COVID-19 acceleration
Since the start of the pandemic, the collages have to shutdown and students are forced to study from home. This has forced the teaching curriculum to be updated on the go and do what is possible from home. Online teaching has now come to a point where we start to feel comfortable. Online teaching has already been educating in the third world countries way before the pandemic, due to the high accessibility and low cost of distribution.
Composites classes to Composites e-learning
Education with composites has not been much different than conventional metal design and production. it has required understanding the material and process landscape with stiffness matric calculations. In the recent curriculums, most institutes added the design and analysis with FEA programs and a few also added some manufacturing processes simulation. The e-learning with composites has now seemed to be shifting online with the composites e-learning courses, such as
Paid classes / tutorials
Free classes/tutorials
Challenges
Not one type of teaching material suits all
Lack of practicals and real-world problem-solving tools
Often Offline material just presented online
Individual questions are discouraged
Composites e-learning to Composites e-training
It is very critical to gain an initial fundamental understanding of the subject, but if not applied via training to solve the problem in a real-world manner, the knowledge gain will be most likely fleeting. Training for composites part design and production planning is possible at very minimal cost
Design composites, monthly subscription, (Used by NASA)
Composite material design simulation tool: Helius Composite software can help you simulate the material behavior of compound components. Built-in solvers minimize the need to have secondary finite element analysis (FEA) software to analyze material characteristics more quickly.
Production planning with AFP (Used by Aerospace R&D center)
AddPath: The open platform allows for different material uses, layup techniques, fiber paths, and mold shapes to be used. AddPath is a plug-in for Rhino V6®, solidifying its position as the ideal tool for universities performing research or companies looking for a quicker rate of return on your AFP investment.
Benefits
Can be installed on any personal windows computer for no cost
Hands-on training with the most advanced design and manufacturing software
Estimate cost, material usage, and ready production simulation for final projects
Individuals problems are solved by their own research
Future
e-training is needed more in the future to enable higher access to educational frameworks and better learning experience. This framework will soon be able to run offline and will be capable of generating simulations that is comparable to that of the most advanced engineers.