Elevated to Strategic Partner for FIRST^®

NEEDHAM, Mass. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — May 9, 2011 — PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC), The Product Development Company^®, today extended congratulations to its sponsored, award-winning teams at the FIRST^® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Championship competition in St. Louis, Mo., April 27-30, 2011. PTC also announced its elevation to FIRST Strategic Partner, the top partner level, recognizing its significant support of and contribution to the mission of FIRST.

Reaching more than 250,000 students worldwide in grades K-12 annually, FIRST has designed accessible, innovative, Mentor-based programs that build Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) skills. These programs inspire young people to pursue STEM education and career opportunities as well as helping to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills.

“Sponsorship of FIRST^® Robotics (FRC^®) Team #74 (Team Chaos) from Holland High School, Mich., has been a priority for Haworth for the past 17 years,” said Ken Platteschorre, FRC Team 74 Mentor and Engineering Designer in the Global Seating group for Haworth. “The skills and life lessons these students learn from competing in FIRST propel many to careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). We are happy to have had PTC co-sponsor Team Chaos for the past two years.

PTC sponsored teams received the following awards at the FIRST Championship:

• FIRST^® Tech Challenge (FRC^®), Championship Inspire Award, Team 4466, Robots and the Brain Bots, from Waltham, Mass;
• FIRST Robotics Competition, Dean’s List Award, to Cody Wall from Team 987, The High Rollers, from Las Vegas, Nev.;
• FIRST^® Robotics Competition (FRC^®), Curie Division Award Winner, Team 987, The High Rollers, from Las Vegas, Nev.;
• FIRST Robotics Competition, Newton Division Award Winner, Team 233, The PINK Team, from Rockledge/Cocoa Beach/Viera, Fla.; and
• FIRST Robotics Competition, Imagery Award in honor of Jack Kamen, Team 2169, KING TeC, from Prior Lake/Savage, Minn.

With millions of dollars already committed to FIRST, Strategic Partner status designates PTC as providing the highest level of Sponsorship available at FIRST through its cumulative support of teams, annual in-kind donations, resources, technology, design and collaboration software, training, and employee involvement as well as contributions across the FIRST family of programs. PTC had been a Crown Supplier to the FIRST^® Robotics Competition (FRC^®) for the fifth consecutive year and the official CAD and Collaboration Sponsor to the FIRST^® Tech Challenge (FTC^®) for the third year, providing free software, including Creo^™ Elements/Pro^™, Creo Elements/View™, Mathcad® and Windchill^®, to participating teams.

“FIRST is pleased to recognize PTC as a Strategic Partner,” said Jon Dudas, president of FIRST. “PTC has demonstrated a long-term sustainable commitment to STEM initiatives through its support of FIRST over the past five years. Its comprehensive FIRST program serves as a model. PTC has dedicated employee resources, encouraged others to volunteer, supplied software and associated curriculum, co-sponsored teams with their customers and partners, and provided college scholarships for FIRST students. They have supported and promoted the FIRST Tech Challenge program in India, China, and Romania.

“Being elevated to a FIRST Strategic Partner is very meaningful to PTC,” said Robin Saitz, senior vice president, solutions marketing and communications and FIRST Executive Sponsor, PTC. “FIRST is the flagship program of our ‘Engineer of the Future’ initiative and is aligned with creating shared value with our customers, partners, employees, and the community. The benefits of supporting FIRST are far reaching, ultimately supporting the workforce development needs of our customers.”

At this year's FIRST Championship, PTC's booth in the ‘pit area’ was the focus of an exciting design competition where team members were able to show their design skills by submitting designs for a robo-rescue concept development contest. The contestants were given a 15 minute segment to show their skills on PTC Creo™. The winner, Chris Vincent, FRC Team 3539, designed this robot model and received an Apple iPad for his efforts.