Web-Based Virtual Learning for Digital Manufacturing Fundamentals for Automotive Workforce Training

Automotive manufacturers are experiencing difficulties in hiring highly qualified workers with ability to adopt new technologies fast. This kind of ongoing need for training is slowing innovation. This problem is related to the difficulty in obtaining consistent training resources and services especially with lack of training for advanced manufacturing practices for specialised industry sectors. More and more occupations require degrees higher than secondary education because of the global need for so called ‘knowledge workers’. An example of an interactive learning programme, developed with the support of narrated presentation technology, podcasts and online access has been shown in this paper. Sixty nine online modules have been developed during the course of a project funded by Department of Labor for automotive sector. These online modules have been developed for lifelong learners to be used and accessed at any time (asynchronously from a website). Curriculum modules, developed for the Introduction to Digital Manufacturing are a part of a certificate programme which expands the pool of skilled workers, enhance the abilities of incumbent workers, and strengthen the entire advanced manufacturing sector

Small & Medium Enterprises - Their Views of Product Data Management Tools

This study was conducted as a means to discover common traits associated with small and medium manufacturers, especially ones who have adopted product data management (PDM) systems as a method to control engineering design and manufacturing data. After qualitative interviews were conducted with leading experts across industry sectors, a survey was developed and sent to small and medium manufacturers in the United States. The study concludes a number of interesting findings about the state of PDM usage within various segments of the industry, including general uses for engineering design systems, level of data exchange with customers and suppliers, and satisfaction levels with information querying, concurrent engineering contributions, and imposed restrictions. The study concludes that there are a few major factors that determine a company’s success with using design and data management systems, including frequency of data exchange, data reuse, digital data formats used, and employee counts and locations

A case study in CAD design automation

Computer-aided design (CAD) software and other product life-cycle management (PLM) tools have become ubiquitous in industry during the past 20 years. Over this time they have continuously evolved, becoming programs with enormous capabilities, but the companies that use them have not evolved their design practices at the same rate. Due to the constant pressure of bringing new products to market, commercial businesses are not able to dedicate the resources necessary to tap into the more advanced capabilities of their design tools that have the potential to significantly reduce both time-to-market and quality of their products. Taking advantage of these advanced capabilities would require little time and out-of-pocket expense, since the companies already own the licenses to the software. This article details the work of a small research team working in conjunction with a major turbine engine manufacturer endeavoring to make better use of the underutilized capabilities of their design software. By using the scripting language built into their CAD package for design automation, knowledge-based engineering applications, and efficient movement of data between design packages, the company was able to significantly reduce design time for turbine design, increase the number of feasible design iterations, increase benefits from relational modeling techniques, and increase the overall quality of their design processes

Integrating Surface Modeling into the Engineering Design Graphics Curriculum

It has been suggested there is a knowledge base that surrounds the use of 3D modeling within the engineering design process and correspondingly within engineering design graphics education. While solid modeling receives a great deal of attention and discussion relative to curriculum efforts, and rightly so, surface modeling is an equally viable 3D modeling option in many circumstances within industry as well as academic settings. However, is often not given its due consideration within engineering design graphics (EDG) curricula for a variety of reasons, some being more practically oriented than others. This paper is an effort to provide a rationale for the inclusion of 3D surface modeling into the EDG body of knowledge, an example of the inclusion of such a course in an EDG curriculum, and potential topics to be covered and assessment strategies to be used during the instruction

Defining Expertise in the Use of Constraint-based CAD Tools by Examining Practicing Professionals

Academic engineering graphics curricula are facing a rapidly changing knowledge base and current teaching and assessment methods are struggling to keep pace.  This paper is the second in a two-part series which examines practicing engineering graphics professionals to discover their experiences in developing expertise in the use of constraint-based CAD tools.  It presents the results of a knowledge-mapping task and think-aloud modeling task used with five practicing product designers to examine their solid modeling strategies used when creating a 3D model and their organization of the concepts surrounding the knowledge domain of constraint-based CAD tools.  The results of the think-aloud modeling task yielded five specific modeling procedures which were distilled into one common modeling procedure for the given object.  The results of the knowledge mapping task revealed five separate knowledge maps, and the common elements from each one were combined to form a generic knowledge map related to the use of constraint-based CAD tools.  These two sets of results comprised the initial elements used to define expertise in the use of constraint-based CAD tools based on these five participants.  This article provides an initial look at an approach to creating geometry with constraint-based CAD tools, as well as specific topics to be included in a curriculum that includes constraint-based CAD tools.  There conclusions also suggest potential teaching and assessment methodologies

Identified research directions for using manufacturing knowledge earlier in the product lifecycle

