$70 Million Design Package for Engineering

The School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics department received a package of computer-based design
tools valued at $70 million this November from Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE).

Penn became the first Ivy League school to join this academic partnership with PACE, a corporate alliance between several multinational companies, including General Motors, Sun Microsystems, HP, and Siemens. It provides computer-based engineering tools to 43 partner institutions in 10 countries.

The department plans to use these tools to intensify the design content in the engineering curriculum and to enrich a newly launched program in product design. Projects will include research into the design of more efficient factories, hybrid vehicles, and artificial heart valves.

Jonathan Fiene, a lecturer in the department, has been chosen to head the PACE program in the school.

—Yashas Vaidya C’09