Mathcad has always been praised for being an easy-to-use and intuitive engineering calculation tool. Since the release of Mathcad Prime 1.0, the product has undergone a makeover, and the new, fresh user interface was a large part of that. Now, with Mathcad Prime 2.0 having just hit the market, the product has hit its stride. Many users have already upgraded to take advantage of the additional capabilities of this powerful yet intuitive engineering tool.
So one big question some customers are asking is this: Do I need to take training – if the software is so easy to use?
I talked to Sandy Smith, who works as Principal Education Development Specialist here at PTC University, to get the answers….
Bettina: Sandy, first of all, what is exactly does your job include?
Sandy: I review Mathcad’s new features and functionality and develop training that enables a customer to use Mathcad to its fullest capability.
Bettina: Coming back to the initial question around training… Is training needed if you are updating from an earlier version to Mathcad Prime 2.0, even though we at PTC keep highlighting how easy it is to use?
Sandy: Mathcad is intuitive, there’s no question about that. The natural math notation and clear interface really make it a great tool especially for engineers, who don’t always want to – nor have the time to – delve deeply into programming.
Still, Mathcad Prime 2.0 comes with 4 major functional enhancements: Symbolics, collapsible areas, 3D plotting and the Excel component. So if you would like to effectively use them in your daily job, we definitely recommend taking a training class. Without training, you always have a phase of trial and error and most of our customers can’t afford to spend their valuable time on this.
Often when we introduce new functionality there is often more to it than just gaining a new capability for one specific calculation task. It might be important for the user to understand how the function correlates with other functions, and what steps you followed in previous versions might now become obsolete, for example. In short, training is all about efficiency.
An example from the elearning library, exploring a new feature in Mathcad Prime 2.0
Bettina: Talking about efficiency – what courses are available and what is the duration of a class?
Sandy: This depends on the current version the users are working with. We offer these instructor-led training classes:
- Mathcad Prime 2.0 Essentials – 2 days
- Mathcad Prime 1.0 Essentials – 2 Days
- Mathcad 15.0 Essentials – 2 days
- Mathcad 14.0 Essentials 2 days
Bettina: Is eLearning available for Mathcad Prime 2.0, too?
Sandy: Yes, we have Web Based Training Classes for Mathcad Prime 1.0 and Mathcad Prime 2.0, Mathcad 14.0 and Mathcad 15.0 in the following areas:
- Application Orientation
- Working With Units
- Plotting
- Symbolics and Solving (Symbolics – Mathcad Prime 2.0 and Mathcad 14.0 and Mathcad 15.0)
- Programming Mathematical Expressions
- Data Exchange and Analysis
- Mathcad Integration with Creo Parametric (Mathcad Prime 2.0)
- Design of Experiments (Mathcad Prime 2.0 and Mathcad 15.0)
An example of web based training classes for Mathcad Prime 2.0 on plotting
Mathcad Prime 2.0 includes LearningConnector, our application that allows you to access help topics and course information in a context-sensitive way from within the application. In other words, when you are using a specific function, and you need an explanation, LearningConnector suggests the relevant topics to you right away. You can then pull up a class and take the training module without really interrupting your work.
Mathcad Prime 2.0 also includes a set of free tutorials that help you quickly get familiar with some of the useful features of Mathcad. This enables you to quickly start using some of the Mathcad tools and provides an additional resource once you complete the training.
Bettina: Great, thanks for the heads up around training, Sandy – much appreciated!
Note: if you are interested in the Mathcad class schedule, you can look it up in the global catalog.
Or, if you are unsure which class would fit your needs or you would like to have an instructor come to your site, please don’t hesitate to contact us!
