Kathy Hajeb, the University of Utah’s director of the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, said, "The University of Utah is a vibrant place for student entrepreneurs, and working with PTC will ignite more interest in smart, connected product design development … This program will give students a jumpstart in the job market by helping them learn the skills that global organizations need."
To say that IoT is a growing field would be an understatement. IEEE ranked the trend as the second biggest in their 2014 top 10 tech trends list. Everything form coffee maters, to TV’s, to watches, and RFID implants are allowing for more components to speak to each other than ever before. As Hajeb hints, the potential of employment for these students is vast.
To assist these U of Utah students, PTC is supplying software to model, create, and connect their ideas and product designs. This software donation includes PTC Creo for CAD, Windchill for PLM, and ThingWorx to build product connections to each other and the IoT.
Twenty lucky students will become PTC scholars. These scholars will have access to all PTC software. This software knowledge will allow them to act as teachers and advocates for the students.
The software will also be made available at the U of Utah’s new Lassonde Studios. This 20 000 ft2, $45 million facility will open in 2016. The studio will be designed for entrepreneurial, maker, and innovative ideas. It will also house 400 residences and tools to foster such a maker environment. The studio will welcome visitors to a sneak peek on October 10th 2014.
John Stuart, Sr. VP global education at PTC, said "The smart, connected product design process being adopted by global manufacturers is a necessary skill for graduating students entering the Internet of Things era … We are pleased to work with the University of Utah and the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute to give students the opportunity to learn new and understand the new technology that will help them design smarter, better products."
Source PTC and University of Utah.