ACADEMIA

CONCORD, MA -- SolidWorks Corporation today unveiled a new version of its SolidWorks(R) Education Edition software suite that will help engineering schools enhance their curriculum by adding new analysis and collaboration capabilities that are critical to the mechanical design process. The three dimensional computer-aided design (3D CAD) tools provided in the Education Edition let students create and test their designs using one comprehensive software license that addresses multiple disciplines. The Education Edition now includes the COSMOS/Works and COSMOS/Motion (powered by ADAMS(c)) analysis tools, and the eDrawings Professional collaboration tool. They join the productivity tools already integrated into the Education Edition: SolidWorks 2001Plus, PhotoWorks(TM), SolidWorks Animator, and SolidWorks Toolbox. This full range of real-world tools broaden students' understanding of the design process and fully prepares them for the design challenges they will face in their careers. Using COSMOS/Works with COSMOS/Motion, students can perform tests on how their designs will hold up under stresses and in motion, and then make changes quickly and easily. The single-window user interface between the COSMOS/ products and SolidWorks software lets students focus on solving real-world design analysis problems instead of struggling to learn difficult and complicated software. With the Education Edition, students can create designs, and then conduct sophisticated motion simulations, stress and displacement analysis, thermal analysis, and assembly analysis. The SolidWorks Education Edition demonstrates the company's commitment to providing educational subscribers with resources for enhancing the engineering design graphics curriculum. "Our goal is to help the academic community expand its use of 3D CAD technology so they can better equip their students for challenging engineering jobs after graduation," said Rosanne Kramer, director of worldwide education markets for SolidWorks Corporation. "Most first-year engineering courses focus on the principles of design and graphics, but once these foundation courses are completed, the next level of learning always includes the study of analysis. The Education Edition offers today's students and educators a set of powerful, yet easy-to-use tools that address this next step in engineering education. Several of SolidWorks' academic partners are already using COSMOS/Works in upper level design projects, and we look forward to seeing the results of putting these powerful new tools in more students' hands." The new Education Edition also includes eDrawings Professional, the first email-enabled communication tool that facilitates review of design data and assignments between students and instructors. Professors can use eDrawings Professional to view and grade student projects more quickly and completely. This tool will help students learn how to use the Web to collaborate on 3D designs to accelerate design review. All subscribers receive the new SolidWorks Teacher Guide and Student Courseware book, offering a competency-based approach to teaching 3D design. It includes a syllabus, ready-made lesson plans, homework assignments, assessment exercises, reproducible study outlines, and correlations to standard mathematics curriculum. The new Teacher Guide has additional chapters that focus on how to use SolidWorks Toolbox, a library of standard parts and components; SolidWorks Animator, an integrated animation module; and PhotoWorks, a rendering application. The SolidWorks Education Edition is available from authorized SolidWorks resellers. For further information contact SolidWorks or any of its authorized resellers.