Dive Brief:
- Dartmouth College's Thayer School of Engineering announced Tuesday that it will expand its rollout of Dassault Systèmes' Solidworks 3D design software, making it available to students in Introduction to Engineering course regardless of whether they are engineering majors.
- The expansion is being hailed as exemplary of Solidworks' short learning curve and the potential that holds for engineering education.
- The software requires students to approach an engineering problem in a real-world manner on a team, applying principles of analysis, experimentation, and design, and requiring them to consider the social, ethical, financial, and business implications of their solution along with its technical details.
Dive Insight:
The Thayer School's decision to make Solidworks a part of its core curriculum follows Dassault's announcement last month that the software now has over 100,000 users. That the school is committing to using innovative 3D design software isn't its only accomplishment: Its female student enrollment is also around 30% — a detail significant for a traditionally male-dominated field, which earned praise from Dassault Executive Vice President of Global Affairs Philippe Forestier.
On an additional note, the school's Multimodal Neuroimaging Laboratory is using Solidworks in noninvasive studies as it researches brain disorders. Stay tuned in the next few days for a closer look at technologies facilitating STEM education.