Case Study
CAD upgrade unleashes students’ creativity
Corry Area School District
Assignments are completed faster with Solid Edge, allowing high-school students to challenge themselves with projects of greater complexity
An unanticipated, much-needed upgrade
The Corry (Pennsylvania) Area School District consists of five elementary schools, one comprehensive middle-high school and the Career and Technical Center. Students at the middle-high school (grades eight through 12), as well as those in Career and Technical Education Center programs, have the opportunity to learn drafting and CAD in classes taught by Kim Forrest, technology department chairman.
Until recently, Forrest was teaching KeyCreator (which was formerly called CADkey). Although this is a 3D CAD program, it isn’t widely used in the Corry area, which meant that the students weren’t as prepared as Forrest would have liked to go out and get jobs or internships with local employers. And because KeyCreator is not widely implemented, when Forrest needed to upgrade his own CAD skills, he had to travel to New Hampshire for training.
From time to time, Forrest takes his students on field trips to local companies so they can see real-world applications of what they’re learning in class. During one of these field trips, to a local sheet metal fabrication firm called Corry Contracting Inc., a student expressed interest in the CAD software the firm was using – Solid Edge® software from Siemens PLM Software.
Having recently heard that there is grant money available for implementing Solid Edge in schools, Doug Kafferlin, president of Corry Contracting, worked with the local Solid Edge channel partner Appropriate Technology (Cleveland, Ohio) and Siemens PLM Software to upgrade the Corry Area District to Solid Edge. “This grant will allow high school students in the Corry area to receive training in state-of-the-art 3D modeling usually available only at the college or technical school level,” says Paul Kraft, estimator, Corry Contracting. “With Solid Edge training, Corry students will be among the first to lead us into the next generation of mechanical design and implementation. They will become innovators not only for Corry, but for the northwest Pennsylvania region and beyond.” The grant’s commercial value is $360,000.
Students were off and running
Solid Edge was implemented before Forrest had time to get more than minimal training for himself. So when the new semester began, the students were largely on their own. “I had played with the software for a day or two, so I showed the kids what I had learned and then turned them loose,” Forrest recalls. “They said Solid Edge was easier to learn than the old program. They grasped it quickly and really took off.”
The students followed the Solid Edge tutorials and soon were drawing some fairly advanced parts. Forrest also had them reverse engineer objects they brought from home. He found that they were completing the assignments much faster than they did in the past. “On Wednesday, I’d give two assignments that I expected to last until Friday, and the faster students would finish them in 40 minutes,” he says. Forrest also finds that he’s able to give more complex assignments in classes that previously covered less advanced material. “In Drawing 2, we covered everything we normally cover in Drawing 3,” he adds.
As part of their course, Drawing 2 students worked in groups of two and three to design a new and improved grocery cart. In another exercise, students checked out Solid Edge simulation functionality, which makes it possible to predict how well designs will perform in the real world. “The kids loved the fact that they could tell Solid Edge what material they were using and it would show the stress points on their models,” says Judy Sharer, director of the Corry Area Career and Technical Center. “Then they could try a different material and look at the stress points on that. Solid Edge really stimulates their creativity.”
In addition to being taught at the middle-high school, Solid Edge is also available to many of the 230 students enrolled in the Corry Area Career and Technical Center. “Students in programs such as metal working, carpentry and auto technology can take advantage of Solid Edge,” Sharer says. “They all love it and are amazed by what it does.”
Sharer adds, “We are so thankful to get this grant. Because Solid Edge is more user-friendly and advanced than what we had in the past, it has enabled our students to acquire a more in-depth knowledge of CAD. Solid Edge is really helping us prepare our students for the future.”
Related Links:
Challenges:
- Prepare students for further education and/or work in local industries
Keys To Success:
- Solid Edge software’s larger installed base and nearby training opportunities
- Excellent tutorials and easy-to-understand interface
- Built-in advanced functionality such as finite element analysis
Results:
- Students love their new CAD software
- With assignments completed faster, more material can be covered in each course
- CAD curriculum better matches what local employers need
- Corry high-school students acquire CAD skills that many don’t learn until college
Industry:
- Education
Client's Primary Business:
The mission of the Corry Area School District is to prepare students to be lifelong learners and responsible citizens in a competitive global society.
Business Initiatives:
- New Product Development
Solutions/Services:
- Solid Edge
- Velocity Series
Client Location:
Corry, Pennsylvania
United States
"This grant will allow high school students in the Corry area to receive training in state-of-the-art 3D modeling usually available only at the college or technical school level."
Paul Kraft
Estimator
Corry Contracting
"On Wednesday I’d give two assignments that I expected to last until Friday, and the faster students would finish them in 40 minutes."
Kim Forrest
Technology Education Department Chairman
Corry Area School District