Engineering

Our ‘Future Digital Innovators’ blog series discusses how higher education leverages Hexagon solutions as part of students’ coursework, projects and research. Hexagon’s education licenses let universities and colleges provide international students with first-hand experience of industry-leading solutions.  

The Brno University of Technology is a leading Czech university offering education both in English and Czech. With eight faculties, three university institutes and nearly 20,000 students, the university has been educating technical talents since 1899.  

Brno University of Technology is using Hexagon software to ensure engineering students have access to the latest software solutions. “First, we started to use Visual Vessel Design for our engineering classes,” Martin Nad, Assistant Professor at the university, explains. “Over the years, we saw the benefits of giving students access to commercial software and rolled in other Hexagon solutions as well.” 

Those using the Hexagon software are master’s students in the later stages of their degree. “The students are pleased with the possibility to learn to use software they will need during their careers and start to solve real-life engineering problems during their studies,” Mr. Nad says.  

Hexagon solutions are used mainly during three phases of the degree program: 

1. Classes
   CADWorx® Plant Professional is used to teach the students how to execute 3D modeling of process equipment basics. The university also regularly invites engineering specialists to present new features.
    
2. Biannual thesis:
   Students are divided into groups with industrial assignments, such as designing pressure vessels and executing stress calculations based on the EN 13445 standard. Visual Vessel Design (VVD) is used as a basis for these assignments.
     
3. Bachelor and Master thesis:
   Students often choose to use Hexagon software for their final graduation thesis to have the possibility to work on real-life usage cases.  

Student experiences 

“Overall, students like the software as it makes their life easier. Using Hexagon products helps students develop valuable skills and enables them to speed up their work processes. For example, using VVD for pressure vessel calculation is much faster than doing manual calculation according to standards. Of course, as with anything, nothing is perfect – some love the reporting functionality, and others don’t like the interface. Overall, many students provided positive feedback,” Mr. Nad concluded.  

Some quotes from students describing their experiences include: 

Milan: “I used Hexagon software during my studies at Brno University of Technology. Later, I focused on CAESAR II® software while writing my bachelor’s thesis and my master’s thesis. Since the usage of this software was on a real application, it showed me possibilities for my future career. After graduation, I still use many Hexagon products in my everyday work!” You can read Milan’s thesis (in Czech) here.  

David: “The main benefit of working with VVD software was that, as a student, I had the opportunity to work with professional software used by many companies worldwide. This way, when I was looking for a job, I could use this knowledge as my benefit for the job application. Also using the VVD software was intuitive, and with little practice and checking, it was simple to get the results.” 

Marek: “I used Hexagon products, namely VVD and PV Elite®, during my master’s studies. I also used these products for my master’s thesis and dissertation thesis for heat exchanger design. These products are of great utility for the fast and efficient design of pressure vessels. They are very convenient to work with!” 

Anežka: ”CEASAR II and VVD are very interesting software applications and I am glad I had the opportunity to learn how to work with them.” 

Mr. Nad summarizes: “These days the delivery times for equipment and for building new plants are getting shorter and shorter. Therefore, the new generation of engineers must be able to use modern software from the start to shorten the delivery times and optimize the designs. However, I also think that knowing the theory and background behind all the software is a necessity, so students know not only how to use the software the right way but why it is done in a certain manner.”

Reach out today to learn more about how your educational institution can apply for Hexagon educational licenses.