Overview
CAD and simulation sit between engineering theory and practice. Students learn the software through tutorials that show which buttons to press, but assessments and research ask a harder question: is the model right? A finite element result depends on the geometry simplifications, element type, mesh density, material model, loads and supports you chose. A Simulink model depends on solver settings and on whether the block parameters represent the real system.
We support four widely used tools. AutoCAD for 2D drafting and drawing standards; SolidWorks for parametric part and assembly modeling, drawings and SOLIDWORKS Simulation; ANSYS for structural, thermal and fluid simulation in Workbench and Fluent; and MATLAB Simulink for dynamic system and control modeling. Sessions combine software skills with the engineering judgment that makes results defensible.
For students, we teach and review models you build. For researchers, we can review simulation setups for a thesis or paper, help design mesh convergence and validation studies, and, where appropriate, build research models that you own. We do not provide certified design analyses.
Who it’s for and the problems it solves
This is for you if you are…
- Engineering and design students learning AutoCAD, SolidWorks or Simulink for coursework and projects
- Final-year and master's students using ANSYS or SOLIDWORKS Simulation in a design project or thesis
- PhD researchers who need their finite element or CFD setup reviewed before publishing
- Architecture and construction students working with AutoCAD drawing conventions
- Engineers switching tools who need a structured introduction
Common problems we help with
- Your SolidWorks sketch is not fully defined and features fail when you change a dimension
- An ANSYS model gives huge stresses at a corner and you cannot tell if it is real
- The mesh fails, or results change every time you refine it
- A CFD simulation will not converge, or residuals flatten without the solution making sense
- A Simulink model runs extremely slowly, or produces algebraic loop errors
- Your supervisor asks how you validated the simulation and you have no answer
What’s included — and what isn’t
Included
- AutoCAD: layers, blocks and attributes, dimensioning styles, layouts and viewports, plotting to scale, drawing templates and CAD standards
- SolidWorks: fully defined sketches and design intent, feature-based part modeling, configurations, assemblies and mates, engineering drawings with GD&T basics
- SOLIDWORKS Simulation and ANSYS Mechanical: linear static, modal and thermal studies, contacts, material models
- Meshing: element types and order, mesh sizing and inflation, quality metrics (skewness, aspect ratio, orthogonal quality), local refinement
- Boundary conditions and loads: supports that reflect reality, symmetry, avoiding over-constraint and point-load singularities
- ANSYS Fluent basics: domain setup, turbulence model choice, wall treatment and y+, residuals and monitors
- Simulink: block diagram modeling, solver selection (fixed versus variable step, stiff solvers), subsystems, Simscape physical modeling, parameter sweeps
- Verification and validation: mesh convergence studies, comparison with analytical solutions, experimental or published benchmark data
- Review of simulation reports: are methods, assumptions and limitations stated clearly?
Not included
- Producing CAD models, drawings or simulations for graded student assignments or projects
- Certified design verification, compliance analysis or sign-off for manufacturing or construction
- Supplying or activating software licenses; you need a valid license from your institution or the vendor
What you receive
- Guided session recordings or notes
- Step-by-step notes from software sessions, with screenshots or short screen recordings where you agree, so you can repeat the workflow.
- Model review
- A written review of your CAD or simulation model covering geometry, mesh, boundary conditions, solver settings and result interpretation, with prioritized fixes.
- Verification plan
- A mesh convergence and validation plan suited to your study, listing benchmark cases and acceptance criteria.
- Research model files
- For researchers and professionals: documented model files and a setup description suitable for a methods section, owned by you.
How it works
Clarify goal and software
Tell us the tool, version, license type and what you need to model or learn. We check whether the task is coursework, research or professional.
Review your model or plan
Send your files or screenshots of the setup. We identify geometry, mesh or boundary condition issues before looking at results.
Guided work
In screen-sharing sessions you operate the software while we explain each choice and its effect on results.
Verify
We run through mesh refinement and comparisons with hand calculations or benchmarks, so you can defend the model.
Document
You receive notes or a review that helps you describe the method and its limitations in your own report.
Modeling and verification practices
- Design intent in CAD
- Dimensioning and constraining sketches so that parts update predictably when requirements change, and naming features meaningfully.
- Geometry defeaturing
- Removing details that do not affect the result (small fillets, text, fasteners) and splitting faces where loads apply, to keep meshes efficient.
- Mesh convergence study
- Refining the mesh systematically until the quantity of interest changes by less than an agreed tolerance, reported in a table or plot.
