INDUSTRY

UGS announced an in-kind software grant with a commercial value of nearly $60 million to enhance engineering programs in the Hampton University School of Engineering and Technology. This software, used by technologists and engineers at leading global companies worldwide, will enable students to gain firsthand experience with current PLM industry standard software for managing the entire lifecycle of a product from concept, through production, delivery, maintenance and retirement. "This in-kind contribution is another example of the confidence that the nation's leaders in business, government, education, science and technology have in Hampton University's outstanding programs," said Dr. William R. Harvey, Hampton University President. The $58.9 million grant is being made through UGS' Global Opportunities in Product Lifecycle Management (GO PLM) initiative, which leads the PLM industry in the commercial value of in-kind grants it provides at more than $4 billion annually. UGS' GO PLM initiative brings together five complementary programs focused on academic partnerships; community relations; regional productivity; youth and displaced worker development; and the Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE) program. The initiative provides PLM technology to more than 860,000 students annually at nearly 8,400 global institutions, where it is used at every academic level -- from middle schools to graduate engineering research programs. "The software from UGS gives our engineering and architecture students access to world-class tools to design, model, analyze and simulate structures as well as design and simulate assembly lines," said Dr. Eric J. Sheppard, dean of the HU School of Engineering and Technology. "I'm excited as an educator to know that our students will have access to powerful UGS applications. We have a strong team of engineering and architecture faculty that will integrate the software into our learning environment." Architecture students will be able to simulate and analyze kinetic structures, engineering students will have access to electives using CAD systems, and students across the School of Engineering and Technology and the University can work on design teams using the same applications used at top companies around the world, according to Sheppard. "Engineering and architecture students need to learn to create, analyze and develop designs, and now our students have a great resource to develop challenging designs, including cars of the future, robots, buildings, or even robots that build buildings," he said. "UGS is devoted to helping leading academic institutions such as Hampton University expand career development opportunities for students and cultivate a talented base of candidates to increase the competitiveness of local and national manufacturers," said Dave Shirk, executive vice president, Global Marketing for UGS. "Through this and other similar grants, UGS is empowering knowledge for 21st Century engineers to tie into global innovation networks that the world's leading manufacturers are leveraging to build the most innovative products." Hampton University is receiving UGS' industry leading, Tecnomatix, NX, I-deas and Solid Edge software suites.