PTC Donates Design and Engineering Software Worth AED 3.3 Million to Each UAE High School
Software to be part of an integrated and strategic educational initiative in the country
Edutech, a leading education and learning solutions company, in conjunction with PTC, a US based software company, and Dubai Men's College, a premier engineering institute, announced today (May 9th, 2010) a comprehensive program to develop and inspire the next generation of innovative and creative engineers and designers in the UAE. The unique aspect of this tri-partner agreement is the provision of a comprehensive program that includes leading CAD software from PTC, teacher training to be conducted by DMC and project-based learning activities to be spearheaded by Edutech. As part of PTC's donation, each high school will receive a free site license of Pro|ENGINEER® Wildfire software worth AED 3.3 million, which also includes free home use for students. The total commercial value of the software donation is AED 4.6 billion and marks a major commitment to and investment in UAE education by PTC.
PTC's Pro|ENGINEER Wildfire is currently used by over 600,000 professional engineers and designers in over 50,000 companies around the world. In terms of education, over 10 million students in 30 different countries use Pro|ENGINEER Wildfire in technology and engineering related education. This major software donation is a first in the Middle East and is part of a concerted initiative, facilitated by Edutech, to support the teaching and learning of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in the UAE. STEM subjects are collectively considered the core technology underpinnings of an advanced society. In many forums (including political, governmental and academic) the strength of the STEM workforce is viewed as an indicator of a nation's ability to sustain itself.
"PTC is honoured to be working in partnership with Edutech and Dubai Men's College. At PTC, we develop world leading product development software, but the software is just part of the solution; we need teachers to receive high quality training and for students to be inspired and challenged to develop their knowledge and skills," said Greg Sisk, Senior Director, Asia Pac and Middle East Education Programs, PTC.
A key part of this tri-partner strategic initiative is the formal agreement that Dubai Men's College will be a PTC Authorised Training Partner. This agreement will allow DMC to deliver industry certified and recognised training in PTC's Pro|ENGINEER Wildfire. Dubai Men's College students will receive certified Pro|ENGINEER training which will give them a competitive advantage in the highly competitive employment market. As part of this ground breaking agreement, Dubai Men's College will also deliver Pro|ENGINEER training to PTC's commercial user base within the UAE.
"Dubai Men's College is focused on delivering excellence in all aspects of our activities. Our Centre of Excellence for Engineering is delighted to become an Authorised Training Partner for PTC providing certified software training to our students, faculty and Industry," added Phil Corcos, Acting Director of Dubai Men's College. "We are also excited to become the 'Scalextric4Schools' Training Centre in Dubai with our partners Edutech. This exciting community outreach program aligns with our goals to enthuse UAE schools with activities that apply theoretical science and engineering principals within a practical yet enjoyable framework."
This announcement is part of a strategic educational programme, which will provide an emphasis for technology & engineering in high schools and help to deliver a more complete STEM focused education, which will, in turn, produce a higher caliber of student entering higher education and the UAE workforce. STEM education is vital to building a knowledge-based economy and increasing technology literacy within the population. Employers in all industries need an educated workforce that can fully utilise technology to establish and maintain global competiveness.
"Edutech has significant experience in deploying effective and innovative learning solutions and projects," said ASF Karim, CEO, Edutech. "Building on our success with LEGO Mindstorms, we recognized the need for a comprehensive program, which brings together the 3 crucial components; the right product, high quality teacher training, and an academically rich project-based learning activity. With this agreement, I am pleased to say we've got all three; PTC is donating industry leading software, Dubai Men's College is delivering the teacher training and Scalextric4schools is the perfect project-based learning activity."
In support of the software donation, Edutech are launching an academically rich project-based learning activity that directly supports the teaching and learning of the STEM subjects. The Scalextric4schools Design-Make-Race challenge was developed by PTC and Hornby Hobbies (owners of the Scalextric brand) and involves students designing their very own slot-car in Pro|ENGINEER and then using modern manufacturing process and materials produce their car and race it against other students.
"For companies to develop innovative products and compete in a global economy requires a highly skilled and well trained workforce. The unique nature of the agreement with Dubai Men's College not only meets the software training needs of engineers and designers in today's workforce, but also will help create a future, technology enabled Emirati workforce," concluded Greg Sisk.
About Edutech
Edutech is a leading provider of education solutions. By facilitating knowledge enrichment and enhancement, we enable academic institutions and corporate organizations to improve performance. As "Learning Specialists", we assist academic institutions, companies and governments to make learning innovative, easy, fast and fun. Leveraging our deep industry, technology and product expertise, we help customers create an environment that fosters a community of continuous learning and improvement.
Established in 1991, Edutech has grown into a global corporation with offices around the world. Today, the company offers an entire spectrum of education solutions that enhances learning in classrooms, libraries, corporate and industrial training centers and school, college and vocational laboratories. For more information, please visit www.edutech.com.
About PTC's Global Education Program
PTC's education program provides teachers and professors with complete learning solutions to prepare a new generation for success in a technological world. From secondary school to the university level, PTC offers students the best product development education by providing software, training and teaching materials to educators worldwide. PTC's education program is one part of the technological literacy movement that seeks to improve critical thinking and multidimensional problem-solving skills as well as preparing a growing number of students to become engineers. For more information on PTC or its education program, please visit www.ptc.com.
About PTC
PTC (NASDAQ: PMTC) provides discrete manufacturers with software and services to meet the globalization, time-to-market and operational efficiency objectives of product development. Using the company's PLM and CAD solutions, organizations in the Industrial, High-Tech, Aerospace and Defense, Automotive, Retail & Consumer and Medical industries are able to support key business objectives and create innovative products that meet customer needs and comply with industry regulations. For more information on PTC, please visit www.ptc.com.
(PTC, the PTC logo, The Product Development Company, Pro/ENGINEER, Windchill, Mathcad and ProductView are trademarks or registered trademarks of Parametric Technology Corporation and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.)
About Dubai Men's College
Dubai Men's College, one of the 12 colleges of the Higher Colleges of Technology, was established in 1989 to offer high quality education to the Emirate of Dubai and the Northern Emirates. The college offers programs in Business, Information Technology, Communication Technology and Engineering and awards Diploma, Higher Diploma and Bachelors degrees. More than 2,000 students have graduated from the college and it currently enrols approximately 2000 students and employs 200 faculty and staff. The new campus besides the state-of-art technologies it incorporates sports, educational and recreational facilities. Visit Dubai Men's College at http://dbm.hct.ac.ae/
For more information, please contact:
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