WYOMISSING, Pa. — They say it’s best to build bridges, and that’s exactly what Associate Teaching Professor of Engineering Marietta Scanlon and her class have done this semester.
In the Engineering Design and Analysis with CAD course, Scanlon’s students, comprised of seniors majoring in mechanical engineering and electro-mechanical engineering technology, utilized CAD (computer-aided design) — specifically Autodesk Fusion 360 — to design and simulate loading of a cantilever bridge. Engineers typically use powerful software to simulate failure, but there’s no substitute for experiencing the real thing, and the Berks LaunchBox allowed the students to do just that.
Scanlon spoke of the importance of the course’s “application to design” process and how students gained the opportunity to “study via simulation.” She also stressed the importance of exposing the…