PTC announces free software for New Jersey ’s teachers and students to enhance learning design

HOBOKEN , N.J. — New Jersey teachers and students will receive free access to powerful mechanical engineering and design software thanks to a software donation valued in the millions of dollars, Ralph Coppola, PTC director of worldwide education, announced today.

Dr. Coppola made the announcement in Hoboken at Stevens Institute of Technology, as part of the Engineering Our Future NJ conference, a statewide conference of 250 K-12 and higher education leaders to promote the need for and benefits of exposing students to engineering in elementary through high school. As part of a separate Memorandum of Understanding, Stevens will provide teacher training at no or nominal cost to teachers on design and use of the PTC software. PTC will also donate curriculum materials.

Under the partnership announced today, PTC, a Massachusetts-based global software company, will provide Pro/ENGINEER Schools Edition software, an engineering computer-aided design (CAD) tool capable of creating complex 3D models, assemblies, and 2D measured drawings, free of charge to any trained New Jersey middle school or high school teacher in both public and private schools.

The commercial value of the software is $2,500 per license. In New Jersey , there are more than 5,000 science teachers and 1,350 technology teachers, meaning hundreds of millions of dollars in software value could eventually be donated to New Jersey ’s schools.

Each certified teacher will receive a perpetual license enabling them to install the software on 300 computers. Students will also be permitted to take the software home to be installed on a computer used there. Teacher training, which typically costs up to $1,500 for a class of 15 teachers, is being provided by Stevens at no or nominal cost through a separate grant from Verizon Communications. Once a teacher is trained, he or she can teach students to use the software.

“PTC has a vested interest in New Jersey because the state is home to a number of high technology industries, including telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, and homeland security technology development,” said Dr. Ralph Coppola, PTC Director of Worldwide Education. “We want prepared students with skills that give them a competitive advantage when entering the workforce. We are looking forward to working with Stevens Institute of Technology to prepare the next generation of STEM professionals.”

Students who enter universities with Pro/ENGINEER experience also have a competitive advantage, as 46 of the top 52 mechanical engineering universities in the US teach Pro/ENGINEER in the classroom. Pro/ENGINEER is recognized as the most widely used product development software solution in the world.

Studies show less than 10 percent of high school graduates pursue undergraduate degrees in engineering. Of the 10 percent who do enter engineering, only about 50 percent earn a degree in the field.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

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