Minnesota State Mankato Receives $1 Million Software Gift-in-Kind from Caresoft Global
Data package allows for research on electric vehicle systems, components
Mankato, Minn. – Caresoft Global Inc., an engineering solutions company, has donated a software data package valued at $1 million to Minnesota State University, Mankato’s Department of Automotive and Manufacturing Engineering Technology that includes access to data for new technology and components used in five different electric vehicles.
The Caresoft data package is for student and faculty use in the classroom, in research and on projects. The donation provides unlimited software seats in perpetuity for Minnesota State Mankato students and faculty.
“We are very appreciative and thank Caresoft Global for this software gift,” said Aaron Budge, acting dean of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology at Minnesota State Mankato. “With the growing presence of electric vehicles in today’s society and marketplace, adding this software to the curriculum of the Department of Automotive and Manufacturing Engineering Technology allows our students and faculty to study and work with the newest technology in the automotive industry.”
According to Sam Ertl, a Minnesota State Mankato assistant professor, students can use the data package to see how the high-voltage electric system is organized in a vehicle, or how a battery pack is secured to a vehicle’s chassis.
Ertl said that students are also able to perform different types of analysis using vehicle components. For example, students can perform a stress analysis on a vehicle’s brake pedal, or look at aerodynamic drag on a vehicle and its effects on vehicle range.
“We’re grateful to Caresoft for this gift-in-kind,” said Ertl. “This software should give students a better opportunity to experience the technologies in these vehicles that we can’t afford to purchase otherwise. We are excited because it furthers the mission of need for an electric vehicle lab on the university campus to continue a cutting-edge education for students while providing an EV resource for our region. Students will have the ability to simulate their designs using the latest EV model data and CAD drawings.
“Included in the data is also a virtual reality system that allows students to break down a full vehicle into different subsystems and interact with each individual component.”
The virtual reality system will be shown at the third annual Recharge Mankato Expo, to be held Saturday, April 9 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Minnesota State Mankato’s Maverick All-Sports Dome. The Recharge Mankato Expo is free and open to the public. For more information, and to register, go to https://www.recharge-mankato.org/events/.
For more information, please contact Sam Ertl, assistant professor in Minnesota State Mankato’s Department of Automotive and Manufacturing Engineering Technology, by email at sam.ertl@mnsu.edu or by phone at 507-389-1052.
Minnesota State Mankato’s Department of Automotive and Manufacturing Engineering Technology is part of the University’s College of Science and Engineering Technology.
Minnesota State Mankato, a comprehensive university with 14,546 students, is part of the Minnesota State system, which includes 30 colleges and seven universities.
