Expertly crafted digital learning offerings

Markus, what brought you to CADFEM?

I studied civil engineering, and, thanks to my department and my thesis, I was introduced to Ansys and CADFEM at an early stage, which I really appreciated. Once I knew that I wanted to work 100% in simulation, the move to CADFEM was an obvious one. That was in 2008.

So, like most people at CADFEM, you started out as a computational engineer. How did you end up as head of the Digital Learning Lab?

As is so often the case in life, things just fall into place. But looking back, this development was perhaps somewhat inevitable, because training and new technologies are topics that have always fascinated me. This is reflected in a five-year cycle: during my first five years at CADFEM, I conducted many Ansys training courses, and during the next five years, I was able to work on my doctorate alongside my job, which involved research. The five years since 2018 have been all about the Digital Learning Lab, which I developed with start-up support from the ZEIT Akademie.

Markus Kellermeyer is the mastermind behind CADFEM's Digital Learning Lab. | © CADFEM Germany GmbH

Milestones and Highlights

That means you've been there from the start. What have been some important milestones and highlights for you along the way?

The first thing that comes to mind is our collaboration with ZEIT Akademie. This is still a valuable resource for us today. Then there was the move to our current building with two professional studios, which we planned and furnished entirely ourselves. This is where the magic happens, so to speak. The speakers are always in good spirits, and our team is outstanding. It was also important to bring Brian Morris, a native speaker, on board to translate our knowledge products into English in the best possible quality and offer them internationally. One of the most recent highlights is the ChatGPT moment, which everyone is probably familiar with, because suddenly things became possible that we had never even thought of before. Another great feeling was when we noticed how well our self-developed “Let's Simulate” format was received by people.

Speaking of “Let's Simulate”, what is it and how did it come about?

What we and our customers were still missing, apart from e-learning courses and training, was a format that focused on shared experience. Let me explain briefly: I myself have diligently attended training courses, but I have also learned a lot by watching colleagues during simulations. How do they approach a project, how do they narrow down a problem, how do they identify potential errors, and so on. This is exactly what “Let’s Simulate” represents.

How does it work?

It’s quite simple: two experts work together on a simulation task in front of the camera. Making mistakes is allowed, and controversial discussions about the task and personal opinions are explicitly encouraged. This is very well received by our customers and reinforces existing knowledge. The format is genuinely enjoyable for both the viewers and the experts, as it is relaxed and entertaining.

Let's Simulate: Watch experts discuss and solve a simulation task. | © CADFEM Germany GmbH

What makes CADFEM eLearning courses special

The main format is e-learning courses. Their advantages, such as flexibility, are well known. What else makes them so valuable?

The e-learning courses have a strong engineering focus, which includes how to use software functions. But above all, they demonstrate how to resolve engineering problems. Lots of exercises and quizzes ensure that they are entertaining and never boring. Another important factor for us is that with every e-learning course, customers can rely 100% on the usual CADFEM quality in terms of content and craftsmanship. How do we do this? Once our production team has decided on a topic, it is discussed in depth with experts. There is a lot of discussion to ensure that the course meets or exceeds expectations. Only then does the implementation take place in the Digital Learning Lab, following a clear and proven concept. We have the infrastructure and a well-coordinated team to support our instructors during the filming days. The entire process is rounded off by professional editing.

One disadvantage of video formats is that they are static and may become outdated. How do you deal with this?

Fortunately, we have many experts at CADFEM who keep the content up to date. We have developed good strategies, whereby videos are either corrected or re-produced. Customer feedback is also very helpful in this regard. When issues are reported to us, we follow-up on them and make the necessary corrections.

How do you keep track of 50 courses?

With 20 courses, this wasn't a problem, but today we rely on AI. It helps that we have created the content in a modular way from the very beginning, with fixed structures. This allows context stores and various agents to support us in our daily work. And yet, the editorial team and the Digital Learning Lab still coordinate on a daily basis. Ultimately, common sense must prevail in order to make the right decisions when it comes to further developing knowledge products.

A well-coordinated team, supported by AI agents, takes care of the professional creation of CADFEM's digital learning formats. | © CADFEM Germany GmbH

Human intelligence over artificial intelligence

Does AI play a role for you in other areas as well?

Yes, we also rely heavily on AI in another area: translations. All of our e-learning courses feature English voice-overs. As I mentioned earlier, our translator Brian plays a key role here and is supported by several agents who, for example, help prepare the speakers’ freely spoken texts or produce voice-overs that are fairly lip-synced.

Does this mean that the digital learning offerings from CADFEM are very AI-heavy?

Definitely not. We do use AI as a tool for many tasks, but the result is not AI-generated. We see ourselves much more as a manufacturer of digital learning formats, of. After all, it is our CADFEM employees who stand in front of the camera, sharing their expertise, examples, and personal opinions. Behind our expertly crafted digital learning offerings are people, a culture of feedback, a double- and triple-check principle for reviewing content, and a strong penchant for perfection. This is something we work on every day with our colleagues in the Digital Learning Lab. We could employ AI much more rigorously in translation, but we don't want to do that. The content must be 100% accurate, which is why we continue to have a person review it.