VISUALIZATION

CONCORD, Mass. - Students in Baylor University's senior design class will get hands-on experience this fall when they use SolidWorks( three-dimensional computer-aided design (3D CAD) software to design a heat monitoring device for Bell Helicopter Textron, SolidWorks announced today. Baylor's School of Engineering and Computer Science has standardized on SolidWorks software, purchasing 100 licenses to provide its students with an easy-to-use design tool. Baylor's Department of Engineering is using SolidWorks to teach its students how to apply solid modeling to real-world projects. Students are up and running with SolidWorks in a couple of weeks, compared to more than a month it took to learn the university's previous 3D CAD software. This short learning curve is a key benefit to students who must complete their projects in a 15-week semester. During the fall semester, Baylor's senior design class will work on a project for Bell Helicopter Textron, which makes military and commercial helicopters. The company has commissioned the students to design a device that monitors the temperature of its rotor couplings, which take power from the engine and transfers it to the rotor shaft, causing the blades to spin. The design team's monitor will sense if the couplings are overheating during testing, preventing the couplings, which cost $18,000 per pair, from being ruined. SolidWorks is the only solid modeling software the students will use for the project. Students will also use eDrawings to communicate and review designs with Bell Helicopter and revise the designs via e-mail. "Our senior design class helps students get ready for the real world by giving them the practical knowledge necessary to become productive in today's project-oriented workplace," said Robert Doty, a mechanical engineering professor at Baylor. "By blending real projects with widely used commercial design tools like SolidWorks, we feel we are giving our students a tremendous competitive advantage. In fact, our students have gone on to work at some of the world's leading companies, including Dell, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, General Electric, Westinghouse and Motorola." In addition to Baylor's senior design students, the university's junior design class will use SolidWorks for their in-house projects. This is the first time Baylor will incorporate solid modeling into the junior class curriculum due to SolidWorks' short learning curve and intuitive nature, Doty said. "Programs such as Baylor's are exactly what students need to test their design knowledge and see it come together in a finished product," said Rosanne Kramer, director of worldwide education markets for SolidWorks Corporation. "It is crucial to give students this practical experience so they are better equipped to make the transition to professional engineering careers." Baylor University is working with MLC CAD Systems, an authorized SolidWorks reseller and certified trainer.