ANSYS BLOG
December 9, 2021
Simulation for All: 2 Million Ansys Free Student Downloads and Counting
Recently we surpassed 2 million free simulation software downloads through the Ansys Academic Program. Since 2015, the program has helped more and more students discover the potential of Ansys simulation software to unlock barriers to learning in their engineering studies. While we are excited by our progress, our goal is to support all engineers during every phase of their career.
Real Opportunities for Practical, Hands-on Experience
Simulation skills among engineering grads are in high demand as companies increasingly turn to simulation to solve some of their biggest product development challenges. They’re eager to find and hire graduates with practical, hands-on experience who can quickly make a difference in simulation-based engineering environments. In response, Ansys is lowering barriers to simulation through educational collaborations with more than 3,300 universities in 95 countries. The goal is to make simulation accessible to all engineering students, along with valuable free resources they’ll need to help them gain simulation skills and increase their chances of landing a job once they graduate.
Every day, engineering students turn to Ansys’ free student software downloads to support their studies, including homework, capstone projects, and online learning like Ansys Innovation Courses. Taking advantage of free downloads, they explore simulation and apply concepts they’ve learned throughout their education to illuminate their understanding of math, physics, and engineering. Free downloads also give them the freedom to work off campus to complete simulation projects at their own pace outside of a university computer lab.
Seeing potential benefits in their own classrooms, universities are also taking advantage of Ansys’ free student downloads. They hope to encourage students to use them to make deeper connections that bridge learning gaps, excite their imaginations, and encourage them to continue with their engineering studies.
“Engineering simulation skills are becoming increasingly important for engineering students as they enter their career,” says Jonathan Singer, Associate Professor, Rutgers University. “Using the Ansys Student free download in my Multiphysics Simulation course provided students with the opportunity to gain simulation skills and experience that is highly sought after in industry. By the end of the course, students were able to complete their final projects, connecting the tools they had learned to what they can model and simulate in actual engineering scenarios.”
Free Student Downloads of Ansys’ Most Popular Commercial Products
Today, Ansys offers five free student-based simulation product versions of real-world applications currently used by top companies around the world:
- Ansys Student version is based on Ansys’ most popular commercial product for new and future engineers, offering access to the complete Ansys Workbench bundle, including Ansys Mechanical, Ansys CFD, Ansys Autodyne, Ansys SpaceClaim, and Ansys Design Xplorer to solve product development and optimization challenges.
- Ansys Discovery Student is a simulation-driven design tool combining instant physics simulation with Ansys high-fidelity simulation and interactive geometry in a single user experience. It’s a perfect tool for helping beginners quickly get up to speed with simulation to perform structural analysis, fluid analysis, topology optimization, and more.
- Ansys Electronics Desktop Student sets the standard for simulators used in antenna, RF, Microwave, PCB, IC, and IC package design. The software bundles Ansys HFSS, Ansys Maxwell, Ansys Q3D, and Ansys Icepak to support electrical and electromechanical system design, including wireless communications and high-speed digital circuits.
- Ansys LS-DYNA Student teaches core design and engineering skills around simulation. It’s the most used explicit program for solving nonlinear, transient, and dynamic problems using explicit time integration.
- Ansys SCADE Student is based on Ansys’ model-based design and code generation technology for embedded software. Access enables students to optimize their designs, learn the basics of simulation and study workflows.
Supporting Engineering Education Through Ansys Innovation Courses
Creating clear pathways to learning requires additional support. Ansys Innovation Courses are free, online, award-winning, video-based courses on physics and engineering concepts that use simulation and real-world case studies to reinforce those concepts. All courses are easily accessible and comprehensive in their instruction, covering a range of topics related to fluids, structures, photonics, materials, electronics, and more.
Engineering students and recent graduates can look to Ansys Innovation Courses to reinforce and enhance their simulation and physics skills in their studies, or on the job. All the online lecture videos are led by Ansys experts and key academic partners in their respective fields, exposing students to learning environments mirroring current industry trends. They’re a great resource for students or self-learners looking for free, online engineering courses by offering instant access without formal registration to a mix of lecture-style videos, handouts, simulation examples, and quizzes.
Using Ansys Innovation Courses, students can watch engaging videos from some of the top subject matter experts in their chosen topic, then apply what they’ve learned to solve practical hands-on examples in Ansys’ free student downloads. Once they have tested their skills using simulation, they’ll complete quizzes and homework assignments to demonstrate their retention.
For learners looking for a more curated experience and a deeper understanding of a specific engineering category, the Ansys Learning Track section of Ansys Innovation Courses provides a collection of courses that cover topics within the selected category. Learning Track topics include structural mechanics, fluid dynamics, electromagnetics, and heat transfer, making it easy for a user to gain a thorough understanding of these topics in a way that builds upon concepts learned.
Ansys Innovation in the Classroom
One of the biggest benefits of using Ansys Innovation Courses is the ability to bring concepts to life in engineering instruction. Ansys Innovation Courses can be used by university professors and high-school instructors looking for ways to further drive understanding of topics taught in the classroom. Simulation examples provided in the courses give students a hands-on and visual experience on the topics they’re learning. They are perfect for homework or additional learning.
Ivana Milanovic, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Hartford, Connecticut, uses Ansys Innovation courses to help second-year university students visualize thermodynamics. “I think that the real learning starts when students become comfortable with setting up and running simulations,” Milanovic says. "When they see the flow through the nozzle or when they see heat transfer in some example, they start thinking, ‘OK, what does this all mean?’ And they understand that these problems do not have one numerical answer. They learn that the answer is more often a velocity field, a temperature field or a pressure field.”
Additional Resources
Ansys offers access to hundreds of additional resources educators can use to supplement classroom activities, including articles, case studies, exercises, and teaching packages. All are easily integrated into existing curriculums to help give engineering students additional context for their studies. To help bring their ideas to life, academics can also find support in the Ansys Learning Forum, a place to search by topic for answers to common questions, engage with Ansys experts, and browse discussion categories to find out what their peers are talking about.
Each day thousands of students and educators are unlocking the power of simulation to transform classroom experiences. Get started with our free student downloads, and to unlock all the educational opportunities Ansys has to offer.