Tim Rechtien has just more than a month before he moves to Chicago and begins his new job designing power plants.
But if the spring mechanical engineering graduate had worked with the $60.7 million worth of software recently donated to the College of Engineering, he said he’s not sure he would have that job.
The software - the largest noncash donation in MSU’s history - came from Ann Arbor-based Mechanical Dynamics Inc., and includes support, training and unlimited site licenses for the Automatic Dynamic Analysis of Mechanical Systems software.
“If I’d been trained in it, I might have done something different,” Rechtien said. “That might make people decide differently about their jobs. In mechanical engineering, you always want to have the latest technology and a lot of it.”
The “virtual prototyping for virtually anything that moves” software is used mainly by automotive companies, including the Big Three automakers, BMW and Volkswagon of America Inc. Other high-profile customers include Kodak, Procter & Gamble Co. and Xerox.
“We’re certainly very, very pleased to be working with this school,” said John Janevic, the university program manager for Mechanical Dynamics Inc. “MSU is well-connected into automotive engineering. All of our commercial automotive customers can’t find engineers who are ADAMS sufficient. This is an important step for the next generation of engineers.”
MSU received the gift after serving as a PACE school - Partnership for the Advancement of CAD/CAM/CAE Education - by assisting other universities with computer guidance.
The college received 110 computer workstations, training and support valued at $55.4 million through the PACE program last year.
“We hope that we can establish MSU as a benchmark for what we’re doing,” Janevic said. “A lot of (universities) are willing to say ‘Hey, thank you for the cheap software,’ but don’t necessarily plan on getting serious with it. I think State really seems to take a hands-on approach.”
Aside from supporting as many students as needed, the company also plans to use its technology to help student organizations, like the university’s Society of Automotive Engineer Formula Racing Car team.
“They’ll keep their support up as long as we keep up our end of the bargain and crank out engineers who know how to use (the software),” said Bob Chalou, the academic specialist for material sciences and mechanics for the college. “The big deal is to have students who have hit the floor running. In the automotive industry, they’re in the business to make cars, not just train people more.”
The software is up and running in the Engineering Building, but it might be a little while before professors are familiar enough with it to teach it.
Professionals from Mechanical Dynamics Inc. will be coming to campus in August to teach the ins and outs of the often-updated software.
“In the past, this has always been in some room in a back corner where only certain people could use it,” Chalou said. “(The software) has been around for 25 years, but it’s now to the point where it’s very, very powerful and very easy to use. Anywhere the students go now they’ll use it.”
