GearTicks robot designed in GrabCAD.
GrabCAD has announced a new discounted education pricing for their PDM (Product Data Management) cloud-based software. Now, universities and high school FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) programs will be able to use the CAD data manager Workbench. This reduced pricing is aimed to support STEM and entice more students to pursue careers as engineers.
The announcement comes in tandem with the news that GrabCAD will be a corporate, national level sponsor of both FIRST and the FIRST Robotics Competition. The sponsorship will support FIRST programs that improve confidence, education and skills of students looking to enter a STEM career. The sponsorship will include complementary GrabCAD Workbench licenses to improve the file management and collaboration on every team’s CAD designs.
Students Catherine Appleby and Thom Quirk designing GearTicks.
Additionally, GrabCAD will continue their sponsorship of local teams such as Robbinsville High School’s Nemesis in New Jersey and Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School’s GearTicks in Massachusetts.
Anne Hutchison, coach of the GearTicks FIRST team, said, “GrabCAD Workbench has been great for a number of reasons … As a coach, I like that I have visibility into which students are working on the robot between meetings. As an engineering team, Workbench allows us to design a more complex robot. We are solving problems in the design phase rather than figuring things out after we've built the robot.”
Catherine Appleby, GearTicks team member and student, said, "GrabCAD has enabled us to quickly share and collaborate on our robot designs. We no longer have to fuss around with making sure all team members are getting the latest model."
Professors, university students and high schools will be able to get GrabCAD’s PDM cloud-based software for $10/month. GrabCAD also sponsors university student programs including the production of formula 1 cars, satellites and robot submarines.
Source GrabCAD.