Technology in the Classroom

- By Kim Pinnix

PTC, a U.S.-based software company, is introducing software that provides educators worldwide with training and classroom materials to prepare students for today's technological world. The software lets teachers experiment with cutting-edge resources that often are too expensive for educational institutions. By removing the cost barrier, PTC hopes to promote the implementation of technology programs that teach critical thinking, problem solving, and hands-on skills while encouraging students to pursue careers in engineering. PTC's offer is open to middle and high schools around the world as well as colleges and universities with engineering programs. At the university level, 1,500 institutions worldwide are using PTC's Pro/ENGINEER software in mechanical engineering courses. The resources are offered for free, however; an annual fee of $2,500 to cover the program's administrative costs is requested. The commercial value of PTC's software ranges from $30,000 for a middle school installation and up to $4 million at the university level. However, training, classroom materials, and student competitions are provided at little or no additional cost. Further information on PTC is available at www.ptc.com.

Monitoring Equipment Made Easy

- By Cara Green

RLE Technologies, a developer of monitoring devices in a variety of applications, has recently launched the Web-enabled Falcon Monitoring Device, a program that lets users check the status of their equipment on a standard Web browser. The Falcon can monitor temperature, pressure, flow, current, leak detection systems, and humidity sensors. It can capture an image from any IP addressable Web camera for live display on the company's Web interface. This Web-based system hosts its own Web pages so the user doesn't have to shell out for additional hardware or software. The Falcon can also log data, provide alarms, display information on a Web page, and notify users via e-mail and phone at the same time. Up to five Falcon devices can be connected to monitor 100 inputs at once. For more information regarding the Falcon, please visit the RLE Technologies web site at www.rletechnologies.com, or contact the company at 1-800-518-1519.

Cara Green and Kim Pinnix are advertising assistants at Prism magazine. Green can be reached by e-mail at c.green@asee.org, and Pinnix can be reached by e-mail at k.pinnix@asee.org.