SolidWorks and COSMOS/ help engineering students compete at SAE competitions

University of California and California State students receive praise at national competition after using leading analysis and CAD software

LOS ANGELES, CA, June 25, 2002: COSMOS/, the analysis business unit of SolidWorks Corporation, today announced that its analysis and simulation software play an integral role in the creation of tournament vehicles for college-level competitions sanctioned by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Teams impressed competition judges with safety features and analysis capabilities. Engineering students from California State University at Sacramento and the University of California at Irvine attribute their success in the competition to design and analysis capabilities found in SolidWorks(r), COSMOS/Works, and COSMOS/DesignSTAR software.
The annual SAE tournaments, including the Mini-Baja and Formula SAE competitions, call on college students to display their engineering design projects and compete with one another. The Mini-Baja contest, sponsored by Briggs and Stratton required student teams to design, build, test, and promote their off-road Mini-Baja vehicles. Competitors in the Formula SAE contest designed and fabricated small, formula-style racecars from scratch. Vehicles were judged based on static inspection and engineering design, solo performance trials, and high performance track endurance.
James Strayer, a senior mechanical engineering major at UC Irvine, used SolidWorks three-dimensional computer aided design (3D CAD) software and COSMOS/Works analysis software to design and analyze the suspension uprights on his formula racecar entry. COSMOS/Works is fully integrated with SolidWorks software, making it easy for students to design projects quickly.

Strayer cited COSMOS/Works' ease of use as a key factor in helping to design and test his racecar in record time. "Because I used SolidWorks to design the car, I didn't have to continually switch over to the analysis program - COSMOS/Works works within the user interface, making it easy to design a component and then conduct analysis. COSMOS/Works is so much easier to learn than other analysis packages. It took a little more than 15 minutes to run the 3D stress analysis calculations on my design. To conduct that same analysis by hand would have taken hours. I've tried to learn other analysis software and found it extremely difficult to grasp and time consuming to use. COSMOS/Works is very simple and efficient, and its integration with SolidWorks makes designing complex parts so easy."

Aaron Martin, a senior engineering major at California State Sacramento, utilized COSMOS/DesignSTAR for his team's Mini-Baja analysis requirements. Aaron's team tested suspension components for a 3G pump, which measures the impact created by rough terrain. The team also tested for axial loading and the constrain chassis. "The judges stated that the safety features on our Mini-Baja vehicle were the deciding factor in helping us rank among the winners in the competition," Martin said. "COSMOS/DesignSTAR enabled us to determine where the high stress concentrations were located in the vehicle prior to building the actual product. These analysis procedures helped us build an incredibly light and safe vehicle, that would likely prevent dangerous rollovers."

About the Society of Automotive Engineers 

ince its founding in 1905, the Society of Automotive Engineers has been a resource for technical information and expertise used in designing, building, maintaining, and operating self-propelled vehicles. Over 83,000 engineers, business executives, educators, and students from more than 97 countries form a membership network to share information and exchange ideas for advancing the engineering of mobility systems. 

www.sae.org

About SolidWorks Corporation 

SolidWorks Corporation, a Dassault Syst�mes S.A. (Nasdaq: DASTY, Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA) company, develops and markets mechanical design software solutions. Founded in 1993, SolidWorks' mission is to unleash the power of 3D for everyone in product development. In six years of shipping product, SolidWorks has shipped more than 188,000 total seats of software worldwide. SolidWorks has offices around the globe and sells, distributes, and supports its products through a worldwide network of resellers. 

www.solidworks.com

About COSMOS/

COSMOS/ is a strategic business unit of SolidWorks Corporation focused on developing analysis and simulation solutions for the mechanical computer-aided engineering market. For more information and a product demonstration, contact your local COSMOS/ distributor or reseller today, or call COSMOS/ directly at 1-800-469-7287 (outside of North America, call 1-310-207-2800). 

www.cosmosm.com

 

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