Purdue students from aeronautics and astronautics, civil engineering and mechanical engineering benefitted from a Maymester course in Australia.

A group of 22 Purdue students spent nearly two weeks in Sydney, Australia, as part of a Maymester course in conjunction with the University of New South Wales.

Students from the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics were joined by civil engineering and mechanical engineering students. Vikas Tomar, a professor in aeronautics and astronautics, directed the program.

Purdue students had sight-seeing opportunities, too.

As part of “Finite Element Method For Engineering Structures” study abroad, students visited local architectural constructions that have benefited from finite element analyses (Sydney Opera House), toured local industries (Omni Tanker, Carbonix) and had cultural interactions (Barangaroo Reserve, UNSW students).

The three-credit course included daily tutorials using modeling software, as well as planned excursions.

“Maymester programs are a great opportunity for students to enrich their educational experience with a dose of a culture not yet explored,” Tomar says. “Students are excited to study rigors of structural analyses while also enjoying a new country.”

Students exited the experience with a variety of varied impressions, some struck by the culture, some by industry visits and others by differences between student groups.

The cohort of AAE, CE and ME students provided a good collaborative mix of majors for a truly interdisciplinary experience.

The group of Purdue students who spent nearly two weeks in Australia.

“I think the most important takeaway that many people don't realize is the extent to which traveling to another country changes your entire perspective,” AAE senior Victoria West says. “While in Sydney, I met a few people who have never been outside of Australia, and it was fascinating getting to learn about their perceptions of themselves and international students like us. It's an almost magical feeling coming to learn more about who you are as a person in a place so far away from home.

“It's eye-opening, that's for sure.”

The visit to Carbonix, a company that builds drones for industry and defense, offered students a glimpse into its manufacturing environment, including a look at why the company uses both aluminum and carbon molds in its products and its curing process.

Omni Tanker provided students insight into what goes into creating a one-of-a-kind product and how ideas within a company go from an idea to a finalized product. The company developed a patented composite materials technology that has “changed the game” in liquid transport tanks. The tankers have a thermoplastic lining covered by a carbon fiber exterior.

“I learned a lot about the Finite Element Method and Australian culture,” AAE student Hanson-Lee Harjono says about Maymester. “We saw how the constraints of the software forced us to be creative to get a solution and how different computers calculated the same algorithm with different results. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how companies used the FEM and hearing what Australian engineering students were learning in their classes.” 

Students made sure to make the most of the trip.