Granta Design has announced the release of CES EduPack 2009, the latest version of the world-leading teaching resource for materials in engineering, science, processing, and design.
CES EduPack 2009 owes much to an active community of users at 600 universities and colleges worldwide. The innovative Eco Audit Tool is a great example of this collaborative approach. Released last year, it helps to teach sustainable engineering. Users can quickly estimate the environmental impact of a product throughout its lifecycle. The tool has been widely used, well-received and, based on feedback, updated in this release. Advances include estimating the energy and CO2 impact of disposal, recycling, or re-use at the end of a product’s life. The tool is quick to learn and use, helping to integrate eco ideas into mainstream engineering courses – a vital goal for many universities.
CES EduPack combines comprehensive materials information, specialist software to access and use that information, and an extensive series of supplementary teaching resources. Other new 2009 features include data on durability, enhanced materials selection, charting and presentation improvements, updated PowerPoint lectures, and references to a wider range of standard materials textbooks.
The growing and vibrant nature of the CES EduPack community will be evident in April when EduPack author Professor Mike Ashby hosts the first international CES EduPack Symposium at Cambridge University. The associated short courses are already full, with attendees from sixteen countries. At the main Symposium on April 3, speakers from leading universities will describe their use of EduPack across many different disciplines, and from first-year to postgraduate levels.
CES EduPack 2009:
- Supports existing teaching - updated lecture materials and new simpler-to-use software features make it easier than ever to begin using CES EduPack
- Enables introductory courses - new charting tools improve the illustration of key materials concepts; the Eco Audit Tool introduces eco design ideas
- Offers specialist editions for design, eco design, polymers, aerospace engineering, bio engineering, and architecture and the built environment
- Is a powerful tool for advanced teaching and research, with enhanced materials selection and new specialist data – for example, on plastics
"Our aim is to collaborate closely with the growing community of EduPack users to make the most of the great teaching potential of CES EduPack," comments Granta’s Dr Patrick Coulter. "We have worked hard to ensure that EduPack provides relevant material across the spectrum of engineering courses, that it can be used alongside any standard materials text, and that we respond to hot topics such as eco design. We’re pleased that CES EduPack 2009 advances each of these objectives. But we also welcome further input from materials and process educators as we begin work on next year’s release."
CES EduPack 2009 will be demonstrated and discussed at:
- Feb 19 – Web seminar: "Introducing CES EduPack 2009"
- Mar 18 – Web seminar: "Teaching Sustainable Engineering and Eco Design"
- Apr 1-3 – CES EduPack Symposium and Courses, Cambridge University, UK
- June 14 – Short course at the ASEE Meeting, Austin, TX, USA
- Sep 6 – Short course at the EUROMAT conference, Glasgow, UK