STEM Academy Partners with GRAPHISOFT for Providing Architecture Curriculum

BOSTON, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to equip the next generation of architects with powerful new tools and uncompromising learning opportunities, GRAPHISOFT is partnering with the STEM Academy, a national non-profit dedicated to literacy in science, technology education and math for all students from K through 14 and beyond.

GRAPHISOFT's ArchiCAD building information modeling (BIM) software and its EcoDesigner energy optimization software will form the foundation of the academy's new year-long high-school and community college course, called "Architecture + Construction Management Featuring Green Methods."

The course has been rolled out to 25 schools this summer with over 700 schools submitting letters of intent to implement the program in 2010. "It's critical to our mission to use the most advanced and powerful technology to fully prepare students for internships, careers and education advancement," said Russ Mickelson, COO of the STEM Academy. "We chose GRAPHISOFT because it is the world leader in BIM, which is revolutionizing architecture by automatically packing a wealth of engineering and construction information into a 3D building design."

To ground lessons in real-world challenges, the course incorporates actual designs of real-world buildings. As with all STEM Academy courses, each unit and lesson in Architecture + Construction Management Featuring Green Methods is mapped to national academic standards and continuously reviewed by STEM Academy's 36-member educator curriculum development team. Utah Valley State University and the Alpine School District (American Fork, Utah) helped develop the curriculum.

"This new course sets the standard for grade 9-14 architecture programs throughout North America," said Steve Benford, GRAPHISOFT's managing director for North America. "Partnering with the STEM Academy is one way we can help students engage BIM and make the best use of these tools in their future as AEC professionals.'

About The STEM Academy

The STEM Academy is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to improving STEM literacy for all students. The STEM Academy features K-12 curriculum which is rigorous, innovative and comprehensive and was collaboratively developed by K-12 teachers, university educators, industry partners, engineering and biomedical professionals. K-12 curriculum is standard enough to assure high-quality content exchange and flexible enough to allow for school districts and states to modify to meet their particular needs. Curriculum culminates with students applying real-world application of their STEM education with hand-on activities and maps to the following national standards: International Technology Engineering Education Association - ITEEA; Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology - ABET; National Science Teachers Association -NSTA; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics – NCTM. For more information, visit www.stem101.org.

About GRAPHISOFT

GRAPHISOFT® ignited the BIM revolution with ArchiCAD®, the industry first BIM software for architects. GRAPHISOFT continues to lead the industry with innovative solutions such as the revolutionary GRAPHISOFT BIM Server™, the world's first real-time BIM collaboration environment, and the GRAPHISOFT EcoDesigner™, the world's first fully integrated building energy modeling application. GRAPHISOFT's innovative solutions have fundamentally changed the way architects around the world design and collaborate.

GRAPHISOFT and ArchiCAD are registered trademarks of GRAPHISOFT. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

SOURCE GRAPHISOFT

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