Building the Students of Today into the Structural Steel Leaders of Tomorrow: Free Educational Licenses for SDS/2

Industry Insights/ August 12, 2020

As the steel industry continues to feel the strain of an aging knowledge base and skilled labor shortages, SDS/2 is upping our commitment to fostering new talent. Last spring we announced a free online training and certification program for steel detailers. This fall we are rolling out another free initiative and equipping the structural steel leaders of tomorrow with one of the top tools of their trade.

With the unveiling of SDS/2 for Education, students, educators, and qualified educational institutions can secure free licenses for our 3D steel detailing software, which leads the world in automated intelligence and steel connection design.

The available options include limited, individual licenses for students—whether they are learning in a traditional classroom or a new workplace—as well as custom solutions for qualified educational institutions and educators who want to use SDS/2 as a learning tool in their classrooms and labs. In order to make our software as widely available as possible, licenses are limited to 90 days with additional project size and export constraints for students, but all users will still get the full creative and technical power of SDS/2’s 3D modeling space and automated steel connection design.

CHECK OUT SDS/2 FOR EDUCATION TO LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR FREE LICENSING OPTIONS >>

3D Training for Multidimensional Talent

Digitalization, automation, and increased production demands continue to transform the structural steel industry—and the roles of detailers, fabricators, and structural engineers are changing along with it. The next generation of detailers will be spending less time on tedious, manual detailing, and more time optimizing automated software solutions to save fabricators time and money.

In addition, as organizations like the AISC continue to recognize the value of early fabricator involvement, the detailers and engineers that work for them are being called on to make more design decisions earlier in the project and to work seamlessly with other stakeholders on either side of the project pipeline.

What this all adds up to is a greater demand for skilled professionals who are not only tech-savvy, but also ready and able to learn the steel construction trade inside and out.

Getting industry software into their hands as early as possible will prime them for tech success when they start their careers, but with the right training tools, they can also begin exploring the logic of fabrication, erection, and connection design.

SDS/2’s 3D modeling environment allows students to visualize real-world construction and fabrication conditions. Our automated connection design offers a particular advantage to trainees by allowing them to manipulate framing conditions and see in real time how connections are affected, and vice versa. No other software can offer this kind of virtual training without third-party add-ons, making SDS/2 the perfect educational resource for building up the skills and know-how for next generation talent.

An Investment in the Future is a Win-Win for the Structural Steel Industry

SDS/2’s current educational partners range from high schools to technical colleges to Division I universities, and many others in between. You can find us in schools in the U.S. and around the world, and our new education initiative will allow us to reach more students than ever—whether they’re in a classroom, going through an apprenticeship or internship, or learning the trade independently.

Up-and-coming professionals will get a jumpstart on their career in a high-demand field with an easier transition from the classroom or training room to real-world projects

Educators and institutions will get a low-cost investment in their students’ success, while being able to take advantage of SDS/2 software to develop curriculum plans and real-world learning opportunities in the classroom.

And companies in the structural steel industry will start finding more qualified talent ready to hit the ground running with minimal need for software training. And with our new certification program, it’s easier than ever to validate a user’s skills.

It’s a win for professionals, a win for schools, and a win for the structural steel industry at large.

We can’t wait to get started designing a stronger future together.