October 7, 2009 - Vol. 6 Num. 16 CAD/CAM Lab offers free Hyperworks training The CAD/CAM Lab at Wichita State University's National Institute for Aviation Research and Altair invite you to attend a continuing series of HyperWorks Events at NIAR. The training sessions, which will be held from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. October 12-16, will teach attendees the basic tools to produce designs with tremendous weight savings (10-50%) while reducing the time to develop those designs as much as 70%. The first three days of this training will cover FEA Pre and Post-Processing (HyperMesh,HyperView & HyperGraph), and the final two days will be devoted to the structural and composites design optimization tool, OptiStruct. October 12-13 HyperMesh® October 14 HyperView®/HyperGraph® October 15-16 OptiStruct® Register online at www.altair.com/scevents. Research Machine Shop gets new equipment   The Research Machine Shop at the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University has purchased two new machines to expand its capabilities and support services for NIAR/WSU laboratories and industry clients.   The machines are a Haas VF-2 vertical machining center with a TC-5 five-axis head and a Haas TL-3 horizontal lathe.   “The driver to purchase both machines was to support friction stir welding in the Advanced Joining Lab without reducing our capacity to support other research projects,” said Research Machine Shop manager Art Porter. “The initial drive to support friction stir welding had us committing a larger machine, our HAAS VF-4, which is needed for other projects.”   The new VF-2 and its five-axis head, an upgrade over the shop’s older VF-2 with only 4 axes of motion, supports the creation of pen tools for friction stir welding and other parts up to 1 1/8 inches in diameter on a much smaller machine than the VF-4.    “The TL-3 lathe is our first computer numerical controlled (CNC) lathe,” said Porter. “These purchases are a large step in increasing our capabilities.”   The TL-3 has a maximum cutting diameter of 20 inches and maximum cutting length of 60 inches.       The National Institute for Aviation Research is a prestigious state-of-the-art aerospace research and development laboratory with global reach and expertise in research, design, testing, and certification. The Institute’s clientele includes many of the world’s aerospace manufacturers, NASA and the FAA. It is the largest aviation R&D academic institution in America.  The National Institute for Aviation Research is an unincorporated division of Wichita State University.