In various surveys of NAFEMS members, Education and Training always comes very high on the list of priorities. In discussions at NAFEMS Education and Training Working Group (ETWG) it became apparent that there is a large gap between what is conventionally taught in an undergraduate engineering degree and the capability of finite element programs.

Consequently, the ETWG has commissioned many documents for which the intended reader is the ‘1 year graduate’. This has been defined as a student who has graduated with a degree in engineering and spent one year doing linear elastic finite element calculations. Examples of such documents include: How to Undertake a Fracture Mechanics Analysis and How to Analyse Composites.

In addition to these documents, the ETWG is also aware that there are many pitfalls in undertaking finite element analyses. Accomplished analysts have learned to avoid many of these problematic areas through experience accumulated over a number of years. Few if any analysis, who have reflected on the outcome of their projects, would be able to say that they had not, either, made significant mistakes, or, if failed to take account of some natural phenomenon in their analyses. You may not wish to be open about this but I would encourage you to share your experience with others. Articles can be published anonymously and you will see that one article in this volume has been provided by A.N. Other. I am pleased to see this and hope it will encourage others to write an article anonymously. The objective is to produce short articles that try to bridge this gap between the undergraduate engineering syllabus and the collective knowledge of the finite element community.

Advanced Workbook of Examples is the second volume to be published and the title has had Case Studies added to reflect the nature of the articles. The articles have been provided by authors who have responded to a request in Benchmark and the NAFEMS website for articles and I am grateful to them for their efforts. It is hoped that as the NAFEMS membership receives and reads this document there will be many who will say, I could provide a useful article for a future edition, and that it is hoped that another booklet will be published shortly.

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