MANCHESTER, N.H., Dec 17, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to inspiring the next generation of innovators and engineers, and PTC(R), The Product Development Company(R), announced today that PTC has agreed to a three-year sponsorship of the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) program.

As the CAD and Collaboration sponsor, PTC will provide its Pro/ENGINEER(R), Mathcad(R), Windchill(R), and ProductView(TM) CAD and collaboration software to all FTC teams at no cost. This software will allow teams to build their robots in a virtual environment using models of parts supplied in the FTC Competition Kit. The groups will also be able to collaborate within their own teams, with other teams, and with mentors and industry sponsors using PTC’s Windchill.
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Read the entire release at the link above. PTC software is immediately available to all FTC teams. FTC teams can get access by visiting http://www.ptc.com/go/first/. This page also provides links to online tutorials to help teams get started.