Cambridge, 5 April 2004

Three New Editions of Popular EduPACK for Materials Education

Software-based toolkit opens up new educational opportunities in materials

Granta Design has just announced the new version of their CES4 EduPack with three new specialist editions. More than 400 professors around the world already use this software-based toolkit to teach engineers and designers about materials and manufacturing.

The new version 4.5 has been driven by feedback and suggestions from customers according to Professor Mike Ashby of Cambridge University, who heads up the EduPack development. "We have made the Standard Edition even better and added three new Editions for specific audiences."

The Design Edition is for Industrial and Product Design students. It offer specialist teaching resources for this group and is accompanied by a new textbook Materials and Design, a collaboration between Ashby and Kara Johnson of the design house, IDEO.

Dr Steve Garner, Chair for the Open University's Design & Designing course, says CES4 is ideal for their students. "They need a transparent learning resource. The software introduces the idea of material properties in a way the student can relate to everyday objects."

The Polymer Edition is for Polymer Science and Engineering students. It focuses in-depth on polymer-based engineering materials, including thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers, foams, and advanced composites. It also introduces students to popular plastics property sources, CAMPUS and IDES and links to Moldflow injection molding simulation.

The Aerospace Edition is for Aerospace Engineering. It provides greater coverage of aerospace alloys and composites, as well as the types of materials data aerospace engineers are likely to encounter in their careers.

Dr Patrick Coulter, Granta's Chief Operating Officer and Education Product Manager says that in addition to the new Editions, CES EduPack 4.5 has enhanced database content. "For example, the coverage of the process database has been extended and process illustrations have been colored for ease of learning."

CES4 EduPack, the complete course package, launched in 2002, includes not only the EDU software but also textbooks and a web-based teaching resource site incorporating downloadable lecture notes and exercises. This complete solution has proved very popular with professors, having been adopted in over 400 academic institutions worldwide. Other popular features are the streamlined interface and the three-level structure whereby professors get suitable content from introductory teaching up to final year design projects and research.