**FIRST EMAIL**/2009 PTC Announcement

[gwytheyrn]

If you log into windchill it should be under home>utilities>software downloads
(Home is a top level tab next to Project. Utilities is on the bar that will be below home and project, and software downloads is a link in the main window under utilities)

I got it to install, leaving the setup loading overnight, but the program won't load [I open it and see it appear and disappear under processes on task manager] . Got it working on another computer that really shouldn't be running it, but I'm having difficulties trying to use it without making a billion dimensions, and the rotation is more difficult that I'd like (not sure how to get it to face up like inventor...)...It's probably in a tut that I'm to lazy to go through atm.

[gabrielse]

Will Inventor still be available in 2009 through FIRSTbase or are teams going to have to switch to ProEngineer?

[Pat Fairbank]

Originally Posted by gabrielse

Will Inventor still be available in 2009 through FIRSTbase or are teams going to have to switch to ProEngineer?

Inventor will still be available as indicated here. Autodesk has been sponsoring FIRST for 17 years and they're not stopping now.

[PTC_FRC]

Hi FRC teams,

For FRC teams, PTC offers an extensive amount of web based training to help your teams learn Pro/ENGINEER, Mathcad and Windchill ProjectLink. Specific Pro/ENGINEER courses on modeling, assemblies, detailing, mechanisms, sheet metal are available from the training site. All courses include lectures videos and step by step instructions to help new and existing users become proficient on Pro/ENGINEER and Mathcad.

You can access the training from http://first.ptculms.com. Users will need to register for the site from the login page. Once registered, you can click the online courses link from the left hand menu to choose the desired course.

FRC teams can download Pro/ENGINEER and Mathcad from your team project. To obtain your seats of Pro/ENGINEER and Mathcad, please register for a team project – www.ptc.com/go/frcregistration.

To assist you in using the team project for managing your designs and to access Pro/ENGINEER, please review the Getting Started Guide.

If you are interested in utilizing Pro/ENGINEER for your team, you can install it on all your teams’ computers.

PTC also offers workshop for secondary schools to learn Pro/ENGINEER, STEM focused curriculum and assessments/certifications. These workshops are offered around the US. Here is the current workshop schedule - http://www.ptc.com/for/education/schools/program.htm. A teacher that completes the workshop will obtain a site license (perpetual license) of Pro/ENGINEER Schools Edition. As updates and new releases become available, they are freely available to certified schools.

PTC will be releasing the FRC Kit of Parts in Pro/E native format (fully featured) for the upcoming season. Until the official launch of the competition, PTC will be providing all the models available in the FIRST CAD LIBRARY in Pro/E format. This will be available from www.3dmodelspace.com/ptc shortly.

If you have any questions on need assistance on installing and utilizing Pro/ENGINEER for your team, please send an email to firstsupport@ptc.com.

Good luck in the coming 2009 season.

Regards,
Mark Fischer
PTC - Director

[kmcclary]

Originally Posted by PTC_FRC

FRC teams can download Pro/ENGINEER and Mathcad from your team project. To obtain your seats of Pro/ENGINEER and Mathcad, please register for a team project – www.ptc.com/go/frcregistration. [...]

FYI, I like Pro/Engineer a lot. I used it in industry many years ago, and it was great at that time. I'm really looking forward to seeing how far it has evolved in the years since!

But OOC, do the keys for the seats of Pro/ENGINEER and/or Mathcad EXPIRE? (... and if so, when?)

IF they expire, then some feedback: UNLESS FORCED BY THE RULES, around here most of my teams are required by their school systems to only adopt and use tools whose keys never expire, regardless of functional level or version. (Several of my teams are still designing with older versions of Inventor, for that very reason.)

Limited time keys in corporate usage aren't normally a problem as they are profit centers and the key renewal can be booked as a part of the cost of doing business. Schools are a different animal. There's no profit generated to maintain the tools past their expiration, so the schools often have rules preventing teams from adopting "temporary use software". That is the case around here.

I'm also always hesitant to recommend teams adopt and begin designing in ANY package whose key expires (regardless of how wonderful it is), because it can affect my credibility. They already know they might lose access to everything they've designed after the contest is over should the sponsorship status change next year. Should that happen, they would become mad at me for "getting them into it" when they lose access to one or more year's worth of widgets and sub-assemblies they worked so hard to design.

Therefore, I'm hoping the keys to the Student Editions of these packages are eternal. Limited functionality is fine with me, as long as we have enough utility to learn how to use it and get the job done in the allotted time. (People can go out and buy the full versions, or upgrade next year, if they want more utility.)

Please advise as to what key type and duration is being provided, so I can form my final recommendation to our schools on the subject. Thanks!

- Keith

[PTC_FRC]

Hi Keith,

The licenses of Pro/ENGINEER and Mathcad are perpetual.....they do not expire.

As you can see, our educational program is different from most. PTC provides FREE Applications, FREE curriculum and web-based training and FREE certification.

Our view on education is to drive excitement in student’s around STEM focused subjects, while accessing market leading technology.

As for the capability of the Schools Edition, while free it does contain a great deal of functionality. Such as:

Pro/ENGINEER

- Ability to create parts, assemblies and drawings
- Ability to import Pro/DESKTOP, DXF, DWG, IGES, STEP, STL, ACIS, CATIA v4, Parasolid files
- Ability to export IGES, STL
- Ability to plot files to printer or plotter

Pro/ENGINEER Mechanism Design/Dynamics
Pro/ENGINEER Behavioral Modeling
Pro/ENGINEER Advanced Rendering
Pro/ENGINEER Design Animation
Sheetmetal Design

Hope this helps.

If you have any questions, please let me know (mfischer@ptc.com).

Regards,
Mark Fischer
Director - PTC Education

[keen101]

cool. with the IGES impport/export ability it should be easy to transfer models between the two. (solidworks/proE)

[Stu Bloom]

Originally Posted by PTC_FRC

... it does contain a great deal of functionality ...

Any stress analysis capabilities?

[PTC_FRC]

Hello Stu,

The Schools Edition that is freely available to all FRC teams does not include a Finite Element Analysis Tool. We do include this in our Pro/ENGINEER Schools Advanced Edition -

http://www.ptc.com/appserver/mkt/edu...&icg_dbkey=851

This edition also includes a complete manufacturing set of modules for milling, lathe, laser/plasma cutting, WireEDM.

While this edition is not free to schools as part of this program, but is available at a low cost price for schools. Each license of the advanced edition is good for two years.

If you have further questions, please send me an email at mfischer@ptc.com.

Regards,
Mark Fischer
PTC – Director of Education