Surf's up at Anaheim!
Virgil Seaman, Co-chair, Academic PIC Division - Industry Specific Department of Technology, College of Engineering and Technology, California State University

Hello from sunny southern California! I want to extend an invitation to educators to join us at the upcoming COE 2001 Spring Conference & TechniFair being held in Anaheim, California. The theme for this conference is "Making the Leap."

I have been involved with COE for several years now and one of the most exciting benefits of the HEAT program from my perspective is attending the Fall and Spring COE Conferences and Technifairs. As an educator, having the opportunity meet other teachers from around the country to share ideas, discuss problems and solutions, and to make presentations related to CATIA V5 has helped me personally to make the leap. Attending the general sessions and breakout sessions puts me in touch with what's happening in the industry, and I am able talk to presenters and attendees after the breakout sessions, during lunch and at the Technibash. COE conferences are great because of the people, who are friendly, helpful and willing to share their ideas and experiences.

Bill Abramson (Co-Chair) and Buz Nowicki (HEAT Program Manager) and I have been putting together the Academic Track events for the last several COE conferences. Here are the goals we have been striving to achieve:

1. A greater visibility of the Academic Track within COE to industry

2. Expand industry and academia collaboration

3. Lobby for a "student edition" of CATIA V5 that is affordable for students to purchase

4. Provide a forum at COE for teachers to exchange ideas and to learn about how others use CATIA

5. Collaborate on projects with other educational institutions

6. Provide an avenue to obtain curricular resources

I would like to give you a brief overview of what has been accomplished by both new and longstanding users of CATIA who participate in the HEAT program as related to the above mentioned goals:

1. During the last COE in St. Louis we staffed a booth in the Technifair for the Academic programs providing a chance to meet with members from business and industry. This was a terrific way to dialog. An example is the new COE NewsNet newsletter pioneered by Bill Abramson with a featured article this month by Peter Hart of Georgia Tech, Wichita State's National Institute for Aviation Research, and Purdue's Applied Research Center working with IBM & Dassault Systemes

2. We continue to talk and push for the need, expecting an update on progress to date at the Spring COE

3. We average two to three breakout sessions for the Academic track each conference. There have been two general sessions featuring academic programs featuring C. Greg Jensen from Brigham Young University who worked with Allied Signal and Gary Bertoline from Purdue University presenting on the Digital Enterprise. An example includes the BYU/CSULA Netmeeting/CATIA V5 web-collaboration project featured in CATIA Solutions Magazine.

4. At the last COE, we conducted an Academy on first year experiences using CATIA V5 with input from Georgia Tech, Wichita State, and Southern Utah. Each person attending the Academy received a copy of Richard Cozzen's CATIA V5 textbook. Attendees included people from industry who teach and have a great interest in education.

Bill Abramson (Co-Chair), Buz Nowicki (HEAT Program Manager) and I have been putting together the Academic Track events for the Spring Conference. Here's what you can look forward to:

1. An Academic Booth at the Technfair so we can share what we are doing with industry at our institutions. Please bring materials to show and distribute at the booth (sample CATIA projects, a Powerpoint show, etc.

2. Two breakout sessions:
   AC-1 "The Justification of a Digital Product Integration Specialist," by Craig Miller of Purdue University

   AC-3 "GTMARS: Georgia Tech Martians Automomous Rotocraft System," by Peter Hart of Georgia Tech

3. A Seminar for entitled "V5 Workbenches for Teachers." We want to provide you with some hands-on experiences and learning materials you can take back to the classroom

4. Be sure to attend the daily luncheons and join us at the tables marked "Academic Institutions." This is time where we can all sit down, meet each other and share ideas during our busy day.

I look forward to seeing you in Anaheim for another great experience and don't forget to bring your sunglasses!

The HEAT Program for colleges (and now high schools) offers for curriculum use:

1. CATIA for a nominal fee
2. Free courseware
3. Free training for instructors
4. CBT (COMPANION)
5. Support
6. ACADEMIC TRACK at COE and registration fee discounts to HEAT members.

For further information about the "HEAT Program", contact information is listed below:

Q. W. (Buz) Nowicki
CATIA Higher Education an Training (HEAT) Program Manager
Product Lifecycle Management Solutions
18000 West Nine Mile Road
Southfield, MI 48075
(248) 552-5981 IBM Tie Line 896-5981 Fax (248) 552-6886
e-mail qnowicki@us.ibm.com