The aim of this project is to establish a design and analysis laboratory based on networked engineering workstations for use by junior and senior year undergraduates in the Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering design courses at the University of Vermont. The major instruments to be purchased are seven engineering workstations, a laser printer, and one graphics plotter for hard copy output. The equipment is to be used in upper level design and senior project courses for instruction and practice in modeling, design, analysis and simulation appropriate to each course. The project is significant on several counts: it is a logical extension of present micro-computer based design and analysis laboratories used in freshman and sophomore courses; upper level courses can coordinate the use of this equipment with lectures to teach design and evaluation rather than simply analysis; it will allow rapid, effective combination of scientific and engineering principles in areas that are normally taught and considered independently; and it will promote rapid and effective assimilation of our graduates into productive contributors to the nation's industrial base.
