Computer-aided engineering lab opens

The Sept. 22 opening of the new Computer-Aided Engineering Instructional Laboratory, equipped by a $25.9 million software gift from Siemens PLM Software, will give students in the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science one more tool in their repertoire to be successful in today’s highly competitive, global environment.

The 1,100 square-foot teaching laboratory, located in the Engineering Building in the center of campus, is equipped with 20 thin client workstations, an instructor workstation and three flat screen televisions for projecting materials and presentations. The lab offers students – from freshmen to the doctoral level – experience with more than 30 software titles used in industry today and will enable them to develop, model and analyze solutions in a virtual environment.

“This lab is going to enhance the portfolio of our students,” said Krishnaswami “Hari” Srihari, dean and distinguished professor of the Watson School. “It gives them access to the best and latest software, so whether they go to work or on to graduate school, they have the most recent tools to work with.”

Watson School students are being introduced from year one to CAE software. In class and through projects and research, students will create and model objects such as hydraulic pistons − choosing the quality and type of material, from plastic to brass to titanium – and manipulate them on a three-dimensional axis. They will also create virtual environments to evaluate how a workplace can be made more efficient or safe for workers.

Srihari credited the collaborative effort of the faculty and staff in the Watson School, individuals across Binghamton University, and industry partner, Siemens, for bringing the lab to life, and for closing a critical instructional gap.

Through a special partnership between the University’s divisions of External Affairs, Academic Affairs, and Administration, the Watson School was able to rehab space in the Engineering Building to house the laboratory. This in turn provided a home for the Siemens gift, a cornerstone of the University’s Bold. Brillant. Binghamton comprehensive gifts campaign.

Hulas King, director of GO PLM & Global CR at Siemens and a 2009 recipient of the Watson School’s Founders Award, spoke of the growing partnership between Binghamton University and Siemens.

“Each time I come back, I look at the campus and see the growth and the commitment,” he said. “We all want to join in and do what we can for the students because they are the ones who are going to need to hit the ground running. And the technology that you’re introducing is in some instances even better than what our clients are currently using.”