Academia News

Ferris State University will be offering a Basic Instructor Training Course. The course takes place July 23-27 at Ferris State University in Michigan and is open to new HEAT Instructors looking to learn the basics of CATIA V5 or existing HEAT Instructors looking for a refresher. The course is also an excellent opportunity to network with other HEAT Instructors and Academic CATIA contacts.

Details:
CATIA Basic Instructor Training Course
July 23-27, 2007
Ferris State University
Big Rapids, Michigan, USA

Space is limited.
For further details, please contact Dave Livingstone:
1-877-997-9917 x244
dlivingstone@engineering.com

Engineering.com Activities at ASEE

The 2007 ASEE Conference and Exposition is just over a month away and we're working to do our part in making this year's event a success.

ENGINEERING.com will again team up with Dassault to bring an element of interactivity to this year's conference. Three separate demonstrations will be available to conference attendees showcasing CATIA, DELMIA and SIMULIA.

In addition to the three demonstrations, attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in a mini-classroom environment. ENGINEERING.com representatives will be on hand to lead participants through the Imagine & Shape module, demonstrating how powerful, fun and easy to use it is. Participants in the classroom will also receive a CD full of past Engineering VISION Grant submissions to share and inspire students in their classrooms.

There will also be an opportunity for participants to take advantage of some savings. ENGINEERING.com will run a special promotion on CATIA related instructional books. For more information, please visit the ENGINEERING.com booth at ASEE. We hope to see you there!

2007 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
"Riding the Wave to Excellence in Engineering Education"
June 24-27, 2007 - Honolulu, Hawaii
Hilton Hawaiian Village - ASEE Hotel Headquarters
Hawaii Convention Center - ASEE Conference and Exposition Headquarters
www.asee.org/conferences/annual/2007/index.cfm

Calibration & Quality Lab Keeps NIAR in Tune

One of the newest and most important laboratories at Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research doesn’t serve outside clients. At least, not directly. The Calibration and Quality Laboratory was established in January to support NIAR’s existing laboratories.

Prior to establishment of the lab, NIAR depended on companies like MTS Systems and Denton ATD to ensure the sensitive testing and research equipment used on a daily basis was consistently accurate. With the addition of the Calibration and Quality Lab, two full-time trained calibration engineers and additional calibration training classes for existing lab employees, all of NIAR’s laboratory equipment can now be calibrated in-house.

The Calibration and Quality Lab supports most of NIAR’s laboratories including:

Lab equipment includes a force calibration system to ensure ASTM*-E74 compliance; equipment to calibrate load frames in accordance with ASTM-E4; an extensometer calibration system to comply with ASTM-E83; an accelerometer calibrator; an optical comparator; a Fluke multi-product calibrator for calibrating equipment such as "o"-scopes, digital multimeters, volt meters and temperature devices; and a complete anthropomorphic test dummy calibration system.

In the past, the test dummies used in the Crash Dynamics Lab were sent away for re-calibration after most tests, resulting in down-time for the lab and high calibration costs. Upon installation of the test dummy calibration equipment, Crash Dynamics Lab director Joseph Mitchell and research engineer Andy Mackey were given extensive training using the calibration system and can now re-calibrate the test dummies in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Plans for the future of the Calibration and Quality Lab include continued training for lab technicians and possibly hiring additional staff.

For more information about the Calibration and Quality Lab at NIAR, contact Walter Lee, director of quality and performance at (316) 978-6139 or walter.lee@wichita.edu.

JAMS Annual Meeting Scheduled for July

The 3rd annual Joint Advanced Materials and Structures (JAMS) Technical Meeting will be held July 10-12, 2007 at the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The purpose of the meeting is to review and receive feedback on all current research projects conducted by the center. JAMS is conducting FAA-sponsored research into nine technical areas focused on advanced materials and structures.

Material Standardization and Shared Databases
Bonded Joints Issues; Structural Substantiation
Damage Tolerance and Durability
Maintenance Practices
Advanced Material Forms and Processes
Cabin Safety
Nanotechnology for Composite Structures
Life Management of Materials for Improved Aircraft
Maintenance Practices

In addition to presentations, the meeting will include tours of the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center facilities, such as the fire safety area, the Full-Scale Aircraft Structural Test Evaluation and Research (FASTER) facility and the fuels lab.

The goal of this technical meeting is to inform regulators, industry and academia on current research and gain feedback that will help drive future JAMS research and training developments. The meeting will also acquaint FAA Researchers at the technical center with the capabilities of the JAMS Center of Excellence.

The JAMS Center of Excellence is lead jointly by the University of Washington and Wichita State University. The center addresses the engineering and science issues associated with safety, regulation and product certification of advanced materials and structures to assure equivalent or higher levels of safety relative to existing technology. It establishes engineering standards and unique skills training for advanced materials and structures. The ultimate goal is to develop an advanced materials and structures knowledge base.

To this end, JAMS recently supported the Commercial Aircraft Composite Repair Committee (CACRC) Meeting & FAA Workshop for Composite Damage Tolerance & Maintenance held in May 2007. The research topics covered at this workshop included fluid ingression, repair design and structural substantiation, damage tolerance, field inspection and experiences with bonded and bolted repair. JAMS has supported FAA Composite Safety & Certification Initiatives (CS&CI) in these areas with research on critical technical issues and the development of training standards since it was established in December 2003.

These workshops and technical meetings are two of the major methods regulators, industry and academia use to share ideas about current industry needs. Anyone interested in supporting these initiatives are encouraged to attend the upcoming technical meeting.

To learn more about JAMS and to register for the upcoming meeting, please visit www.jams-coe.org.

For more information about the Center for Advanced Materials Performance at Wichita State University's National Institute for Aviation Research visit the Web site.

2007 ASEE Sessions Announced

Dassault Systèmes announced its 3 hosted sessions for this year's ASEE Conference taking place June 24-27, 2007 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The sessions are as follows:

Teaching with New Technologies: Myth busting-teaching with new technology is not difficult. Challenging concepts become easy when students can see for themselves. June 26 11:00 a.m. Room 308A
Digital Manufacturing: What could be cooler than animated robots for the classroom? June 26 1:00 pm Room 308A
Digital Engineering in the Classroom: Learn how to inspire students of all ages to pursue an engineering education. June 26 2:00 pm Room 308B

In addition to these three sessions, ENGINEERING.com will again team up with Dassault to bring an element of interactivity to this year's conference. Thee separate demonstrations will be available to conference attendees showcasing CATIA, DELMIA and SIMULIA. Participants will be led through CATIA's Imagine & Shape module, demonstrating how powerful, fun and easy it is to use. Participants in the classroom will also receive a CD full of past Engineering VISION Grant submissions to share with and inspire students in their classrooms.

CATIA Book Promotion

ENGINEERING.com is giving Educators a chance to improve their in-class curriculum with a limited time offer on CATIA Textbooks.

Beginning June 23, when you purchase a CATIA V5 Educator's license, you will receive a free textbook of your choice from ENGINEERING.com.

Our selection of textbooks allow instructors to quickly and easily develop a custom curriculum. Textbooks can also be stocked in the campus bookstore for resale to students. Some restrictions apply.
For more information, a list of eligible textbooks or to purchase an Educator's license visit:
www.catiastudent/com/ASEE2007.htm