INDIANAPOLIS (Oct. 27, 2014) – Project Lead The Way (PLTW), the nation’s leading provider of K-12 science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs, announced today a partnership with Autodesk and Certiport, a Pearson VUE business, that will expand PLTW teacher and student access to industrial certification in the leading suite of 3D design software programs from Autodesk including Autodesk® 3ds Max®, Autodesk® AutoCAD®, Autodesk® Inventor®, Autodesk® Maya®, and Autodesk® Revit®.
“Project Lead The Way is excited to extend to students and educators in our network this opportunity for industrial certification through an exam that is rigorous, but attainable,” said PLTW Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer Andrea Croslyn. “This partnership – which marks an enhanced relationship between PLTW and Certiport, as well as a continuing relationship between PLTW and Autodesk – enables us to do just that.”
PLTW schools can provide easy certification access to students by becoming a Certiport Authorized Testing Center and administering the Autodesk Certified User (ACU) exams onsite. The computer-based exams last 50 minutes and combine multiple-choice and performance-based questions to ensure students understand and can effectively use Autodesk software.
“PLTW programs already have access to state-of-the-art technology from Autodesk, and now with our partnership they can validate student computer-aided drafting and graphics skills with certification,” said Pearson VUE Vice President of Global Certiport Offering Aaron Osmond. “PLTW will offer all of Certiport’s Autodesk learning products with flexible options ranging from single-exam vouchers to site licensing that allow a school to deliver a high volume of exams at an economical price.”
Through the partnership, PLTW students will have access to Certiport’s ACU offerings at a discounted rate. For more information on student ACU testing through PLTW, refer to the Student Opportunities page on pltw.org.
“For students, attaining industrial certification is a real win,” Croslyn said. “It can help them to obtain internships, secure college admission, and achieve long-term career objectives.”
“Autodesk is deeply committed to helping prepare an industry-ready workforce with the real-world design skills and knowledge that they need to be competitive and successful,” said Matt Pierce, senior manager of North America education programs at Autodesk. “We are proud to work with valued partners like PLTW and Certiport to expand learning and certification opportunities for both educators and students, and to help them achieve academic success and advance their careers.”
PLTW teachers attending the 2014 PLTW Summit – Nov. 2-5, 2014, at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis, Indiana – will benefit from the partnership, as well. Certiport will be onsite to administer all ACU exams during the event. Educators must register in advance to take the no-cost ACU exam onsite on Sunday, Nov. 2; Monday, Nov. 3; or Tuesday, Nov. 4. Visit pltw.org for more information and to sign up.
###strong Project Lead The Way (PLTW) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the nation’s leading provider of K-12 STEM programs. PLTW’s world-class, activity-, project-, and problem-based curriculum and high-quality teacher professional development model, combined with an engaged network of educators and corporate partners, help students develop the skills needed to succeed in our global economy. More than 6,500 elementary, middle, and high schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia are currently offering PLTW courses to their students. For more information, visit ###a href="https://www.pltw.org/" target="_blank" data-mce-href="www.pltw.org" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://www.pltw.org/">www.plt....
###strong Certiport, a Pearson VUE business, is the leading provider of certification exam development, delivery and program management services delivered through an expansive network of over 12,000 Certiport Authorized Testing Centers worldwide. Certiport manages a sophisticated portfolio of leading certification programs including: the official Microsoft Office Specialist certification program, the Microsoft Technology Associate certification program, the Microsoft Certified Educator program, the Adobe® Certified Associate certification program, the HP Accredited Technical Associate, the CompTIA Strata™ IT Fundamentals, the Autodesk Certified User certification program, the Intuit QuickBooks Certified User certification program, and the IC3 Digital Literacy certification. Certiport reliably delivers over three million tests each year throughout the secondary, post-secondary, workforce, and corporate technology markets in more than 148 countries and 27 languages worldwide. For more information, please visit###a href="http://www.certiport.com/" target="_blank" data-mce-href="http://www.certiport.com" class="redactor-linkify-object">http://www.certiport.com/">htt... or follow Certiport on Twitter at www.twitter.com/certiport.
"Certiport" and "IC3" are registered trademarks of Certiport, Inc. in the United States and other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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Media Contact: Jennifer Cahill
Project Lead The Way
(317) 669-0871 jcahill@pltw.org