Nashville, Tenn., July 13, 2005 - Z Corporation today announced record first-half sales in the education sector, where its 3D printers are preferred for their exceptional speed and affordability in creating high-quality prototypes of 3D engineering designs. Meanwhile, schools are expanding use of Z Corp. printers into fine arts, architecture, medical research and molecular modeling.
Z Corp., exhibiting at the High Schools That Work show here, has sold 100 units into education in the first half of 2005. Colleges and universities that have purchased Z Corp. 3D printers this year include Columbia University, Hofstra University, Rhode Island School of Design, Smith College, The University of Manchester (UK), University of Sussex (UK), Seoul National University (Korea), University Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), and NIT Durgapur (India).
High schools that have purchased Z Corp. 3D printers this year include Granite School District (Utah), Lakes High School (Wash.), and Naples High School (Fla.). Vocational schools that have purchased Z Corp. 3D printers in 2005 include Auburn Vocational School District (Ohio), Charter Vocational High School (N.M.), Springfield-Clark County Joint Vocational School (Ohio), and Staten Island Technical High School (N.Y.).
Z Corp. is involved in engineering education beyond just selling printers. This fall, Z Corp. will release an updated rapid prototyping curriculum underwritten by the National Science Foundation, developed in conjunction with Saddleback College. The learning plan introduces students to the power of rapid prototyping and best practices in 3D printing via nine modules and an instructor guide.
Z Corp. sponsors an annual 3D Printing Student Design Contest involving MIT professors as judges and monetary awards for high school, college and university winners. Z Corp.'s Leaders in Education Applications Program (LEAP) program supports the engineers of tomorrow by making 3D printing technology accessible to education institutions nationwide through discounts, curriculum tools and special programs.
Z Corp. has also partnered with the national non-profit Project Lead the Way (PLTW), an organization that promotes pre-engineering courses for middle and high school students. Z Corp.'s ZPrinter 310 3D printing system is the organization's recommended rapid prototyping equipment for use with the PLTW course.
"Z Corp. provides the best value proposition to education in the 3D printing industry and exposes students to the latest technologies in mechanical engineering and product design," said Tom Clay, Z Corp. president. "Future engineers, as well as future artists, architects, health-care professionals and scientists, need tangible representations of their work for a richer learning experience providing key lessons of form, fit, function, structure and esthetics. This is also students' opportunity to learn a prototyping technology that will soon be as ubiquitous as the 2D printing that puts our words and pictures on paper."
About Z Corporation
Z Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets the world's fastest, high-definition 3D printers — machines that produce 3D physical prototypes of real-world objects with the speed, ease, and affordability of 2D desktop printing. Leading manufacturers, Fortune 500 companies, and centers for research, including Sony, Fisher-Price, Adidas, Canon, NASA, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, BMW, Porsche, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Harvard, MIT and Yale, rely on Z Corp.'s printers to produce prototypes as part of the development of a broad range of world-class products and technologies. Z Corp. systems are not only the fastest 3D printers on the market but also offer the only color 3D printing capabilities. Z Corp. holds patents on its proprietary 3D printing materials and equipment and licenses others from MIT, where the company's technology was originally developed.
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