Questions for Westlawn

Discussion in 'Education' started by Stu waring, Feb 5, 2004.

  1. Stu waring
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    Stu waring Junior Member

    I would like to start a thread that will provide forum members and visitors a place to ask questions about Westlawn. I would like to limit this to topics regarding curriculum, policy and administrative topics. Topics such as comparing Westlawn to other yacht design schools and Westlawn vs. NA & ME degrees are being well covered in other threads and really do not need to be covered again here. I will do my best to answer all directed questions factually and promptly and not of my own opinion.

    Westlawn’s new revised mission statement is three fold: First, to provide our students with the skills and knowledge required to build a rewarding career in the profession of yacht and small craft design; Second, to support the continued growth of the recreational and small craft marine industry through the development of well trained designers; and third to provide continuing education to the marine professionals, from surveyors to marine-industry executives.

    Through our correspondence programs we strive to prepare students to meet the ever changing demands of the yacht design profession. Our faculty includes experienced people who are or were practicing yacht design and boat building professional that strive to develop a mentorship with the students as the progress through the programs. We subscribe to the “learning by doing” philosophy as evidenced by strategically placed design projects of increasing complexity. Students are required to solve the same types of design problems that they will face in actual practice. Advanced students are encouraged to seek employment in design offices as soon as their abilities and circumstances allow.

    Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology, founded in 1930, is the only nationally accredited and state certified distance-learning school of small-craft design in the United States. As the not-for-profit educational affiliate of the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC), Westlawn's primary function is to assure a continual source of highly skilled yacht designers to the industry.

    I look forward to your questions. :)

    Stu Waring
    Westlawn Instructor

    Westlawn Institute Of Marine Technology
    733 Summer Street
    Stamford, CT 06901

    www.westlawn.org
     
  2. johnjt
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    johnjt Junior Member

    Mr Waring,
    Hello. I am in the process of waiting for the catalog to Westlawn and will most likely apply promptly. I was wondering at what point in the Westlawn curriculum is CAD introduced? When is it most beneficial to begin learning to use the software and does Westlawn recommend any specific version of CAD?
    Thanks so much for your new thread. I think this will be a great help to many of us out here.
    Regards,
    John
     
  3. Stu waring
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    Stu waring Junior Member

    Westlawn & CAD

    CAD is quickly not becoming an optional skill for professional yacht designers. In order to be employable when you complete your Westlawn studies, you must be proficient in AutoCAD and at least one hull fairing program. In addition, good working knowledge of a 3D surface modeler is highly recommended as well.

    However, Westlawn feels very strongly that it is important to develop good manual drafting and sketching skills as well. The first module of the YD course covers hydrostatics and requires several preliminary drawings all leading up to developing a set hull lines. Last fall, Westlawn set new school policy that states the entire first module be done manually. We feel that this is just the right balance to help students appreciate the origins of the industry as well as begin to develop adequate drawing skills. After completion of the first module students wanting to switch to CAD are encourage to do so but they must qualify themselves first. All students must submit their work in CAD by the end of the third module.
    This format allows students who have no background in CAD to have time to learn the software at their own pace which can be anywhere from 1 -3 years. Those who already have some CAD experience and are chomping a the bit to use it can use the time to learn a hull fairing or 3D program. Of course there are always special circumstances which we will look at one case at a time.

    Recommendations…AutoCAD 2004 full or Lite are the best, I would not get anything older than 2000. No preferences to hull fairing programs, we have them all. There are no 3D drawings required to complete the course, but as mentioned earlier a 3D background is an excellent addition and there is no better place to start than Rhino.

    Hope that helps. :)
     
  4. Stu waring
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    Stu waring Junior Member

    Westlawn Course Updates

    (This is a question that was posted on another thread that I felt would be appropriate in this thread as well.)

