CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
26 June 2007
Implementation Investments
Waseda University Purchases 1,100 Licenses of SolidWorks Education Edition Software
Waseda University in Japan has purchased 1,100 licenses of SolidWorks ® Education Edition software for its mechanical engineering students as they prepare for professional careers. This is the largest single deployment of SolidWorks Education Edition software in the country.
The department of modern mechanical engineering will standardize on teaching SolidWorks and COSMOSWorks® software as part of a university effort to enhance engineering education. SolidWorks will play a crucial role in how students learn the monozukuri method of design, which is an increasingly popular approach that factors in every step of product development during the design phase. Learning that approach will better prepare students for professional careers.
"SolidWorks is not only easy to learn and use, it also provides better visualization of feature-based product design than 2D software, which is a crucial skill for graduating students as they enter the job market," said Dr. Atsuo Takanishi, professor of modern mechanical engineering at Waseda University. "A critical reason for choosing SolidWorks is that it has the most flexible student licensing options available, which allowed us to deploy the software on students' laptops, giving them anytime, anywhere access. Doing so enables them to apply the skills they've learned in the classroom to finding practical solutions on their own, so they can design better products."
Located in Tokyo and celebrating its 125th anniversary, Waseda is a private university and has more than 50,000 graduate and undergraduate students. The school's Humanoid Robotics Institute had been using 40 licenses of SolidWorks and COSMOS® design analysis software to develop some of the world's most advanced bipedal robots in conjunction with private industry for five years. That program's success prompted the department of modern mechanical engineering to purchase SolidWorks Education Edition for both undergraduate and graduate curricula.
"The Humanoid Robotics Institute has been a pioneer in developing walking, talking, fully functional robots that might someday become common at work or in the home," said Marie Planchard, SolidWorks director of worldwide education markets. "That type of innovation and success will fuel student interest in engineering at Waseda, where they will develop important CAD techniques to design better products professionally."
The University of Waseda works with authorized SolidWorks reseller Itochu Techno-Solutions Corporation for ongoing software training, implementation, and support.
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