, geographical locations for where raw materials are obtained and where the product will be used, students can determine the carbon footprint, energy consumed, air and water effects. Students will also create the drawing. The third document takes you through the assembly of the windmill. This tutorial was developed by Jack van den Broek, technical vocational instructor. The tutorial is available in Dutch at www.solidworks.nl.
The complete model answers to the windmill project are available on our SolidWorks Customer Portal. You require your SolidWorks Education serial number to access curriculum.
As an engineer and an educator, teaching students to incorporate SolidWorks Sustainability into the design of a product becomes a critical step as they learn the design process. We teach form, fit and function of a component. The student also has a responsiblity to understand that the materials they select and the manufacturing process they choose have an effect on the environment. Empowering your students to make these choices takes the engineering design process to a level that socially sound and economically feasible. I hope you enjoy the windmill.
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