Cranfield University in the UK is offering the use of Dassault Systèmes’ 3DExperience platform to aerospace students and researchers after joining the software company’s Centre of Excellence network.
The partnership between Dassault and Cranfield, which was first announced at the Paris Air Show last year sees the university join a network of 16 3DExperience Edu Centres of Excellence in France, Germany, Switzerland, the USA and Mexico.
3DExperience is a cloud-based platform that enables access to the engineering software company’s design, simulation, information intelligence and collaboration applications such as Solidworks, Catia, Enovia and Exalead. The platform, which was launched 12 years ago enables engineers to collaborate online when developing and validating products.
3DExperience is also used when applying approaches to product development such as Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). The MBSE approach uses computer models of products as the primary means of information exchange instead of documents, to ease collaboration, increase efficiency and reduce development and testing time.
Speaking at the official opening of the 3DExperience Edu Centre of Excellence at Cranfield University, Professor Dame Helen Atkinson, pro-vice chancellor of the school of aerospace, transport and manufacturing said, “This partnership makes a significant difference to us in terms of both the teaching and research we do and our relationships with industry.
“It is important for us to be at the forefront of advanced engineering techniques like MBSE. Otherwise, we are not doing our job preparing our graduates to go out and become industry leaders. It is crucial to our identity.”
Cranfield is a leading university in aerospace engineering and works with companies including Airbus, BAE Systems and Boeing. It is also the only university in Europe with its own runway.
Cranfield University said that learners will benefit from its existing network and facilities as well as from Dassault Systèmes’ certification program to validate skills and knowledge.
Mark Westwood, head of the Centre of Aeronautics at Cranfield University said, “We do a lot of fundamental research – developing new capabilities for industry. But it is only really of any benefit if it gets into the design processes and tools that industry is using.
“Sharing a common toolset with OEMs and the supply chain is incredibly powerful because it shortcuts the time that is required to develop products.”
Professor Sir Iain Gray, director of aerospace at Cranfield University said, “We all need effective ways of sharing information and collaborating across the ecosystem if we are going to solve global aviation challenges like achieving Net Zero by 2050. This partnership reinforces Cranfield’s position as part of that effort.”
Marc Overton, managing director of EuroNorth, Dassault Systèmes said, “This center of excellence is a catalyst for change. The UK is not where it needs to be – in other parts of the world they are designing products in half the time and sheep-dipping entire student populations with these advanced engineering techniques. This is something the UK needs to pursue at pace and scale.”
