NI AWR Design Environment V12 – What Learning Style Are You?

With my kids in summer school learning at an accelerated pace, the thought of learning methods and styles has come to the forefront of my mind. The term “learning styles” comes from a range of theories that try to explain differences in how individuals learn. Neil Fleming’s VARK model, launched in 1987, talks about four sensory modalities: visual learning, auditory learning, read/write learning, and kinesthetic learning. This theory says that visual learners have a preference for learning through visual aids rather than words, such as graphs, charts, diagrams, and symbols. Auditory learners learn through listening to lectures, discussions, tapes, and more. Tactile/kinesthetic learners learn by experience—moving, touching, and doing, such as active exploration of the world, science projects, experiments...

This got me thinking that we do this with regard to learning more about our software.vWe offer a multitude of ways for users to gain an understanding of the features, functionality, and use cases of NI AWR Design Environment™.

For those who like to learn through the written word, we have product brochures, application notes and whitepapers throughout the pages of our website. We also recently added two new product review articles to our awrcorp.com/what-is-new page for those seeking a more in-depth understanding of key features in V12.

• Design Flow Productivity for Amplifier, Antenna, and Radar Designers  
  This product feature highlights the new features in V12 NI AWR Design Environment and emphasizes user productivity by focusing on the design flow process for designers of amplifiers, antennas and radar systems.
   
• Phased Array Design Using Visual System Simulator
  This product feature highlights the new features in V12 that can be used to simulate both small and large phased arrays in typical configurations.

For people who prefer visual learning, one of many playlists on AWR.TV YouTube channel may be right for you. While more than a dozen are offered, the following are the most recent additions:

• What’s New - This playlist includes user interface enhancements, load-pull enhancements, in-situ antenna measurement, Visual System Simulator™ (VSS) select new features, as well as Analyst™ EM extraction, AWR Connected™ ANSYS HFSS for interconnect characterization, and AWR Connected DWT: DRC/LVS with Cree GaN PDK. 
   
• IMS2015 MicroApps - This playlist includes Coffee Can Radar Optimized in NI AWR Design Environment, Design of an RF 5-Cavity Helical Filter for CATV Testing, Transceiver Module and Multi-Element Phased-Array Design for 5G, In-Situ Antenna Measurements in Microwave Office, and Enhanced Load-Pull Measurements in NI AWR Design Environment for Base Station PAs. 

For those who like the tactile approach, we hope you can visit with us in the coming weeks. We’ll be actively demonstrating V12 NI AWR Design Environment software at the following events:

• European Microwave Week in Paris, Sept. 8-10
   
• ADF 2015 in Korea, China and Taiwan throughout September

And of course through our Professors in Partnership™ program we also work with learning experts at various universities to share with you the results of their “learning styles.” Professor Keith Kikkert’s free eBook, RF Electronics: Design and Simulation, has been updated with new project files using NI AWR software that provide a hands-on experience. In addition, Professor Michael Steer’s textbook, Microwave & RF Design:  A Systems Approach - 2nd Edition has embraced the full VARK … V for visual learners (plenty of graphs/visual aids), A for auditory (video lectures), R for classical text explanations and K for the case studies and hands-on lab exercises. 

No matter what your learning style preference may be, we hope we have a resource to suit your needs. And to ensure we continue to provide you with the support services you need, please take a few minutes more to give us your feedback: Support Services Survey >>