SolidWorks Corporation Co-Founds "The CAD Academy"

SolidWorks Corporation has teamed with other leading design software providers to launch The CAD Academy(R), a secondary and post-secondary pre-engineering and pre-architectural program designed to inspire a new generation of engineers and architects at a price educators can afford. The program bundles industry-leading design, engineering, and architecture software with curriculum, support, and multimedia content, all at a fraction of the cost of other design education packages.

The CAD Academy software offering includes:

-- SolidWorks(R) Education Edition 3D CAD software for product design and mechanical engineering;

-- Graphisoft(R) ArchiCAD, a Building Information Modeling (BIM) software program for architectural modeling;

-- Google(TM) SketchUp Pro, one of the simplest 3D design tools, with Podium photorealistic rendering;

-- A+ CAD(R), a proprietary The CAD Academy software product that uses the familiar AutoCAD(R) user interface, commands, applications, and compatibility "without the high cost"; and

-- Discovery Channel(R) multimedia content, including excerpts from the "Extreme Engineering" show.

"The CAD Academy is designed for school districts that need to increase opportunities for all students to apply math and science in relevant and compelling ways," said Marie Planchard, SolidWorks director of worldwide education markets. "It's a desperate need, as documented in 'Rising Above the Gathering Storm' and other studies showing that we in North America have a lot of ground to make up to sustain our competitiveness."

"Rising Above the Gathering Storm" is a seminal National Academies of Science Report focusing on reclaiming U.S advantages in the marketplace, science, and technology. It calls for a tripling of the number of students who pass advanced placement or similar math and science exams by 2010.

The CAD Academy addresses that need by helping middle and high school students in North America explore technology-oriented career paths through real-world projects that deepen understanding of science, engineering, architecture, and mathematics.

"The curriculum is thorough and the lessons are comprehensive," said Rudy Aguilar, drafting instructor at Apollo High School, Glendale, Ariz.

The CAD Academy software suite is bundled with comprehensive curriculum resources that are approved by the American Design Drafting Association (ADDA), the premier design drafting organization. It covers architectural, mechanical engineering, and civil engineering design, and is structured to support both new and highly experienced instructors, even if they've already developed their own curriculum.

The mechanical engineering curriculum utilizes the highly praised "Engineering Drawing and Design" text by Madsen, Madsen & Turpin, as well as many e-resources that provide lesson plans, syllabi, PowerPoint presentations, a computerized test bank, drawing files, and animations. The material covers basic analysis principles for use with SolidWorks' COSMOS(R) analysis software, which is included with SolidWorks Education Edition. Students emerge prepared to take the Certified SolidWorks Associate (CSWA) exam, demonstrating industry standard competencies in design and engineering principles.

For more information on The CAD Academy package, visit www.thecadacademy.com or www.solidworks.com