    Stu,

    I am a student at Westlawn just wrapping up Module one. I am glad to see some of the changes that are happening. Can you talk some about possible updates to the texts as well as maybe a side curriculm for CAD (given your new policies). - Guest



    Guest

    Sorry to not get back to you right away. I was in meetings all last week in Miami. We were having our 50th Anniversary Annual General Meeting for ABYC and were privileged to have the commandant of the US Coast Guard, Admiral Collins as our key note speaker. He is quite a dynamic speaker!

    In regards to your question, as you are currently a student, you have already seen the first student guide we put out last June. This was 17 page handout along with a dozen or so drawings that lightly covered some of the pressing topics that the new administration felt the course was weak on or did not cover at all. Over the several months since then we have been hard at work on preparing the next edition that will be available to students in April of this year. The new student guide is huge. It is well over 100 pages and growing daily. We are having a difficult time knowing when to say enough for now. The new guide is going to include the contents of the old guide as well as cover some major topics such as:

    Advanced Composites
    Weights and trim analysis
    Improved rigging calculations
    Updated Aluminum construction
    Detailed System Engineering
    CAD applications
    As well as several reference papers and many drawings and much more. As soon as we get this edition out we will start comprising new information for the 3rd edition.

    We also have several major projects on the go. We have new course material on Aluminum Construction that will be replacing our current aluminum text due out in the next 6 – 9 months. This is a brand new book that has been underway for well over a year now.

    We have brand new course material that will be introduced to the YD program on Engineering Fundamentals. We hope to incorporated this into the program sometime in the next 12 – 16 months.

    Dave Gerr is currently creating new comprehensive course material on propellers, which should be quite informative as he will be using his Propeller Hand Book as the basis of the new material. This is about 12 months out as well.

    We are also underway on an addition to the sailboat sections, lesson 18 & 19. In the next 9 - 12 months we will be introducing curriculum on deck hardware and layouts for cruising and racing boats from dinghy’s to the 70’ range with the assistance of Harken, Ronstan and Lewmar and others…

    And last and most importantly we are upgrading our CAD program. We have several irons in the fire at the moment but nothing is confirmed yet that I can relay. The student guide will be packed full of useful information in regards to manual drawing and CAD. That is our immediate response. Our course material is so out of date that it is sad it is still in there. Our desire is to replace it with quality current material quickly, hopefully within the next 6 months.

    So we have lots on the go…along with catching some of the typos and the odd mistake in the current curriculum and updating some of the existing drawings, we are busy. We have been in touch with several prominent design firms that are putting together drawing packages of boats designed and built with in the last 5 years that we will be able to send out to students to use as examples and reference material. But it all takes time. If you are in module 1 you will likely see all of the changes I have mention and more long before you finish the program.

    So what should you do in the mean time while you are waiting for the CAD update? Well if you are a beginner, I would suggest that you check out your local community college. Almost all of them offer courses in introductory AutoCAD. This is a great place to learn the basics and benefit from a teacher who can show you some of the tricks and short cuts. If night school is not an option, then maybe an online tutorial program or books. AutoCad is too complex a program to learn properly just hacking your way through it. The manuals from AutoDesk are great if you know what you are doing but not as helpful as they could be and a little intimidating for the beginner. Two good books that we recommend to our students are:

    The Mastering AutoCAD series by George Omura

    and

    The AutoCAD No Experience Required series by David Frey

    Both are available for several different releases of AutoCAD and available from Amazon.com and BarnesandNobles.com. I am sure that there are many other books that others might find better, however these seem to do the trick and are fairly simple to navigate.
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2004
  5. johnjt
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    johnjt Junior Member

    Stu, just a procedural question, but how long does it take Westlawn to send the materials for the first few lessons after receiving the application and check?
    Thanks so much! Glad to have a resource out here for all these questions.
    Regards,
    John
     
    Last edited: Feb 24, 2004
  6. Stu waring
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    Stu waring Junior Member

    Processing an Application

    Once you have decided to take the course, filled out and mailed your application and we have received it, we process your application and courier out your first module. In the US this usually takes no more than 7 – 10 days. Europe, Africa, Australia etc…overseas shipping obviously will take a bit longer but we do our best to get it to you as quickly as we can.

