January 2008

Materials Education News - New CES EduPack 2008

In this issue:

1. CES EduPack 2008 launched
   
   
2. Short courses with Professor Mike Ashby - use CES EduPack 2008
   
   
• MIT
• University of California, Berkeley
• Cambridge University
• ASEE Conference
  
  
3. Web seminar: Introducing CES EduPack 2008, April 2
   
   
4. New Bio Engineering Edition (download a free white paper)
   
   
5. Web seminars: EduPack Editions (Polymers, Architecture, Design, Eco...), Jan 28 - Feb 1
   
   
6. New Eco Audit Tool
   
   
7. Improved links to standard materials texts - Callister, Budinski, Askeland...
   
   
8. Case study audio-visual recording - 'CES EduPack as an Information Resource'
   
   
9. CES EduPack's international community - improved French & German support
   
   
10. ASEE Conference, Pittsburgh, PA - June 23-25

You can get your hands on CES EduPack 2008 at any of Professor Mike Ashby's one-day short courses. These courses are entitled "Teaching Engineering Materials", and the schedule is as follows:

Register now to ensure your place.

Designed for Professors, Lecturers, and Program Directors, these popular courses examine methods and resources that can invigorate teaching of materials and manufacturing to engineering and design students.  They introduce and apply the CES EduPack software and teaching resources. Through lectures interspersed with hands-on tutorial sessions using the new 2008 version of the software, the course will explore ways to engage students and enrich your courses.

More information and registration

3. Web seminar: Introducing CES EduPack 2008, Apr 2

If you can't make it to a course, why not join Professor Mike Ashby for a 45-minute web seminar on April 2 during which he will provide a brief overview of CES EduPack, with an emphasis on the new capabilities of CES EduPack 2008.

* 3pm GMT is: 4pm CET, 10am EST, 7am PST.

More information and registration

4. New Bio Engineering Edition (download a free white paper)

A new Bio Engineering Edition of CES EduPack is based around a Bio Materials database that augments EduPack’s core database of engineering materials with new data covering: the basic building blocks of natural materials; soft and mineralized tissue; woods & wood-like materials; fibers; and man-made bio materials.

The edition broadens the coverage of CES EduPack to yet another specialist subject area (see next item for information on other editions). It allows bio- and medical engineering students to:

• understand the properties of natural materials
  
  
• compare the properties of natural & man-made materials
  
  
• explore bio-mimicry
  
  
• examine substitution - e.g., which materials will work best in, for example, implanted medical devices?

A white paper "The CES EduPack Database of Natural and Man-Made Materials" is now available detailing the database and its application.

Granta customers: Download the white paper from the teaching resources site (login required)

Others: Download the white paper as part of our Information Pack

The current EduPack editons will be reviewed in a series of 15-20 minute web seminars next week. These will outline the use of CES EduPack to support teaching in a number of specialist subject areas.

* 3pm GMT is: 4pm CET, 10am EST, 7am PST.

More information and registration

6. New Eco Audit Tool

The new Eco Audit Tool calculates the energy and carbon footprint of a product at different stages in its life cycle, based on the materials and processes used to produce it and information about its transportation and use. The tool allows the user to identify the life phase (or phases) that contribute most to the product's environmental impact, and thus to focus on the best strategies for reducing this impact. The aim of the tool is to introduce students to key concepts in eco design and to support design for low carbon footprint and energy efficiency.

More on the Eco Audit Tool

7. Improved links to standard materials texts

A 'further reading' section has been added to each Science Note within CES EduPack. This provides an explicit connection between CES EduPack and a number of texts with which it is already in use. These include:

• Callister's Materials Science and Engineering, an Introduction
  
  
• Budinski and Budinski's Engineering Materials, Properties, and Selection
  
  
• Askeland and Phulé's The Science and Engineering of Materials
  
  
• Ashby and Jones's Engineering Materials Volumes 1 & 2

EduPack supports courses that use these and other texts, as well those using Professor Ashby’s own books. This 'further reading' feature is one of many demonstrated in the case study discussed in the next item...

More on Science Notes

8. Case study audio-visual recording - 'CES EduPack as an Information Resource'

A new recorded audio-visual presentation is available on the Granta website providing a case study in the use of CES EduPack. It shows how CES EduPack is used as a comprehensive source of materials and process information. You can find out how CES EduPack allows the student to explore the world of materials and 'drill down' to explanations of the underlying science.

Granta customers: Access the recording from the teaching resources site (login required)

Others: Access the recording from within our online Information Pack

9. CES EduPack's international community - improved French & German support

CES EduPack is used at over 600 universities and colleges worldwide.

Support for German universities is extended through the translation of the Level 1 & 2 database content into German. This means that German students will now find it much easier to use CES EduPack's information resources.

French users will find that the CES EduPack Science Notes have now also been translated, improving the link to the underlying science for students at French universities and lycées.

10. ASEE Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, June 23-25

Granta is planning to attend the ASEE Conference in Pittsburgh, PA in June. If you're planning on being there too, why not join our Short Course on Sunday (see item 2, above)? Alternatively, look out for us at the exhibition and on the scientific programs - we'll provide more details in the next edition of Granta Materials Education News. Or contact us to arrange a meeting at the event.