Kristin Fields
The COE Academic Outreach Program provides a forum for Dassault Systèmes users from schools and universities to organize as one voice to Dassault Systèmes on product development and service topics, network to develop relationships that help both personally and professionally, and learn from shared experiences.
The mission of COE’s Academic Outreach Program is to grow careers in technology. COE promotes the advancement of excellence in all aspects of engineering, engineering technology and design, while providing exposure for innovative student projects and professors’ educational practices at COE’s Annual Conference. The program also includes the Dr. David M. Aber Scholarship Competition, which gives students the opportunity to showcase their work on projects involving the Dassault Systèmes solutions to leaders within the industry, as well as gain visibility with all attendees at the conference and with the COE Board of Directors. The winner will receive a $2,000 academic scholarship and the runner- up will receive a $1,000 scholarship.
COE recently appointed a new chair to the Academic Committee, Kevin Waugh. We sat down for a brief interview to learn more about his background and what he looks forward to most in this role.
COE: Tell us a little bit about yourself and what brought you to COE.
Kevin Waugh: I am a graduate of The Ohio State University, where I was first exposed to modern CAD technology (SolidWorks, PRO/Engineer, SDRC I-DEAS) in the mid-1990s. I had always been creative from a young age, having attended art school before deciding upon engineering. At that time I was unsure how to reconcile what I thought were disparate interests – art and engineering. In hindsight, I find this very amusing. (“Hey kid, ever heard of Leonardo da Vinci?”) It was a course in Engineering Graphics that taught me that my left and right brain were actually one and the same. After graduation, I got a job in the SolidWorks partner community, providing training, technical support and design services. I eventually “switched horses” to CATIA and attended my first COE event in 2003. Shortly after that I began working onsite at Sikorsky Aircraft as part of the team responsible for the implementation of CATIA and ENOVIA V5. I now have my own consulting business focused on V5 and 3DExperience, and I teach Engineering Graphics as an adjunct professor.
COE: When did you join the COE Academic Committee, and what first interested you to volunteer?
KW: I first joined the committee in 2015. I had been a Product co-chair for a few years and was invited to volunteer on the academic committee by the late Dr. David Aber. I really admired Dave and I wish he were still with us.
COE: What are you looking forward to most as Chair?
KW: The opportunity to honor the efforts of those that came before me by continuing to advocate COE as a resourceful community and a guiding light to anyone involved in the pursuit of higher education and career development. I believe that recent changes with Dassault Systèmes’ academic strategy and the capabilities of 3DEXPERIENCE provide great opportunity for more effective outreach and I would like to find ways to add value throughout the year by helping onboard, advise, and support academic institutions that are new to the powerful range of capabilities they now have affordable access to. The pursuit of knowledge is a fundamental tenet of who we are. The academic community should captivate our full attention.
