The Faculty of Engineering and Computing, University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech), has received a software grant with a commercial value of US$38.85M (JA$3.4B) from Siemens PLM software, a business unit of the Siemens Industry Automation Division and a provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services.
The presentation by Leecorp Ltd, the local representative, on behalf of Siemens, included the technology giant’s flagship products Solid Edge bundled with Insight, NX CAM, and Technomatix, plus one year’s software maintenance. These will provide training for students and support renewable energy research in the faculty, which the company hopes will help deliver Jamaica’s vision to be recognised by the United Nations as a developed nation by the year 2030.
“As the main provider of engineering education in Jamaica , UTech’s students are employed in all the local industries and many move on to take up positions overseas,” said dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Computing, Charmaine DeLisser. “Competence in the use of SIEMENS PLM will allow our students to not only raise the standard of engineering practice in Jamaica , but will also give them and the organizations in which they work the opportunity to leverage their knowledge and technological skills for competitive advantage internationally.”
She noted also that, “the UTech/Siemens partnership will provide Jamaican industries with a pool of highly skilled and proficient engineering designers, developers and planners with all the analytical skills and tools needed to foster and drive creativity and innovation. The collaborative tools will enable designers to work with counterparts anywhere in the world on a design project, reversing some of the effects of the brain drain. It will unleash the spirit of innovation.”
Reflecting on advanced capabilities of the software, DeLisser said that the Siemens suite of software will significantly boost the School of Engineering ’s capacity to utilize first-world, cutting-edge technology and best practices in the delivery of programmes.
“It will support the delivery of modules such as Manufacturing Processes, Design for Manufacturing, Advanced Engineering Design, Global Manufacturing Strategy, Modern Production Technology, CAS/CAM/CAE, Process Engineering, Plant Engineering, Mechantronic Systems, Strength of Materials, Automation, Production Management, Engineering Enterprise Planning,” she said.
Francoise Lee of LeeCorp added, “In this new development platform, students will be able to work collaboratively to complete projects, including capstone projects and international projects. It will also help to leapfrog the Faculty’s research thrust, spawn innovations and the ability to move projects from prototypes to commercial products.”
Solid Edge is an industry-leading mechanical design system with tools for creating and managing 3D digital prototypes. Practical tools for managed collaboration help to better coordinate design team activities and remove the errors that result from miscommunication.
Siemens PLM Software’s GO PLM initiative leads the industry in the commercial value of the in-kind grants it provides and brings together four complementary community involvement programs focused on academic partnership, regional productivity, youth and displaced worker development and the PACE (Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education) program. GO PLM provides PLM technology to more than one million students annually at nearly 10,300 global institutions, where it is used at every academic level – from grade schools to graduate engineering research programs.