Design for manufacturing (DFM), especially the use of manufacturing knowledge to support design decisions, has received attention in the academic domain. However, industry practice has not been studied enough to provide solutions that are mature for industry. The current state of the art for DFM is often rule-based functionality within computer-aided design (CAD) systems that enforce specific design requirements. That rule-based functionality may or may not dynamically affect geometry definition. And, if rule-based functionality exists in the CAD system, it is typically a customisation on a case-by-case basis. Manufacturing knowledge is a phrase with vast meanings, which may include knowledge on the effects of material properties decisions, machine and process capabilities or understanding the unintended consequences of design decisions on manufacturing. One of the DFM questions to answer is: How can manufacturing knowledge, depending on its definition, be used earlier in the product life cycle to enable a more collaborative development environment? This paper will discuss the results of a workshop on manufacturing knowledge that highlights several research questions needing more study. This paper proposes recommendations for investigating the relationship of manufacturing knowledge with shape, behaviour and context characteristics of a product to produce a better understanding of what knowledge is most important. In addition, the proposal includes recommendations for investigating the system-level barriers to reusing manufacturing knowledge and how model-based manufacturing may ease the burden of knowledge sharing. Lastly, the proposal addresses the direction of future research for holistic solutions of using manufacturing knowledge earlier in the product life cycle

PLM in design and engineering education: International perspectives

Technological advances in the last decade have influenced changes in the design and engineering industries on a global scale. Lean and collaborative product development are approaches increasingly adopted by the industry and seen as the core of product lifecycle management. These trends have created the need for new skilled professionals, and universities should adapt their curricula in response. There is an increased need for academia to work with industry in order to meet these challenges. This article reports on the Parametric Technology Corporation Academic Research Symposium held in April 2011. The topics were centred around understanding the essence of product lifecycle management and its impact on design and engineering education. Furthermore, examples of implementing product lifecycle management and collaborative practices in higher education were presented from the United States and France. This article concludes with a discussion of the recommendations made at the symposium for the future development and support of key skills across university curricula

Examining Industry Perspectives Related to Legacy Data and Technology Toolset Implementation

This paper outlines past and present issues related to product data management (PDM) technologies and their implementation within organization. Included are the results from interviews with representatives from ten companies regarding their implementation processes related to PDM and PLM technologies. Results from these interviews are detailed in aggregate form related to four different areas: implementation timelines and mitigating factors, chosen PLM toolsets, data archival and migration strategies, and training. Conclusions are made in the final sections relative to industry implications and graphics curricula within a larger body of technology education

Learning Theories: Applications for Instruction in Constraint-Based Solid Modeling and Other Engineering Graphics Topics

Constraint-based modeling tools, as well as computer graphics tools in general, offer the user many choices in commands and techniques for creating graphics, which forces the user to have a strategy or plan as they proceed. The formulation of this plan is often dependent on the integration of existing knowledge and current factors, such as customer specifications and the time element assigned to the particular project. In addition, the user must have a thorough understanding of the software functionality and the ability to gather information related to implementing a particular modeling strategy. This process of strategy development and implementation coincides with components of learning theory. As engineering graphics educators, it is helpful to reflect on how students learn in our classrooms and laboratories as well as reflect on how we develop instruction. This paper outlines three theories of learning that are applicable to graphics education, discusses the assumptions about the learner and the learning environment, presents the components of learning for each theory, discusses major issues related to complex learning and designing instruction, and summarizes some of the criticisms and contributions to education of each theory. Indeed, a process is presented for applying elements of these learning theories to constraint-based modeling

Inhibition of APE1/Ref-1 for Neovascular Eye Diseases: From Biology to Therapy

Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nvAMD), retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and other eye diseases are characterized by retinal and/or choroidal neovascularization, ultimately causing vision loss in millions of people worldwide. nvAMD and PDR are associated with aging and the number of those affected is expected to increase as the global median age and life expectancy continue to rise. With this increase in prevalence, the development of novel, orally bioavailable therapies for neovascular eye diseases that target multiple pathways is critical, since current anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) treatments, delivered by intravitreal injection, are accompanied with tachyphylaxis, a high treatment burden and risk of complications. One potential target is apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1/reduction-oxidation factor 1 (APE1/Ref-1). The multifunctional protein APE1/Ref-1 may be targeted via inhibitors of its redox-regulating transcription factor activation activity to modulate angiogenesis, inflammation, oxidative stress response and cell cycle in neovascular eye disease; these inhibitors also have neuroprotective effects in other tissues. An APE1/Ref-1 small molecule inhibitor is already in clinical trials for cancer, PDR and diabetic macular edema. Efforts to develop further inhibitors are underway. APE1/Ref-1 is a novel candidate for therapeutically targeting neovascular eye diseases and alleviating the burden associated with anti-VEGF intravitreal injections