Catalog Data Solutions Inc. (CDS), a leading provider of online product selection tools for industrial suppliers, today announced the availability of online CAD libraries of PTC® Creo™ Elements/Pro™ (formerly called Pro/ENGINEER®) models for the FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) 2010-2011 high school programs: FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC®) and FIRST ® Tech Challenge (FTC®). Creo Elements/Pro is PTC’s 3D parametric CAD/CAM/CAE software. PTC has modeled the FRC and FTC’s Kit of Parts and, with CDS, made it available to the competing teams through an online CDS catalog for drag and drop download directly into Creo Elements/Pro.
FIRST strives to engage students in grades K-12 in exciting and innovative programs designed around the use of robotics to develop science and technology skills and motivate students to pursue careers in science, technology and engineering. PTC is a sponsor and the highest level supplier – Crown level – of the FIRST Robotics Competition. PTC is also the CAD and Collaboration sponsor for FTC. In addition to Creo Elements/Pro, all participating teams have the opportunity to use Windchill®, PTC’s PLM software for team collaboration, Mathcad® for creating and sharing engineering calculations, and Creo Elements/View™ (formerly called Productview®) for visual collaboration.
“The annual FIRST competition encourages both practical collaboration and product design skill development in designers of the future. It has also proven to be an inspiring experience for all the students, coaches, mentors, volunteers and sponsors,” said John Major, CEO of Catalog Data Solutions. “At CDS we’re delighted to continue our support of PTC’s sponsorship by enabling the online CAD model libraries are for the use of all competing teams with our CDS Catalog and CDS ModelServer technology.”
According to Robin Saitz, PTC senior vice president and executive sponsor for PTC’s partnership with FIRST, “FIRST teams have six weeks to design, build and ship their robots to regional competitions. The only way to make this deadline is with strong teamwork, an efficient build process, and access to the FRC and FTC Kit-of-Parts CAD Libraries through CDS. Using Creo Elements/Pro, FIRST students and mentors can quickly begin to design a robot rather than spending valuable time modeling its standard components. It’s an exciting time for these teams, and we are proud to offer this capability with CDS to FIRST teams worldwide.”
About FIRST®
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With support from three out of every five Fortune 500 companies and more than $14 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC® ) and FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC® ) for high-school students, FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL® ) for 9 to 14-year-olds, (9 to 16-year-olds outside the U.S. and Canada) and Junior FIRST® LEGO® League (Jr.FLL™) for 6 to 9-year-olds. Gracious Professionalism™ is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. The circle, triangle, square logo elements are based on ancient scientific theory by Archimedes.
For more information, visit www.usfirst.org.
About Catalog Data Solutions (CDS)
Catalog Data Solutions, Inc. is a leading SaaS provider of product search, configuration, and online CAD solutions for Industrial Suppliers. Founded in 2005 with headquarters in San Jose, CA, Catalog Data Solutions enables Industrial Suppliers to increase sales by enabling their products to be specified into new designs, improve website conversion rates, generate high quality sales leads, and improve customer service. CDS SaaS solutions include the CDS ModelServer™, CDS Catalog™, and CDS CAD Configurator™. CDS’s highly skilled and experienced professional services team provides implementation services for the successful deployment of CDS SaaS solutions. The company’s customers include the world’s leading manufacturers and distributors in the High Tech and Industrial Manufacturing industries.
For more information, visit www.catalogdatasolutions.com.
Catalog Data Solutions, Inc.
6050 Hellter Ave, Ste 175
San Jose, CA 95138
P: (408) 550.8820
FIRST® and FRC® are registered trademarks, and Gracious Professionalism™ is a common law trademark, of the United States Foundation For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (U.S. FIRST).
PTC, Creo, Elements/Pro, Elements/View, Pro/ENGINEER, Windchill, Productview,and Mathcad are trademarks or registered trademarks of Parametric Technology Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.
LEGO® is a registered trademark of The LEGO Group.
