Case Study: Northwestern University achieves industry-ready computational design education with Altair HyperWorks

Using HyperWorks for Teaching Computational Optimization Methods in Engineering Design at Northwestern University

Northwestern University’s Integrated DEsign Automation Laboratory (IDEAL) needed to integrate computational modeling, simulation and optimization into its engineering curriculum by implementing a series of courses that expose students to real-world design decision tools. Northwestern partnered with Altair and adopted the HyperWorks suite—specifically OptiStruct and HyperStudy—to provide hands-on CAE and optimization capabilities for undergraduate and graduate coursework.

Altair delivered HyperWorks tools and fellowship support that enabled IDEAL to launch four computational design courses, create industry-based tutorials (for example, a die-binder optimization producing a uniform 30 mm wall and a truck-frame optimization yielding 6 mm cross-members and 7 mm rails), and host semi-annual symposiums and design competitions. Altair’s support has integrated computational design into Northwestern’s curriculum, produced award-winning student projects (a bicycle crank optimization won top honors), and measurably improved students’ ability to tackle real-world engineering problems.

Northwestern University

Wei Chen

Wilson-Cook Professor of Engineering Design, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Director