Spotlight on Sponsors
PTC Wins Community Partnership Award for FIRST Efforts
Thanks to their efforts with FIRST and FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Team 839 “Rosie Robotics” from Agawam, Massachusetts, PTC (Parametric Technology Corporation) – a CAD and content and process management solutions provider – recently received a Community Partnership award from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC). The award is given to a company or person that exemplifies a high level and sustained support for public education.
On hand at the March presentation were Agawam State Rep. Rosemary Sandlin; Roberta Doering, past president of both the national and Massachusetts Association of School Committees; members of the Agawam School Committee; students of “Rosie Robotics,” and Rosie's L'il Sis, FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team from Agawam High School. Robin Saitz, Senior Vice President for solutions marketing and communications, was there to represent PTC.
“Through their support of FIRST at a national level, as well as at the local level in Agawam, PTC has certainly met the standards of a company that fully understands the role of public education in the future of its own, as well as the country’s, workforce,” said Sandlin, who is also past president of MASC.
PTC was submitted as a candidate for the award by Mary Czajkowski, superintendent of schools in Agawam, and Dana Henry, associate regional director of the Western, Massachusetts division of FIRST, and mentor to “Rosie Robotics.”
In their work with Rosie since 2007, students have generated numerous solid modeling files that PTC has been able to use in presentations to their commercial customers throughout the world. In turn, PTC has provided Agawam High School with 35 seats (worth approximately $50,000) of Pro/ENGINEER, a CAD software developed by PTC; provided access to Windchill, the PTC-developed content and process management software; given free downloads of Mathcad, an engineering calculation software; and given $5,000 to help cover fees to transport Team 839 to the 2008 FIRST Championship in Atlanta, Georgia. PTC has also agreed to donate an additional $1,000, as well as a $600 from a PTC vice president, to assist the team for the 2009 school year. In addition to monetary support, PTC has continuously offered technical and communications support to the Agawam Team.
Thanks to its efforts with Team 839, PTC also has been instrumental in helping high schools in Newton, Massachusetts become involved with FIRST. To that end, PTC now sponsors an FRC team at both Newton North and Newton South high schools.
PTC is the CAD and Collaboration Sponsor for the FIRST Tech Challenge Program and an official supplier and sponsor for the FIRST Robotics Competition.