Enhancing Student Design Experiences by Integrating Computer-Aided Engineering into the Curriculum

该项目将计算机辅助设计(CAD)和计算机辅助工程(CAE)整合到四门工程课程的学期项目中：计算机辅助设计、固体力学、有限元分析和顶石工程设计。学生们热衷于在工程课程中进行学期专题，但他们经常因为试图将课堂上学到的理论应用于应用项目中所面临的实际挑战而感到沮丧。这种挫折感在很大程度上源于允许隔离潜在影响和促进相关控制方程的简单封闭形式解所需的简化。这种简单化在理论和实践之间造成了鸿沟，工科学生通常认为这是不可调和的。该项目正在通过在四个有针对性的课程中引入CAD和CAE数值方法的知情使用来弥合这一差距。为了实现这一目标，正在建立一个有16个座位的计算机实验室。该实验室用于教授专业CAD(实体建模)和CAE(有限元分析、动态模拟和数值分析)软件应用，在教师指导下进行结构化练习。学期项目可以每年增加复杂性，并在前几年学到的技能基础上再接再厉。因此，高年级学生可以带着一系列的CAD和CAE技能进入他们的顶峰课程，他们可以利用这些技能来指导他们的实践设计项目。这项工作可以整合本科工程项目经验，展示工程科学的现代应用，并包括实际工程设计问题的所有挑战。这项工作的结果可以提交给工程教育界和其他有兴趣将计算机辅助工程分析整合到本科课程中的学校。*

The project integrates computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) into the term projects in four engineering courses: Computer-Aided Design, Solid Mechanics, Finite Element Analysis, and Capstone Engineering Design. Students are enthusiastic about conducting term projects in engineering courses, but are often frustrated in their attempts to apply the theories learned in lecture to the practical challenges faced in applied projects. The frustration stems largely from the simplifications needed to permit isolation of underlying effects, and to facilitate simple closed-form solution of relevant governing equations. Such simplifications create a gap between theory and practice that engineering students often view as irreconcilable. The project is bridging this gap by introducing the informed use of numerical methods of CAD and CAE in the four targeted courses. A 16-seat computer laboratory is being established to accomplish this objective. The laboratory is being used to teach professional CAD (solid modeling) and CAE (finite element analysis, dynamic simulation, and numerical analysis) software applications through structured exercises conducted under faculty supervision. Term projects can increase in sophistication each year and build on skills learned in prior years. Therefore, seniors can enter their capstone course with a range of CAD and CAE skills that they can call upon to conduct their hands-on design projects. This work can result in the integration of undergraduate engineering project experiences that demonstrate the modern application of engineering science and include all of the challenges of actual engineering design problems. The outcomes of this work can be presented to the engineering education community and other schools interested in integrating computer-aided engineering analysis into the undergraduate curriculum. *