CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
2 April 2007
Product News
Dropping the Only in "for Educational Use Only"; Free Alibre solid modeler gives college co-op flexibility
Software makers usually offer discounts to students and instructors. The affordable price, however, comes with strict regulations. When the license says, "for educational use only," it means it. Any private or business use of the technology is illegal.
These restrictions made instructors at Coosa Valley Technical College (CVTC) consider a new approach for teaching solid modeling. Rather than investing in a classroom's worth of educational seats of a 3D modeling application, the Rome, Georgia institution instead adopted the free 3D parametric modeler, Alibre Design Xpress.
Alibre, Inc., two years ago, offered the basic functionality of its solid modeling technology for free download. The easy and effective model-sculpting tools offer their full capabilities for projects with small assemblies. For larger projects, or for advanced extras like rendering and finishing effects, Xpress users can upgrade to Alibre Design or Alibre Design Professional for a small license fee.
The advantage for instructors of Alibre Design Xpress is that it carries no caveats of use. "The problem with 'for educational use only' software is that you run into legal troubles," explains CVTC instructor Pierre Joubert. "Like many technical schools, we do a lot of cooperative projects with outside companies. And a lot of our students are nontraditional. They are older, in the 30s, 40s, or 50s, and are already working jobs in the field. They want to immediately apply what they learn at work."
CVTC bought one license of Alibre Design Professional for the classroom. Students can download the free modeler at school, at home, or at work - whenever they need to complete assignments. They then have the freedom to use solid modeling on cooperative projects in the corporate world, or bring their new skills to their jobs.
"What helps us enormously is that students can download the free trial for home use," says Joubert, who teaches Industrial Systems Technology at CVTC. "That students can download the modeler for free means that I don't have to monitor the use of the software. I don't have to check out discs or keep track of where they are."
Joubert has worked for decades both in industry as a mechanical engineer and as an educator. Although 3D modeling is not yet a state requirement for the syllabus, Joubert believes the technology is becoming a new necessity in the workplace.
"I teach students the importance of proper planning to do any job, and technical drawings are part of that. I personally think anybody in the technical field who is not familiar with 3D modeling will be left behind in a few years. Right now there are still some industries that use 2D CAD - but in a few years, I think that will change."
Is Alibre the appropriate platform to learn the art of mechanical modeling? Joubert had the choice to purchase seats of other brand-name modelers at an educational discount, but prefers Alibre's simplicity. The application, he says, is not weighed down with a lot of complicated commands:
"I have experience with Pro/Engineer, SolidWorks, SolidEdge," explains Joubert. "What I like about Alibre compared to these others is that Alibre tends to be very user-friendly. The others seem to add more and more features with every new edition, which gets very tedious. And once one understands the basics of solid modeling on Alibre, it is very simple to switch to a different brand, if a job requires it."
"I think the Alibre Quick Start guide, and the tutorials, are superb. The other solid modelers also have tutorials, but they seem 'clumsy' compared to those of Alibre," says Joubert. "Of course, an instructor can offer a lot of guidance. In an hour I can show students what will probably take them weeks to figure out for themselves. Once they are up and running, the guide and the tutorials are excellent for those who need to review something, or those who want to explore further."
In a technical world that is changing fast, Joubert thinks 3D solid modeling is the future. He passes on his wisdom gained from the workplace on to his students. "I myself have seen the benefit of using 3D. Compared to 2D CAD, it's the difference between using a horse cart and a motor vehicle. If you design a project correctly in 3D, it cuts down tremendously on workshop time and waste of material. And if you compete with others for the same contract, you will find that 3D gives you a very impressive selling tool, with the ability to photo-render the final design. A 2D line drawing cannot compete with the visuals of a 3D model. That's a major practical advantage.
"In interacting with industry on cooperative projects, I'm still rather surprised that a lot of industry leaders are not aware of the benefits of 3D solid modeling. My students, a lot of whom are mid-way in their careers already, will likely take on these leadership positions in a few years. That's why it's essential that they should know the benefits of 3D."
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