A ground-breaking platform integrated into the ISAE-SUPAERO engineering curriculum

In a corner of the InnovSpace, Ahlem is loading the first-aid drone that she and four of her friends have developed. “We chose to imagine a rescue drone, capable of providing first aid to an injured person in the mountains”, explains Lilian, who is standing next to her. A drone... that only Ahlem can see, with her augmented reality helmet over her eyes. The object is virtual. It was created by the students on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

The 3DEXPERIENCE platform, developed by Dassault Systèmes, can be used to create the digital twin of any product and simulate all the stages in its life cycle. “It’s a ground-breaking software because its portfolio of applications complete. With more than 400 applications, you can virtually carry out engineering projects from A to Z”, explains Thomas Zamolo, who is in charge of the training module at ISAE-SUPAERO. “Something that would be impossible in real life.”

Implemented in 2023 among ISAE Group schools as part of an academic partnership with Dassault Systèmes, 3DEXPERIENCE is being used at ISAE-SUPAERO to train students on the Engineering apprenticeship, Master’s and Advanced Master’s® courses. It is due to be extended to the students of the Ingénieur programme at the start of the next academic year.

A 100% digital drone for public interest

Currently, the training module that Thomas Zamolo and Luc Patouillard have created around the platform is aimed at 3rd year apprenticeship students, "to practically apply the skills they have acquired in the last two years".

Using the digital twin of a commercial drone, which is accessible in the software, they have to design and build a payload to meet the customer requirements. Working in groups of five, the students have 90 hours to think up the specific features of their drone, design their payload, define their materials, manufacture the parts and assemble them, test the mechanisms and robustness of their product and finalize it. All in a 100% digital environment. “You can do everything with it”, says Ahlem. “You can model your product in 3D or run a dynamic simulation of each part and each component.”

The final courses, lectured at the InnovSpace, the Institute’s fab-lab and incubator, will give the opportunity to the students to bring their projects to life. In workshops, they will be able to manipulate their drone using virtual reality, print a 3D model and even draw up a marketing plan.

“A global vision of the project”

Thanks to this module, future engineers can reinforce their skills in systems engineering, mechatronics, finite elements analysis and manufacturing engineering. Moreover, they reinforce their management skills. “The interface offered by 3DEXPERIENCE brings them closer to the tools they will use in their future organization. The difference is that in a company, you never have access to all the apps. Here, they have a global vision of the apps used in the industry nowadays”, notes Thomas Zamolo.

Each half-day course gives learners the opportunity to acquire a new skill, in line with the skills-based approach which is being implemented at the Institute. As for curious students, they can even go further! This was the case for Ahlem and Lilian’s group: “In the catalogue of apps, we came across a sheet metal design app that might be useful to create an aluminium box. We worked out how to use it ourselves.”

...that leads to ISAE Group projects

“Another advantage of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform is its collaborative and secure assets. Data is stored on a cloud managed and secured by Dassault Systèmes on the French territory”, notes Thomas Zamolo. “It allows teachers and students to have an easy access to secure data spaces, and everyone can share their work with other members of the ISAE Group.”

With the platform now deployed in six other ISAE Group schools and partners (ISAE-ENSMA, ISAE-Supméca, ESTACA, ESTIA, EIGSI and ELISA Aerospace), the teachers plan to take the collaboration a step further. “We’re thinking of setting up a common project within the ISAE Group. We could, for example, imagine an engineering project carried out by groups of students from each school, who would share their best practices, each school having its own specialisation.”