MDSolids: Software to Bridge the Gap Between Lectures and Homework in Mechanics of Materials

Abstract

Current educational software for the mechanics of materials course is typically presented astutorials, worksheets, or basic analysis packages. A new software package, called MDSolids,presents an alternative to these types of products. MDSolids is conceived as a tool to help studentssolve and understand homework problems typically used in the mechanics of materials course. Thesoftware is versatile, graphic, informative, and very easy to use. MDSolids is being used at anumber of schools around the world, and feedback from users has been uniformly positive andenthusiastic.