PARTNERS

www.autodesk.com

This international design technology company was the original PLTW corporate partner. In 1999, Autodesk generously supported PLTW by providing fundamental software packages for PLTW courses. Since that time, Autodesk has increased its support for PLTW by making its highly advanced digital prototyping solutions available through substantial discounts, subscriptions, grant programs, training curriculum development, and community resources. These resources include the Autodesk Student Engineering and Design Community for middle and high schools. This free social networking website for students in the fields of architecture, construction, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering provides access to free product downloads and learning tools. For example, students can download free student editions of Autodesk software, find jobs, discuss projects, share work, learn from experts, and communicate with other students, teachers, and industry professionals who use Autodesk. Through the Autodesk Design Academy, PLTW schools can obtain licenses for the same cutting-edge 3D design tools used by professionals around the world.

www.edgecam.com

Edgecam’s partnership with PLTW began in spring 2004 with the introduction of Edgecam software to the Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) course for high school students. Edgecam, considered the most advanced solids-based machining system currently available, allows PLTW students to mill out designs on a computer numerical control (CNC) machine that they have drawn on Autodesk Inventor. The Edgecam software is ideal for pre-engineering students because it is easy to use and is the best-integrated computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software for working with Autodesk Inventor. Using Edgecam gives PLTW students real-world experience in the field of manufacturing engineering.

www.fischertechnik.de/en/

PLTW offers Fischertechnik educational kits to schools and students at substantially reduced prices. Germany-based Fischertechnik’s building system components are used by engineers around the world to model real-world machines and structures down to the last detail. The basic building block is uniquely designed and can be connected on all six sides, enabling an infinite variety of combinations. Assembled models stay together without glue or soldering but can easily be reconfigured.

www.intelitek.com

Intelitek’s computer numerical control (CNC) machines and robots have been used in PLTW’s Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) course since the curriculum launched in 1996. Intelitek contributed to the development of the PLTW CIM curriculum, as well as training the PLTW master teachers during the beginning phases of the project, and is a charter member of the PLTW development team and the oldest supplier to the network.

www.ni.com

Texas-based National Instruments (NI) supplies a variety of state-of-the-art software for PLTW students as well as training to support new and existing PLTW programs. Tools integrated into the curriculum as part of the PLTW–NI collaboration include Multisim, software used for schematic simulation of electrical circuits; the LabVIEW graphical system design software and the Data Acquisition board used in the Biomedical Sciences program and the Pathway To Engineering high school Engineering Design and Development course; and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) board currently being designed for use in the Digital Electronics course. The latest PLTW–NI project is the introduction of LabVIEW into the sequence of PLTW’s four new high school Biomedical Sciences courses. Students will learn concepts through project-based curricula using LabVIEW software; Vernier SensorDAQ hardware, developed jointly by Vernier Software & Technology and NI; and additional Vernier sensors. The ease of use offered by LabVIEW and the simple USB-based data acquisition interface in Vernier SensorDAQ allow students to design, analyze, and control sensor-based systems such as devices used for measuring blood pressure and electrical activity of the heart.

www.smeef.org

Since 1979, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation (SME-EF) has been offering scholarships, grants, educational programs, and support to help transform manufacturing education in North American colleges and universities. To attract more women and minorities to engineering fields, SME-EF funded the first STEPS (Science, Technology, and Engineering Preview Summer) program at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in 1997—the same year PLTW was founded.

Today, PLTW partners with SME-EF on the Gateway Academies, coed day camps for middle school students. Gateway Academies offer fun and challenging hands-on, high-tech projects using a curriculum developed by PLTW. The academies were introduced in 2006 to help middle school students explore careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and to encourage them to enroll in the PLTW Gateway To Technology (GTT) curriculum. Approximately 1,000 students participated in Gateway Academies in 2007 and all enrolled in GTT courses that fall. During summer 2008, about 180 academies enrolled an estimated total of 3,600 students. SME-EF’s goal is to add an additional 50 academies per year through 2010.

www.stratasys.com

A generous grant program sponsored by Dimension, a business unit of Stratasys, is helping bring PLTW students’ designs to life. Through the program, as many as 20 PLTW network schools have been able to purchase state-of-the-art Dimension BST 768 3D printers—an opportunity that otherwise might have remained out of reach.

Dimension worked with PLTW’s regional directors to identify outstanding schools that would benefit from the $10,000 grants. The nominated schools applied for a grant to be used toward the purchase of a three-year comprehensive Dimension printer package valued at more than $32,000 yet priced at only $16,500. The grant program fit the shared mission of Dimension 3D printers and PLTW: to foster student interest in engineering. With access to the state-of-the-art 3D printers, PLTW students at selected schools can build physical, ABS-plastic models of their designs that they can test for form, fit, and function.