The freshman design course, or “cornerstone” course, is a critical component of the curriculum at most institutions. The modern incarnation of this course integrates general design and analysis concepts and the application of computing tools such as CAD. In a general sense, it is intended to answer the question “What do engineers actually do?” for a young student.

This webinar presents a detailed case study of the recent McMaster University initiative to enrich its cornerstone course. The key new element is the introduction of a dynamic modeling software package to allow students to analyze and explore the system dynamics, and ultimately the design options, for a real system. Prior to this, the course focused on development of the CAD model, and then essentially guessing at possible modifications to the design to achieve a desired design goal. This new approach introduces a true design iteration step. From the CAD model, students can quickly develop a corresponding dynamic model and systematically assess system performance for changes in parameter values.

McMaster deployed a software combination of Autodesk® Inventor™ and MapleSim™ for the modeling and simulation workflow.

The contents of this seminar include:

• Motivation and the core pedagogy framing the initiative
• Fundamental elements of the new course
• Technical challenges in introducing advanced modeling and simulation tools into the freshman curriculum
• Progress thus far and future challenges
• Discussion and Q &A

Register for this webinar here.