Do any of the computers have CATIA V5/V6 installed?

Daniel S

I'm doing engineering (first year) and I'd love to try it out. It's the de facto standard in F1 and that's what I'm aiming to get into. I've plenty of experience with soldiworks and I've applied for the student edition of CATIA.
Thanks!

ned14

In 2nd year, you will do a CAD module using Creo Elements/Pro (Was called Pro/Engineer), with the option of Advanced CAD (Which I am doing now) in 4th year using the same software. To be honest, there's no point starting to learn on a product which you won't be using on your course.

You would be better off becoming an expert at Creo, get 2 A1's under your belt then transferring your knowledge to CATIA afterwards. Creo is installed on the PC's in AMO61, and a few other places too.

Daniel S

ned14 wrote: »

In 2nd year, you will do a CAD module using Creo Elements/Pro (Was called Pro/Engineer), with the option of Advanced CAD (Which I am doing now) in 4th year using the same software. To be honest, there's no point starting to learn on a product which you won't be using on your course.

You would be better off becoming an expert at Creo, get 2 A1's under your belt then transferring your knowledge to CATIA afterwards. Creo is installed on the PC's in AMO61, and a few other places too.

I know how this sounds but:

I've seen people get co-op with Renault F1 R&D department and a few other teams. Ideally, that's where I want to be.

I suppose I could do the two at the same time :rolleyes:

ned14

Important thing is not to teach yourself bad habits when creating CAD models. There are several ways to create the same part, but some would leave it difficult to modify, impossible create a drawing for or cause a difficulty when assembling it to a larger part.

There are plenty of tutorials to get you started. If you want to learn both, look up the education tutorials for them. There are loads for Creo. I also assume there would be some for CATIA, since I have one for Abaqus (FEA software), which is produced by the same company Simulia.

Chimaera

Don't worry about training on a specific software package: it's the least of the hurdles you'll need to clear to get into the motorsport industry. If you get good at one parametric modeller, switching to another will be pretty trivial. Ditto for FEA software. It's the modelling and analysis techniques that take time to learn so you may be as well off to wait until they're covered in your course.

F1 teams are at a very high level in the motorsport industry, so don't be surprised if you don't get in first go. Get involved in club/university motorsport activites as a first step. I believe there's a formula student team in UL: get involved there. It'll stand to you if you want to work in motorsport.

Bottom line: CAD/FEA is only a tool. There are plenty more important things to learn/experience if you want to work as an engineer.

oisin_t

I used Catia on my coop and did the CAD module in 2nd year, Catia V5/V6 and Pro Eng (or Creo) are essentially the same thing. The only real difference you will have to worry about initially are that the commands have different names.

example.. Pro E - "extrude", and in Catia V5 - "Pad"

The french translation sometimes comes off a bit weird...But as the ned said, learn proE since its there, and the skills will easily translate.

If its R&D you want in, then I would solely concentrate on CAD modelling, in fact, CAD modelling is probably not that useful for R&D. Learning to use CFD packages such as Fluent or star CCM, and FEA packages would be more useful. This is probably beyond the scope of a first year though...

To get into a coop with an F1 team I would expect that a 3.7 gpa and speaking the language of the country would be the absolute minimum. Formula student would go a long way. These teams take only take only the best so you will need something to stand out.

5uspect

If you want to get into motorsport learning a CAD package is the least of you worries.
Any half arsed engineer can throw a CAD model together, it's a basic skill.

F1 teams look for expert aerodynamicists. Either experimental or computational.
Start learning about the Navier Stokes equations and CFD, in particular Large Eddie Simulation (LES). The computational restrictions put on teams won't allow them to do DNS and RANS is useless. There are plenty of nice Fortran and Matlab codes that you can use to learn.

If aerodynamics isn't your thing look at structures. Study Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and composites. There is a new composites lab being set up in MSSi that you should see about a summer internship with.

If you want to do experimental fluid mechanics the Stokes Institute do a great summer internship for third years.

Also doing a postgrad in a University where the F1 teams recruit is also a good idea. Imperial would be a good choice.

Daniel S

5uspect wrote: »

If you want to get into motorsport learning a CAD package is the least of you worries.
Any half arsed engineer can throw a CAD model together, it's a basic skill.

F1 teams look for expert aerodynamicists. Either experimental or computational.
Start learning about the Navier Stokes equations and CFD, in particular Large Eddie Simulation (LES). The computational restrictions put on teams won't allow them to do DNS and RANS is useless. There are plenty of nice Fortran and Matlab codes that you can use to learn.

If aerodynamics isn't your thing look at structures. Study Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and composites. There is a new composites lab being set up in MSSi that you should see about a summer internship with.

If you want to do experimental fluid mechanics the Stokes Institute do a great summer internship for third years.

Also doing a postgrad in a University where the F1 teams recruit is also a good idea. Imperial would be a good choice.

Thanks for putting all that together for me! That's a huge help!