A Hands-on Introduction to Engineering Simulations

This course provides an ideal approach to engineering simulations: both Finite Element Analyses (FEA) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).

As stated in the title, it offers the possibility to practice a lot: it proposes simple guided simulations through lectures (all steps are explicitly detailed in a remarkably clear way), as well as homework exercises on follow-up applications (which allow to reproduce the lectures' examples on similar problems).

Computations are illustrated through the use of the ANSYS software, for which a student version is available, for free. ANSYS is an easy-to-use software, widely used in the industry, with lots of very nice features: a very good tool to get familiar with this type of computations. If you intend to use some other software (like myself: my company doesn't use ANSYS...unfortunately), you'll still be able to benefit from most of the course material. Indeed, Rajesh Bhaskaran (the instructor), largely emphasizes generic methods that apply beyond ANSYS simulations.

The pace of the course is well adapted to beginner students, and the quizzes are simple enough to easily obtain a certificate, I think. The course is also appropriate for intermediate students: the optional applications proposed at the end of the course are more complex than the mandatory quizzes & homework exercices. In addition, complementary/advanced material is proposed through the SimCafe.org website (which is hosted by Cornell University, in connection with this course).

The key feature of the course, in my opinion, is that it is applied and carefully related to industrial applications. This makes it better suited for those student who prefer a hands-on approach than the course proposed by the University of Michigan, through Coursera (https://www.class-central.com/mooc/3537/coursera-the-finite-element-method-for-problems-in-physics), which is more demanding, theory-oriented and mathematically involved.

The course, which was recently proposed in the in-session format, is now closed, but it should soon be proposed in the self-paced format. Hopefully, this won't affect the very valuable forum, which, although I didn't use it much myself, seemed very supportive.