Abstract
A review of the new approach in the educational process and the research work at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, at the University "Sv Kiril i Metodij", in the area of Design of motor vehicles based on software application is presented in this paper. Besides the short general survey of the (new) curricula at the Faculty, a more detailed presentation of the curricula of the automotive engineering studies is presented. The accent is given to the introduction of new techniques of virtual prototyping, modeling and simulation. The paper presents the capacity (hardware and software) of the new established Laboratory for modeling and simulation. After the first year of experience, it is already possible to talk about the way this new approach was accepted by the students, their achievements, and also about the interest from the professionals included in training courses. The paper contains some of the first experiences and impressions.