Maplesoft is testing the mobile waters with a release of its Maple mathematical computational software for the Apple iPad, this first release aimed at students.
The Maple Player for iPad, which Maplesoft is pitching as tool for "livening up a classroom or for providing additional insight to students outside of class," brings the Maple computation engine to the tablet platform, allowing users to engage the interactive user interface to delve deeper into their equations.
Maple Player for iPad provides an interface where users can enter values, move sliders, and click buttons to perform calculations and visualize the results.
The app, available for free in the Apple apps store, lets users enter values, move sliders, and click buttons to perform calculations and visualize the results. Maplesoft is stocking the app with a collection of interactive calculators and conceptual explorations, the idea being that the iPad's immersive UI lets students more readily explore mathematical objects using finger swipes and gestures. "Using the finger to explore as opposed to having to work with a keyboard as an intermediary works well for math," Laurent Bernadin, Maplesoft's chief scientist and executive vice president, told Design News.
Additionally, the iPad provides a better way for students to explore concepts outside of the classroom, for example, using the graphical capabilities to display illustrations that approximate the volume of a cylinder or other mathematical concepts.
The app is aimed initially at the education market because Maplesoft sees the tablet's potential for exploring math, while acknowledging the younger generation's surging appetite for engineering tools that take advantage of the unique features of the mobile platform, Bernadin said.
"Every single one of this generation has a phone, and [mobile devices] are a part of their life," he said. "Apple has struck a chord with this device, and they have more of a need to have apps that are important to them available on their device of choice."
While the Apple apps store is flush with apps of every variety, professional engineering tools are not as plentiful. There remains a lot of skepticism among the older, less tech-savvy crowd, on how graphics-intensive, feature-rich design tools will translate to this small-scale platform.
While Maplesoft is beginning its app thrust with the education market, it believes the professional engineering segment will be open to mobile tools over time. "We haven't seen much pushback from the older generation," Bernadin said. "They're fully on board with these new platforms."
While I wouldn't want to go back to the typewriter--my writing and thinking speed has increased by several times writing with a computer--I think Alex's point about mechanical pencils is well taken. For one thing, drawing and writing are very different hand-eye-brain coordination processes.
OTOH, I know that being able to rapidly assimilate and compare a lot of data, as is possible with a computer, may spur thinking to new heights, or maybe breadths. I wonder how much, if any, research has been done about the effects of computer use on creativity.
I think Maplesoft has given a new dimension to Wordsworth's " child is the father of man" . This will definitely make the new generation of technologists have a feel of the world outside academia and the demands of industry.
I think both Ann and Dave make sound points. Arbitrarily eschewing calculators or mathematical software (and now apps) just because they're considered a short cut is short sided. It's got to be the engineer's choice, but what isn't a choice is learning the basic principles and understanding how to apply them to the task at hand regardless of which approach you take.
This reminds me of toughing it out in statistics class way back in the day when calculators were first allowed in college math classes. They were extremely expensive, high-end TI devices and I opted to do without.
I didn't do any better in that class than my calculator-equipped colleagues, but I did come out of it with the ability to do long division in my head (as well as the other basic operations). Today, I prefer the calculator for those tasks, but I can do it myself, on paper or in my head, if need be. I think that's the whole point here: having the choice, and being master of the tool so you understand how it works, and of the task, so you understand how it fits into the whole problem, aka your design.
@Beth: I think the comparison to a calculator is apt. I tutor high school students for the ACT. They are often surprised at first by my ability to solve problems without a calculator. (A calculator is allowed, but all of the problems are designed to be solvable without a calculator). However, they quickly see the benefit of being able to think through a problem without a calculator - even if you ultimately use a calculator to arrive at the answer. No matter what tools you have at your disposal, it's your brain that actually solves problems.
Ideally, students should come out of school knowing both how to use tools and how to think. For a long time, it was thought that students still needed to learn manual drafting techniques before they could be taught CAD; it was thought that CAD would "spoil" them. Thankfully, this attitude seems to have faded away.
I don't think that access to mobile Maplesoft apps will "spoil" anyone, as long as they understand that they are a tool, and not a substitute for thought.
Interestingly, I talked to a couple of engineers about this the other day and most were likening these tools to a calculator. There are some, they said, that will maintain that a calculator is a cheat sheet. But how many engineers today rely on calculators without that reliance completing obviating the need to understand core math prinicples.
Clearly, it's essential for the engineering students to master the basics first, then take advantage of any tools that will make their life easier. As some folks I talked to suggested, some of that onus needs to be on the professors and engineering curriculum to establish knowledge of the basics before serving up the tool.
I would worry about the same thing. Over-dependence on a tool can practically cripple students and future engineers. On the other hand, if the tool helps stimulate creativity, I think that's its greatest value.
Actually, the problem with getting a tool like Maplesoft into students hands early is that they won't learn to do it themselves. They will be dependant on the tool.
I agree, Rob. Saw that same 60 Minutes episode. With the right interpretation, mobile design tools can really open up possibilities and give aspiring engineers a good head start. It's the interpretation that's so important and forgive me for repeating myself, but the solutions need to be enablers for better, more creative and productive thinking, not for taking short cuts or missing out on the fundamentals.
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New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
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