Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is used extensively in industry and many co-op students are exposed to it on their work terms. In the Mechatronics Engineering (MTE) program, a course re-design was initiated to merge basic FEA with the traditional Numerical Methods course, MTE 204. In the pilot the FEA is taught to the students at the start of the course and the numerical techniques relevant to FEA are taught at pertinent points throughout the term. The course ends with the students doing an open-ended project demonstrating FEA knowledge.
The most important take away from the course is that the results of FEA must be validated before use in design. Hence an important part of the project is the method used to validate the results. Students use basement designed tests, testing machines in the MTE labs, published results, and prototypes and scaled testing to verify their results. The course helps students realize the importance and relevance of engineering analysis in engineering design.