This project will permit the acquisition of the equipment and software necessary to implement the use of advanced Engineering Design Graphics tools throughout the Civil Engineering curriculum. These second generation tools integrate design drafting and analytical engineering. They are defined as modern Engineering Design Graphics (EDG) tools. These tools allow designers to draw three-dimensional models of their designs and then conduct complicated analyses on those models using automated routines that are available within the Computer Aided Engineering software package. Undergraduate engineering students use EDG tools and employ the EDG tools as the focal point for collaborative learning exercises throughout the four- year curriculum. Freshmen are taught the mechanics of using the tools in a new course, Modern Computer Graphics. They then apply their modeling skills in other classes throughout the balance of their work at the school. Seven additional courses are enhanced with experiments and demonstrations using the new equipment. In a senior-level systems design course, the new tools serve as the focal point for a semester-long exercise in collaborative learning.
