Two Unique Courses Structural And Pipe Modeling

The University of Houston Downtown, Department of Engineering Technology offers unique four year, ABET accredited degrees in Process Piping Design and Structural Analysis and Design. Within these programs are two specialized engineering modeling courses. One course is "Piping Models". Students in this course use industry standard software to create 3D models of process plant and piping systems. The other course is "3D Modeling, Rendering and Animation". In this course, students create models of facilities related to their area of study; for example refineries or off-shore drilling platforms. This paper presents examples of the work produced in each of these unique courses. Introduction Houston, Texas is known as "the oil capital of the world". It is home to dozens of refineries, petrochemical plants and oil and gas drilling operators. Locally, there are also hundreds of engineering, design and construction firms as well as numerous fabrication shops. These businesses make up and support the oil industry. The oil industry has an ongoing need for employees trained in relevant technical areas. The University of Houston Downtown, within its Engineering Technology Department has programs designed to fill this need. Two such degrees are Process and Piping Design and Structural Analysis and Design. These are four year, Bachelor of Science degree plans that are accredited by TAC of ABET. The Engineering Technology Department offers two courses in the field of Page 577.1 engineering modeling which support these specialized degrees. They are called "Piping Models" and "3D Modeling, Rendering and Animation".