South Australia’s Flinders University uses Altium™ technology in their innovative research projects and for teaching students the latest electronic system design techniques.
"In recent years Altium’s software has become much more powerful, and at the same time is easier for our students to use."
- Geoff Cottrell
Development Engineer
School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics
The Flinders University of South Australia
The School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics at Adelaide’s Flinders University is a multidisciplinary school covering the areas of Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, Mathematics and Statistics. The school focuses on best-practice teaching, research, consulting and research training in the general areas of Informatics – applying computer techniques to complex information problems – and system engineering.
With the school’s electronic engineering area particularly focused on the design and realisation of biomedical and computer engineering systems, essential course units such as Electronic Design for Manufacture require students to engage in the latest electronic systems design techniques. To best prepare graduates for industry, the Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics school uses Altium electronic design software for their teaching and research activities.
Key challenges
The task of training the next generation of engineers and designers relies on students having access to advanced, up-to-date tools that facilitate the learning process. With the rapid advances in the technologies and techniques used in electronic design, there is an inevitable increase in the complexity and learning curve of the electronic design software itself. The challenge for Flinders University was to equip both engineering students and research staff with advanced electronic design software that is easy to learn and intuitive to operate, yet able to meet the university’s budget constraints and customer support requirements. Ultimately, these requirements would allow the School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics to prepare their graduate students for industry with the latest in advanced design engineering skills.
Meeting the challenges
Altium’s software has long been regarded as an industry standard in the area of cost-effective PCB design solutions. The School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics chose Altium Designer to meet their electronic design software needs. The system’s advanced design capabilities, intuitive design interface and up-to-date technology featuring full FPGA device support provided the school with a sophisticated design platform for Electronic and Biomedical Engineering in undergraduate teaching, postgraduate research and proof of concept commercialisation activities.
The results
Engineering students at the school use Altium Designer to capture and implement their electronic project designs from an undergraduate level through to their postgraduate research activities, and have found the unified system both powerful and easy to use. University staff comment that recent Altium Designer releases have brought an unprecedented level of 'user-friendliness' that allows the students to focus on the design aspects of their learning rather than the operation of the software tools. Features such as the integration of powerful Signal Integrity Analysis has also negated the need for the school to consider alternative software in this area.
Research projects at the School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics have benefited from the system’s advanced features and ability to deal with complex multilayer boards, with many projects also making use of the students’ new VHDL and FPGA design skills plus Altium Designer's inherent support for the design of FPGAs. Projects of note include the prize-winning EyeSim ophthalmic response simulator – which uses a pair of iris-equipped robotic eyes that mimic the responses of real patients for medical student training proposes – plus a ‘stereo’ Smart Camera developed by the Intelligent Systems Research Group, which uses a custom FPGA-embedded architecture to extract object information using real-time processing of the high-resolution video images. The projects have strong commercial potential via industry partners or through Flinders MediTech – the university’s commercial arm for medical training devices.
About the university
Based in Adelaide, South Australia, Flinders University is committed to innovation, excellence and equity for all students, and promotes a dynamic yet friendly university environment. Flinders University was established in 1966 and offers more than 160 undergraduate and postgraduate courses, with many using new information and communication technologies to supplement face-to-face teaching and provide flexible options.
Flinders’ School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics, a division of the university’s Faculty of Science and Engineering, is a multi-disciplinary school focused on best-practice teaching and research in the areas of computer-based resolution of information problems and electronic systems engineering.
The School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics invested in Altium Designer’s complete board-level design solution to provide students with all the capabilities they need to take their PCB designs from concept to completion. Using the system, students can also design and debug complete embedded hardware systems on FPGAs integrated into the PCB layout. When this is combined with Altium’s NanoBoard, an FPGA-based nano-level development board, students at Flinders University are able to learn and have hands-on interaction with the latest technology available for electronic product development.
For more information about Flinders University and the School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics, visit www.flinders.edu.au and csem.flinders.edu.au