SolidProfessor February Newsletter: New 3D Printing Courses and Student Certification Test Vouchers

Happy February! Here’s to hoping Punxsutawney Phil is right in his forecast for an early spring!  At SolidProfessor, we’ve been doing anything but hibernating this last month – read below for more information about five new and updated courses (including two about 3D printing!), new website features to improve your experience, and our new partnership with FIRST Robotics Competition.  As you’re finishing preparing students for industry certification tests, feel free to reach out to us for test vouchers.

– Megan Davidson Director of Customer Success

New and Updated Courses

We’re excited to share two brand new and three updated courses with you this month!

• Introduction to 3D Printing: you’ll gain an understanding of 3D printing technology, terminology, materials, workflow, and costs. You’ll learn about the software used to create designs and get ideas about how to use 3D printing in your designs.
• 3D Printing with Makerbot: this course will give you an understanding of Makerbot’s software to help you go from a 3D Model to holding parts in your hand.  Concepts and strategies covered in this course can be applied to other 3D printers.
• Sheet Metal: this updated course has two new hands-on exercises and shows you the tools needed to design high quality, manufacturable sheet metal components.  It covers how to convert standard 3D solid models into sheet metal, how to adjust the bends and cuts, and how to view the flattened pattern for the part, covering everything from corner treatments to creating custom forming tools.
• Routing: this course teaches you how to create electrical, piping, cable, and other routed systems in your assemblies.
• Workgroup PDM: covering everything you need to know about managing design data and revisions using Workgroup, this course is ideal training for individuals and small workgroups.

Interested in having the 3D Printing courses added to any of your classes?  Let us know!

Hands-on Exercises in 2016

In addition to our concept-based video lessons, we believe that the hands-on exercises embedded in many of our courses are valuable tools to help students learn software as they put into practice the skills they learn in the lessons.  Beginning in our 2016 courses, the hands-on exercises are coupled with coaching videos, providing students with immediate feedback and coaching on their design.  These video walk-throughs allow students to evaluate and correct their work, then move forward at their own pace.  When assigning these exercises to students, you no longer need to add the hands-on exercises and walk-throughs separately since they are now coupled in one entry:

Have questions about this change?  Just reach out!

Account Feature Changes

We made two changes to your account with you in mind!  The first change facilitates student registration, and the second change makes navigating your account simpler:

Decide into Which Classes Students May Enroll

On the Class Details tab in your Admin Tools, there’s a new setting available: selecting “Hide this class from Student Store signup” allows you to choose which classes appear as an option our Student Store when students activate enrollment keys or purchase their subscription and enroll in your class:

Navigate Your Account More Easily Now, when you browse the Library, classes, or assignments, the “breadcrumb” navigation will show the selections you’ve made along the way, helping you move quickly between courses, classes, and lessons:

Still have some questions about these changes?  Ask away!

SolidProfessor at FRC

This year, we are proud suppliers of the 2015 FIRST Robotics Competition!  We provide each team one subscription to help them build game-playing robots and compete with other teams. Read more about our partnership here!

Autodesk Certified User and CSWA Exams

You’ve been using SolidProfessor all year to help your students begin their career in design.  Preparing them for industry certification gives them a great jump-start toward being college- and career-ready!  As your students begin their final preparations and start taking the Autodesk Certified User or CSWA exams, please let me know if you’re interested in testing vouchers.  And, as students’ results come in, please share your stories of success – I’d love to hear!

Thanks for reading!

Megan Davidson Director of Customer Success mdavidson@solidprofessor.com (619) 376-1451