Cambridge, January 12 2004

Leading distance learning university adopts Granta Software for materials education

The Open University (OU) is basing materials learning in its new Design courses around Granta's CES4 EDU software. This is the education product from the CES software family, which also includes products used by major commercial organisations.

Both 'Design and Designing' (course code T211) from 2004 and the follow-up course 'Innovation - Designing for a Sustainable Future' (course code T307) in 2005 will use the first two levels of the software. Granta's contract with the OU runs until 2013 and it is envisaged over 10,000 copies of the software will be made available to students in that time.

According to Dr Steve Garner, Course Team Chair, CES4 EDU software will bring another level of interactivity into the courses. "Our student base is very broad e.g. arts, business studies and humanities so that most of them do not have a materials or technical background. They need a transparent learning resource. CES4 EDU is ideal for them. The software introduces the idea of material properties in a way the student can relate to everyday objects. The hierarchical structure is clear and straightforward for beginners."

Architect of CES EDU and Granta co-founder, Professor Mike Ashby of Cambridge University expressed two reasons for delight. "First, we are delighted that the OU, with its leading position in the field of distance learning, chose our software. Second, this illustrates how the latest edition of CES4 EDU can be applied to teaching in Product Design and Industrial Design - as well as filling its established role in Technical Design."

Dr Garner says he built the materials component of 'Design and Designing' around the software. "We are also grateful to Mike Ashby for writing an article on materials in product design that forms part of the course materials." The article introduces themes from Ashby's recent textbook 'Material & Design' which is co-authored with Kara Johnson of the design house IDEO, and published by Butterworth-Heinemann.

The Open University has taken advantage of the new 'enrolment-based license', which lets every student on a course have access to the software for the year. Professors see this as a tool to accelerate student learning and engage them in the topic of materials more effectively.

CES4 EDUPACK, the complete course package, 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. Other popular points 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.

CES4 EDU software is one product in the CES4 family of software. Other products in this family are designed for commercial applications and allow organisations to manage, analyse and deploy materials information. Customers include Ferrari, Lockheed Martin, NASA and Rolls Royce.