- Singularity awareness
- Recognizing stresses that keep rising with refinement at sharp corners or point loads, and interpreting results away from them or using fillets.
- Verification versus validation
- Verification asks whether equations are solved correctly (mesh, time step, residuals); validation asks whether the model represents reality (comparison with experiments).
- Simulink solver choice
- Matching solver type and tolerances to system stiffness and discontinuities, and using fixed-step solvers when code generation or hardware testing requires them.
Boundary conditions decide the answer
In most flawed simulations we review, the mesh is not the main problem. A fixed support where the real part can rotate, a load applied to a single node, or a missing contact between parts will produce confident but misleading results. We teach you to ask what the real structure or flow experiences and to choose supports, loads and symmetry planes that represent it, then to test how sensitive the answer is to those choices.
Student licenses and versions
Student editions differ from full versions. Ansys (now part of Synopsys) offers free student products with problem-size limits; SolidWorks offers student packages in which simulation is included only in some tiers; Autodesk offers AutoCAD through its education plan for eligible students and educators. Limits and packages change, so check the vendor's current student page. If your model exceeds a student license's limits, we help you simplify it or plan how to use your institution's licensed machines.
Reporting simulations honestly
A good methods section states software and version, element type and count, mesh convergence evidence, material models and their sources, boundary conditions, solver settings and validation. It also states limitations, such as linear material assumptions near yield. We help you understand each of these so you can write and defend your own description.
- Report the quantity used for convergence and the final change between meshes
- State whether results are verified, validated or neither
- Avoid color plots without a scale, units or a stated load case
What the work can look like
Illustrative example — fictional data
Sample model review finding: a bracket stress hotspot
A master's student ran a linear static analysis of an aluminum bracket in ANSYS Mechanical and reported a peak von Mises stress above the yield strength. The details are invented to illustrate a review.
What we saw
The peak sits at a sharp re-entrant corner where the CAD model has no fillet, and the value rose from 180 MPa to 310 MPa to 470 MPa across three mesh refinements. A value that keeps rising with refinement indicates a stress singularity, not a converged stress.
What to try
Add the fillet radius from the manufacturing drawing, refine locally around it and repeat the convergence study. Report stresses at the fillet once the change between meshes falls below your chosen tolerance, for example 5%.
Boundary condition check
The bolt holes were given fixed supports over the whole hole surface, which is stiffer than a real bolted joint. The student tests a more realistic support and compares the difference, then discusses it as a limitation.
Illustrative example with invented values. Our reviews are educational and are not engineering certification.
What you’ll need to provide
- Software name, version and license type (student, academic, commercial)
- Model files, or screenshots of geometry, mesh, boundary conditions and results
- Material properties and loads you are using, with their sources
- Assignment brief or course rules for coursework; research question and required outputs for thesis work
- Any experimental data or benchmark results available for validation
You don’t need everything ready to ask for a quote — tell us what you have and we’ll say what’s missing.
What affects price and turnaround
Price depends on
- Software and module (2D drafting, parametric CAD, structural FEA, CFD or Simulink)
- Model size and complexity, including assemblies, contacts and nonlinear materials
- Guided sessions versus written model review
- Whether a verification and validation plan or research model build is needed
Turnaround depends on
- Solver run times for your model, especially CFD and nonlinear analyses
- Compatibility of file versions and license types between you and us
- Availability of validation data and your deadline
Every project is quoted individually. How we price our work.
Questions people ask before starting
Can you make the CAD model or simulation for my assignment?
No. We teach the software and review the model you build, explaining what to change and why. Assessed drawings, models and simulations remain your work.
Which versions do you support?
We work with recent releases of AutoCAD, SolidWorks, ANSYS Workbench, Mechanical and Fluent, and MATLAB and Simulink. Files saved in a newer version often cannot be opened in an older one, so tell us your exact version at the start.
Can you help me validate a simulation for my thesis?
Yes. We help design mesh convergence and time-step studies, identify analytical solutions or benchmarks to compare against, and plan how to compare with your experimental data. We also explain how to present verification evidence in your methods chapter.
My model is too big for the student license. What can I do?
Common strategies include exploiting symmetry, removing small features, using shell or beam elements for thin or slender parts and refining only where needed. If that is not enough, your department may have full licenses on lab machines or a computing cluster.
Do you help with other CAD or simulation tools?
Our focus is AutoCAD, SolidWorks, ANSYS and Simulink. We can often help with the underlying concepts in similar tools such as Fusion, Inventor, Abaqus or COMSOL, and will tell you honestly when a tool-specific question is outside what we support.