February 22, 2018
Cambridge, UK. Granta Design today announced the release of the latest version of its leading set of materials education resources – CES EduPack™ 2018. Used at more than 1,000 universities and colleges worldwide, CES EduPack supports materials teaching from pre-university level to advanced teaching at graduate level, across engineering, design, science, and sustainable development. New features span this range, including a novel and engaging way to introduce students to the relationships between materials process, structure and properties, as well as industrial materials selection tools to support advance design projects.
Experience suggests that learning is better achieved through active discovery than by passive listening. The new CES EduPack Materials Science and Engineering (MS&E) Package is a new set of resources that allow students to explore the relationships between processing, structure, and properties. The Package includes extensive data on: elements; structural, functional and, biological materials; and processes for shaping, joining, and finishing. A new interactive tool aids understanding of phase diagrams. Developed over three years, with the help of collaborators around the world, the MS&E Package also includes more than 40 exercises (with worked solutions for instructors) and a range of suggested Micro-projects for students.
Advanced design projects can be supported with the Performance Index Finder – the guidance tool used for materials selection in industry. It’s also easier to explore variations on an existing material by copying an existing record and modifying its properties. And, for sustainability topics, students can understand more about the social factors affecting technology acceptance with updated data in the Nations of the World database. Advanced editions of CES EduPack 2018 also contain the Synthesizer tool, enabling students to apply models, for example to predict the properties of hybrid materials, or to examine part cost.
Further enhancements include the addition of new iconic product records to the product-centered, visually inspiring, interactive Products, Materials, Processes Database. This engages designers and engineers with materials and material properties through their role in interesting products. Students can discover why materials are chosen, and how these choices change over the decades as new materials are developed.
“We’re delighted to be able to deliver these exciting new resources for teaching both introductory and advanced materials courses. They are the product of our program of continuous development and our close and very productive collaboration with the worldwide materials education community,” said Professor Mike Ashby, founder and chairman of Granta Design.