Dassault Systèmes is innovating engineering curriculum by providing students with hands-on learning opportunities alongside many industry partners at Wichita State University (WSU).
The 3DEXPERIENCE Center at the Wichita State University National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) teaches students skills in additive manufacturing and reverse engineering, immersive technologies including augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), multi-robotic advanced manufacturing (MRAM), and aviation as a part of its engineering curriculum. The 3DEXPERIENCE Center teaches four pillars—advanced materials, or how to get the newest materials into the latest products; simulation tools to solve any arising issues; automation, or how we can do things differently in advanced manufacturing; and certification, or how we can certify those products. Under one roof and using a single platform, students successfully designed and manufactured an unmanned aerial system (UAS) in just 90 days instead of the three years traditionally required for such an undertaking.
“I learned two main skills, [which] include hands-on engagement in working with industry customers on projects and interfacing with them to develop successful solutions to their needs and continual development in working with the customer, with continual interaction beyond a single internship was invaluable,” said Ryan Benyshek, solution architect at Dassault Systèmes and Wichita State graduate. “It was a great opportunity to utilize leading software and processes for developing the next generation of capabilities needed for the workforce. It led directly to the job I’m currently doing, as interactions from working on one of the projects led to invaluable knowledge, experiences, and contacts for an interview.”
Brayley Bazzelle, another solution architect at Dassault Systèmes and Wichita State graduate, added, “there are a ton of paid engineering internships through the university’s partners and local aerospace companies that allow you to pay for some of your ways through school and gain extremely valuable work experience while you attend school. This happens every semester of the year at Wichita State, whereas in other universities the opportunities may be few and far between, or you may have to take a semester of school off to travel to the internship because it is not local.”
Down the road from the main campus, about 250 students are gaining more hands-on experience through NIAR’s digital twin program. NIAR is working with the U.S. Department of Defense to create an efficient system to obtain replacement parts for aging military aircraft when they are needed. This project involves NIAR staff and students disassembling a B-1B Lancer and UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter to compile 3D scans and manufacturing-quality solid models into Dassault Systèmes’ platform to create the aircrafts’ respective digital twins.
Striving Toward Student Success by Innovating the Development Process
According to Jeff Smith, senior director of aerospace and defense strategy and innovation at Dassault Systèmes, around 12 students spent two to six hours daily working on the initial UAS project at the 3DEXPERIENCE Center.
“We wanted to demonstrate this applied learning model and have students work with employers and experts at NIAR. We created a core team of about 12 people, and these students had the opportunity to develop a UAS from ideation to the actual physical vehicle. We created the digital twin of the UAS, so we can actually demonstrate flying the mission in the virtual world. These students have the real-life experience of not only developing a physical product but developing it from a virtual perspective, as well as being able to have the experience from ideation through design and analysis, manufacturing, and certification,” said Smith.
Made entirely from composite layups and 3D-printed materials, the UAS, or drone, will be able to handle multiple missions. The modular architecture allows the aircraft to have both conventional and vertical takeoffs and landings, as well as the ability to add and remove wings, add and remove pylon engines, and switch configurations in the field.
The team used CATIA Generative Design Engineering (GDE) to optimize the UAS gimbal assembly for the cameras and to reduce its weight to allow for a longer flight time per battery charge.
The team also used the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to create a development schedule by inputting their requirements and tracking them to enable certification. The integrated live data allows managers to know the project’s exact status at any time, as well as detect issues and sign them off. The platform also allows for simulation and optimization like performing thermal and structural analyses in a virtual environment before the vehicle is physically flown, saving time and money. This way it reduces the aircraft’s development life cycle by testing and validating it earlier in the virtual world.
According to Shawn Ehrstein, NIAR director of emerging technologies and CAD/ AM, since many leading companies use 3DEXPERIENCE technologies to develop their aircraft, they are also more likely to hire students who have experience with the system. Students also have the chance to work on projects that use advanced technologies like virtual product development and prototyping, immersive 3D environments, simulation, robotics and certification with many of these companies.
“If it had not been for my experience with the university’s research arm, NIAR, I may not be an engineer at all today. NIAR’s program for first-year engineering students introduces them to reading blueprints and using CAD/CAM software. This is what really made me solidify my decision to stick with engineering and see it through. I was learning things through hands-on work with NIAR years before they were covered in the classroom,” said Bazzelle. “It led to network connections that I would not have formed otherwise and led to me joining Dassault Systèmes after graduating from Wichita State. It has shaped much more than who I am professionally.”
The Wichita Way: Setting a New Standard for Education
“The student comes to the university where the curriculum is pretty common amongst all universities to obtain knowledge in the classroom setting, followed by hands-on lab experiences where they demonstrate know-how. Finally, they get program experience working for one of the Innovation Campus partners like Airbus or Spirit AeroSystems as part of a four-year internship. All together, this epitomizes the applied learning model,” said Smith. “Based on WSU metrics, we’ve been able to demonstrate that a student who graduates from the typical university takes between 24 to 28 months before they become a contributing valued employee to a company, whereas through the applied learning model a student who graduates can create similar value in three months or less.”
According to Dassault Systèmes, these types of partnerships foster innovation in the engineering and manufacturing curriculum (example.g., for a mechanical or aerospace engineering degree) as well as allow students and researchers to get hands-on work experience that they’ll need in their first jobs.
“On a daily basis, the student is working for one of the industry partners and so not only does the industry or the company get the benefit of a student rate doing real engineering work for them, but the student also gets the real-life experience that’s going to add to their resume by the time they graduate. It really strengthens their resume and differentiates them from other students that are graduating. It’s also very easy for [our partners] to be able to make a job offer right then so students could have a job lined up when they graduate,” noted Smith.
Take a tour of the 3DEXPERIENCE Center.
The Innovation Campus, an extension of Wichita State University, encompasses 19 buildings, including 12 partnership buildings, the National Institute for Aviation Research’s laboratory and office space as well as the 22,000-square-foot 3DEXPERIENCE Center in the John Bardo Center. The center boasts customer collaboration rooms, virtual reality and immersive technologies and an MRAM factory for aviation/manufacturing research, testing, certification and training.