US Department of Energy and PTC - Real World Design Challenge

THE NATION’S INNOVATION ENGINE: How America Competes

PTC is a proud partner of the US Department of Energy for the first annual Real World Design Challenge. The challenge sets to align secondary education with 21st Century workforce needs, and strengthen professional development for teachers by providing training and support from mentors in National Laboratories.

In the fall of 2008, The Real World Design Challenge will commence. The 2008 design challenge has been defined by a number of industry partners and will center on an issue currently faced by the aviation industry. After learning the basics of design, teachers and students will be tested to come up with innovative solutions to the problem. Teachers will be matched with mentors from National Laboratories to build upon classroom experiences and teach students how to work as global engineering teams.

Through this partnership, PTC will be donating software and providing training for all teachers involved with the Department of Energy Design Challenge. After the initial training, teachers will receive 300 FREE licenses of Pro/ENGINEER for their classroom and FREE seats of Windchill for online collaboration during the challenge.

The Real World Design Challenge "bridges the needs of industry with the future of education." It teaches innovation, creativity, and collaboration using the expertise that industry has been perfecting for decades. With this real world approach to learning, we can keep our workforce strong, and ensure prosperity for the future.

Links:

• Department of Energy Design Challenge Page
• Real World Design Challenge Overview (pdf)
• Real World Design Challenge Flyer (pdf)
• Department of Energy Future Workforce Strategy
• "Preparing for the Perfect Storm". PTC - MIT Consortium
• PTC Schools Program
• PTC Training Opportunities