PTC Powers a Design and Technology Revolution in the U.K.

The London Sunday Times recently called it Britain's "grassroots hope for the future of manufacturing." The newspaper was referring to the new National Curriculum in Design and Technology that was introduced in the middle and secondary schools of the U.K. - a program powered by PTC's Flexible Engineering software.

The program began in 1998 when Professor Kumar Bhattacharryya of the Warwick University Manufacturing Group and PTC approached the Department of Education and Employment with the idea of expanding the technology courses in schools to include computer aided design and manufacture (CAD/CAM). The program would use the same software used by industry to design products - software that PTC agreed to donate to all 6,000 U.K. schools. After a rigorous evaluation process, the software was approved, and the program was piloted in some 55 schools, structured around the National Curriculum in Design and Technology.

The purpose of the National Curriculum is to promote the spiritual, moral, and social development of students. It engages pupils in the creative process of designing and making products. Collaborating with people outside the classroom, the students gather product and application information, discuss design ideas, and test the product after it has been prototyped. In the process, they learn about the role of technology as an integral part of human culture and its impact on society.

One of the first pilot schools in the program was the Theale Green School in Berkshire. At Theale Green, students as young as ten years old use Pro/DESKTOP to design products, beginning with wristwatches and progressing in later classes to creating more complex designs. Some use the images as part of their design portfolio; in most cases, the students then go on to build the product they designed using tools in the machine shop, including automated CNC milling machines. Many students have worked with local companies to help sell their ideas for manufacture.

Instructor Steve Herd says that the introduction PTC's design software has made a great deal of difference in the class, both in attitude and aptitude. "The students start to think in 3-D. They conceptualize so much more. And their experience with design extends over into other classes such as geometry and science." Herd notes that local industry is becoming aware of the program, which will open new doors for students, enhancing their options for after-school employment as well as increasing their opportunities for higher education.

Theale Green, a suburban school, offers one example of the program's success. Another very different example is the John Kelly Boys Technology College, an inner city school in North London with 600 male students aged eleven to seventeen. The students come from 40 countries and speak 37 languages. Many of them arrive at the school with little or no knowledge of English.

"The communication problem is one reason why the use of Pro/DESKTOP in the design and technology program has been so successful," Design and Technology department head Martin Harvey says. "The program avoids English as a language. It is easy to learn. It's 3-D visual and students can easily conceptualize their intent. Students can start creating designs very quickly and see success at an early stage. And, once they start designing products, they want to get better. There is a real competition among students to be the best. Students bring designs home and work on them nights, weekends and during vacations. The bulletin boards at John Kelly are filled with 3-D designs for products such as telephones, furniture, and stereos.

"The effect the course has on students is amazing," adds Harvey. "Our delinquency and dropout rate has plummeted. Before the program was introduced, only 9% of students met the national standards on the standardized test. Now we are up to 69%." John Kelly Boys has received two silver cups for being the nation's most improved school. As a group, inner-city schools that participate in the program have consistently narrowed the "achievement gap" with more affluent suburban schools.

Students with reading and communication problems have found a new avenue of expression with Pro/DESKTOP. Problem-based test results demonstrate vastly improved critical thinking skills. Additionally, the program has brought marketable job skills into a depressed area and motivates students to continue their education after John Kelly.

Harvey hopes to use the Pro/DESKTOP to collaborate over the Internet with other schools, with each student group designing one component in a large system, a process that reflects the way major design projects are accomplished in real life by large corporations. He notes that a school near Boston recently contacted his school regarding a collaborative effort.

The success of the programs at Theale Green, John Kelly, and the thousands of other pilot sites has been well-recognized in the U.K. In November of 1999, the Department of Education and Employment made the course mandatory for all students in the UK. Today, over 2,300 schools are using PTC technology in their classrooms, and many of the teachers have discovered second careers training other instructors in the use of Pro/DESKTOP. Britain, through its new National Curriculum in Design and Technology, is now the world's leader in the teaching of Design and Technology to students in middle and secondary schools. As the industry leader in both design software and in Design and Technology education, it was only natural that PTC would play a key role in the development of this exciting and innovative program.

Simon Badcock, who is now the teacher consultant for Design and Technology in West Berkshire and the sponsor of the program at Theale Green, notes that despite the success of the program, there are challenges ahead. "We must continue to develop a rigorous design and technology curriculum that simulates students to produce high quality products and prepare them for a future in our increasingly technological society." PTC continues to be committed to helping Badcock and others develop educational opportunities around its design software.