Abstract:

"We must put more effort in ensuring that young people in particular acquire the digital skills they need for their future. Opening up Education is about opening minds to new ways of learning, so that our young people have a better chance of finding a job, to be more creative, more innovative and to have entrepreneurial skills" said Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, on September 25, 2013.

Engineering design is based on three reference coordinates (quality, cost, delivery time) expressing, ultimately, the essential requirements for a rapid processing capacity and interaction which is facilitated by computers. Computer Aided Design (CAD), Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) and Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) are household technology without the use of which, the ambitions set out above remain utopian.

Computer aided design is interactivity, modelling, scientific visualization through which the image and study of various models, processes or phenomena inaccessible to direct observation are provided. Engineering design falls into the fundamental engineering knowledge and use of CAD-CAM-CAE techniques together with the concept of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) provides the designer complete freedom of imagination for product representation regardless of their complexity. It appears, therefore, the opportunity to apply analytical methods that provide information on product behaviour in different operating conditions, enabling anticipation and correction of errors that can occur in the production process. The designer is thus able to propose solutions to improve the technology of the production process and optimization of functional parameters of the product.

This paper aims at highlighting how the curriculum for undergraduate degree “Marine Equipment and Systems” specialization of "Ovidius” University in Constanta integrates in its study program, for all years of study, fundamental and specialized disciplines oriented towards the development of professional skills on using CAD-CAM-CAE techniques. An analysis of curriculum content will be presented also with regard to meeting the mandatory norms and performance indicators that Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education requires through specific standards. Some of the successful projects of the students, specific best practice examples of cooperation with the economic environment and employers’ opinions on the skills, competencies and performance of employed graduates involved in engineering design activities will also be presented.

Keywords:

Design, modelling, finite element, virtual reality, skills.