@FIRST NEWS 2012

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May

Premier is demonstrating its considerable support for UK educational establishments by providing over £2.1M-worth of Altium software, hardware and staff training to the University of Hertfordshire.

The University’s School of Engineering and Technology is fully embracing this initiative by making significant commitments to training academic staff and rewriting large parts of their curriculum. Dr David Lauder provides an example: "With the new Altium software we are able to revise the manner in which we introduce our first year undergraduates to circuit simulation. This means that the students are able to build on their practical experience by using Altium tools throughout their entire course."

Electronic Engineering students from Foundation level all the way through to Final year have access to the software. Furthermore, they can install a full Altium Designer license on their own PCs making it free for them to use the software as and when needed for projects they are working on.

Head of School, Prof. Reza Sotudeh adds: "Altium Designer is such a wide ranging and widely used design tool; this will give our electronic engineering students the practical and hands-on experience needed when they enter the world of employment. I can also see the software being used across other engineering disciplines, showing the influence of electronics on mechanical, automotive and aerospace engineering projects."

The initiative also provides the University with a new teaching/research lab which includes Altium software, a number of Altium NanoBoard NB-3000s and USB JTAG Adaptors. This will further assist teaching and allow multi-themed, multi-discipline projects and a vastly increased array of technology available for research.

Phil Mayo, as a long-standing member of the University’s industrial advisory group, explains: "It is essential for modern universities to provide graduates with relevant job skills and the best way of doing that is for the University to have access to professional tools. So it makes perfect sense for us to provide the University of Hertfordshire with updated software and a brand-new System-on-Chip Laboratory."

This initiative forms part of a Premier and Altium joint strategy to improve facilities in UK educational establishments and enable them to produce courses that are up-to-date and relevant to the UK electronics industry.

UH Vice-Chancellor Prof. Quintin McKellar proudly displays Altium equipment presented by Phil Mayo of Premier and Elmar Dukek of Altium

Altium subscription customers can benefit from update 18. A sample of what is included is:

   STEP model preview
   New track selection mode
   Ability to show contents while moving large schematic selections

All users with a valid subscription have immediate access to this new release and can update to it through the Plug-ins and Update page of Altium Designer. For more information on what’s included in this update, and how to access it, go to Blog announcement.

In the last 12 months Altium has delivered:

18 Software Updates – 100 BugCrunch fixes – 994 Enhancements – 79812 Components

Angelic Bulldog team try out the static model at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats, where they plan to break the world land speed record

The Angelic Bulldog Project is utilising British design, manufacturing and engineering to build a streamliner motorcycle. Made up entirely of volunteers, the project intends to break the 400mph barrier and bring the outright Land Speed Record on two wheels back to Britain.

The electronics team are designing sensor interfaces and instrumentation to display distance, speed and engine parameters. This also includes a number of safety system indicators such as the state of the fire control system and the status of the skids which are used to keep the vehicle upright at standstill. Most of the electronics to drive these displays is mounted in a separate enclosure.

The majority of the team are familiar with Altium Designer and use it professionally on a daily basis. Therefore, they identified that the software's following key benefits could significantly contribute towards the success of the project:

   3D capability - to assist in visualising how it all packages together, without mechanical clash
   Tight integration with mechanical design - for enclosures etc. and minimising space
   Version control - to ensure compatibility across the team
   Simulation - to speed up the design process

Always eager to celebrate British engineering, Premier is proud to lend its support and provide sponsorship for this inspiring project. Angelic Bulldog depends on volunteers and sponsors and without their contributions this project would not be possible. To find out more please visit Angelic Bulldog Project.