Utilizing the best of today's technologies to better educate engineers of tomorrow

Multimedia technology integrates the computing power of computers, with potentials offered by media such as full-motion video, sound, text, graphics, and animation. Use of this technology allows developers to take advantage of the flexibility, effectiveness, and innovations in a number of technologies to produce tools that enhance the teaching/learning process in a variety of fields. A project is under way to develop a multimedia book for a first course in structural steel design offered by civil and architectural engineering programs. The software, currently being tested at The Pennsylvania State University, is being developed with collaboration of a number of sources including the American Institute of Steel Construction, and is expected to be distributed widely upon its completion in 1996.