Integrating Software and Machine Lab Instruction (ISMI)
Technical education begins in high school—with support from PTC.

It’s never too early to immerse high school students in well-rounded technical education and expose them to the tools and technology that drive Computer Aided Design (CAD) careers.
Funded by a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Grant, the Integrating Software and Machine Lab Instruction (ISMI) project enhances the ability of local high schools to deliver technical education to students by:
- Providing trained PTC faculty who are mentoring high school students toward completion of extracurricular, manufacturing-based projects
- Offering software design courses for college credit (for free to the high school students),
- Providing professional development training to enable PTC faculty to integrate additional lab-based instruction into PTC courses
- Revising existing curricula to incorporate the use of new machinery
- Offering professional development for high school and college faculty
- And strengthening partnerships with industry by enhancing the existing CAD Advisory Board and increasing internship opportunities for PTC students.
We will soon be adding the activities, projects, and mentorship that not only supports high school students but PTC’s CAD program and faculty, too, as we keep pace with this ever-evolving, technical, and dynamic field.
*Grant ID 1902551