    The first module kit contains all the required Westlawn texts and Lessons 1 -12. It also has the latest edition of the student guide and instructors notes, several pages of admin stuff, policy updates and a suggested list of drafting equipment. In other words you get it all up front and you are good to go as soon as you get it.

    I will also take the opportunity to expand on the time it takes to return student lessons... Lesson submission from students at this point is 50% mailed through the post office and 50% received via the internet. Average lessons are turned around in less than 3 days. Module exams take longer but we try to get them on their way back to students in less than a week. The final exams are huge and can take upwards of two weeks to completely go through. Lesson reports are either mailed back or sent back by email depending on the lesson contents and if the student requests it. Instructors are grading around 100+/- lessons per month combined so are very busy, but the staff is very conscious of the time frame that students have to finish each module and strive to keep things flowing for them so they stay motivated.

    We have a few lessons go astray both coming and going so it is very important that students only submit copies of their work and not send the originals. We remind them of this often but occasionally they learn the hard way and are forced to do the work over. :(

    Johnjt - we look forward to seeing your application.
     
  7. Robert Miller
    Joined: Dec 2003
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    Robert Miller Junior Member

    Textbooks published as resource for design community?

    With the extensive re-write and development of up to date texts you describe, why not consider publishing your complete texts (perhaps in four volumes corresponding to the four modules of the Westlawn course)?

    Such an endeavor could well become a standard text and resource for the entire design community, and might even be an additional revenue source for the school. I would doubt that anyone contemplating enrolling in the course would choose not to do so simply because the text is available for purchase.

    Why not publish these texts?

    Robert
     
  8. Stu waring
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    Stu waring Junior Member

    Westlawn Text Books Published

    We have actually been asked about this before. It is a good idea and we have considered it. However it all comes down to the fact that it would be a huge undertaking considering the extent of the material. As you suggested it would not be just one manual, there would be several. We simply do not have the manpower or the finances do it. Top priority at the school right now is the update and it is taking all the effort of the staff and outside resources to get this done ASAP. But it is a good idea and we are actually currently discussing a suggestion on how to make the texts available as is, to the design community. At this point it is just not on the front burner but I would dare say not far off. Keep an eye out for more info about it in the next few months or so….
     
  9. dweymer
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    dweymer Junior Member

    Re-instatement

    Stu,

    What is the policy if a student(me) fails to complete a module within the contract term, and extension?

    Don Weymer
     
  10. Stu waring
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    Stu waring Junior Member

    Module Extensions

    Don,

    You would be amazed at how many students take longer than a year to complete their modules! It is quite common. If you run long for whatever reason you can simply apply for an extension. The school offers a six month and 1 year extension. You can apply for additional extensions if you run through that time as well. Contact the admissions department here at the school and they will be happy to help!
     
  11. guest

    guest Guest

    Westlawn Extensions

    I believe the extensions are $250 for 6 months and $500 for a year.
     
  12. dweymer
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    dweymer Junior Member

    Thanks for the info, I will call.
     
  13. macknut
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    macknut Junior Member

    Math

    Stu could you recomend a book to touch up on my math skills before I begin the course. As I said before it's been a while since I have done any complex math.
     
  14. Stu waring
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    Stu waring Junior Member

    Basic Math

    The second lesson in Module 1 is on basic mathematics. The lessons provides a review of the basics needed to solve many of the problems you will encounter as you progress through the course. It will quickly refresh a lot of the math concepts that you have been away from and serve as the “brush up” you are looking for. I will also see what our library holds and dig up a few other reference titles for you.

    Anyone have any suggestions on basic math texts that they have found useful?

    Along the lines of books, I am just finishing up reading Maximum Sail Power by Brian Hancock, It is an excellent read on sails and their technology and performance. A quote on the back cover by Gary Jobson sums it up nicely...Hancock does a beautiful job blending the art and science of sail technology...makes the process of using sails and understanding their theory easy. Check it out.
     

  15. betelgeuserdude
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    betelgeuserdude Junior Member

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