Students at West Point find COSMOSDesignSTAR easy to use and easy to install

Company US Military Academy, West Point Industry Educational Location Greece Product Used COSMOSDesignSTAR™ Type of Analysis Linear Static More Details

Disclaimer: The views presented in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of the Defense or any of it's components. Also, the products mentioned in this article are not officially endorsed by the Department of Defense or any of its components.

The Challenge
To help engineering students get the most out of their valuable undergraduate educations, professors must maximize the time they spend in the classroom. For example, the more time professors spend explaining the ins and outs of complicated FEA software programs, the less time students have to learn the theories and principles of engineering design and analysis. That's why ease of use in FEA software was critically important to Major Steve Schweitzer, who teaches a computer aided design course at West Point. MAJ. Schweitzer now relies on COSMOSDesignSTAR's intuitive interface and easy-to-understand tutorial to get his undergraduate students up and running fast.

"At the beginning, my students have had some engineering classes, but no formalized training on FEA or computers to do analysis, so they're computer novices as far as analysis goes," MAJ. Schweitzer explains. "At the undergraduate level, if a comprehensive FEA package is too hard to use, it will be overwhelming and students won't be able to analyze anything. So we wanted a package with built-in tutorials so the students can teach themselves, so I could concentrate on teaching theory rather than showing them how to point and click in the package."

The Solution
After reviewing many FEA software packages, MAJ. Schweitzer and his colleagues chose COSMOSDesignSTAR for its superior ease of use. "With COSMOSDesignSTAR, I can take someone who knows absolutely nothing about computational analysis and in about three lessons have them produce meaningful engineering analyses. In class, I introduce a theory, such as what an H-Method is, then students go through the COSMOSDesignSTAR tutorial while I answer questions. Then I give them a homework assignment based on what they should have learned in class."

Budding engineers face an array of new technologies and techniques-but not a lot of time to build key proficiencies. With COSMOSDesignSTAR, they can build a solid foundation for the real world, because they are able to analyze basic and even more sophisticated designs with ease. Like Major Schweitzer found, training a future generation of engineers successfully means giving them solid grounding in theory. And doing that means having them spend less time learning the technology. In helping students and teachers make the most of their classroom time by reducing the technology learning curve, COSMOSDesignSTAR merits straight "A"s.