The New York Times (12/10, A23, Dillon) reports, "American fourth and eighth grade students made solid achievement gains in math in recent years and in two states showed spectacular progress," but "science performance was flat," according to a survey released Tuesday by the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, or TIMSS. "Fourth grade students in Hong Kong and eighth grade students in Taiwan" earned the top scores in math, "while Singapore dominated in science at both grade levels." According to the Times, "the latest TIMSS study, the world's largest review of math and science achievement, involved testing a representative sample of students in each country in 2007, the first time the tests had been administered since 2003. ... The results included fourth grade scores from 36 countries, and eighth grade scores from 48 countries."

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IMAGINiT Technologies has implemented a rigorous certification program for IMAGINiT application specialists who take their clients through TakeAIM, IMAGINiT's four phased Assured Implementation Method program.

Read the full Press release here

IMAGINiT Technologies invites you to join our monthly Informational webinars.

February Schedule:

• Inventor Tips and Tricks Webinar - 02/05/2009
• Revit Demonstration - 02/06/2009
• Civil 3D Webinar - 02/06/2009
• Revit Automated Specs Using e-SPECS - 02/06/2009
• BIM Tools for Green Building and Sustainable Design - 02/10/2009
• Civil 3D Product Overview and Demonstration - 02/13/2009
• AutoCAD Electrical Webcast - 02/13/2009
• Introduction to Inventor Webinar - 02/16/2009
• MEP Web Demo - 02/20/2009
• Geospatial Webinar - 02/23/2009
• AliasStudio Webinar - 02/23/2009
• Showcase Webinars - 02/23/2009
• Autodesk Vault/Autodesk Productstream - 02/26/2009

March Schedule:

• BIM Presentation and Demonstration - 03/02/2009
• Inventor Tips and Tricks Webinar - 03/05/2009
• Revit Demonstration - 03/06/2009
• Civil 3D Webinar - 3/06/2009
• Revit Automated Specs Using e-SPECS - 03/06/2009
• Civil 3D Product Overview and Demonstration - 03/13/2009
• AutoCAD Electrical Webcast - 03/13/2009
• Introduction to Inventor Webinar - 03/16/2009
• MEP Web Demo - 03/20/2009
• Geospatial Webinar - 03/23/2009
• AliasStudio Webinar - 03/23/2009
• Showcase Webinars - 03/23/2009
• Autodesk Vault/Autodesk Productstream - 03/26/2009

For more information and to register for the following webinars click here.

UK's Birmingham Post (12/10, Thorne) reports, "The head of the [British] Aluminium Federation (ALFED)," Henry Dickinson, "has warned the science and engineering sector faces a manpower shortfall unless current trends are reversed." Dickinson said that "ambitious industry targets would not be met unless recruitment across the sector was increased," adding, "We are not training enough talented young men and women in science and engineering disciplines. Where we have perhaps 10,000 undergraduate scientists and engineers in universities, the Chinese have 600,000." He attributed this mainly to the Chinese focus "on productive disciplines." Dickinson concluded, "Without an adequate base of intelligent, trained and resourceful young people entering manufacturing and research it becomes increasingly difficult to improve products and processes at a rate at least the equal of overseas competitors."

IMAGINiT's Manufacturing Solutions Blogger, Mark Flayler, shares his insight on Autodesk's manufacturing software including Inventor, Mechanical Desktop and Mechanical. In this month's newsletter, Mark shares an excerpt of his blog:

Come visit Radu in his new remote office! Recently one of our Manufacturing Application Engineers (Radu Stancescu from our Florida office) completed a task that not many have. Radu scaled Aconcagua: (7000 meters/23000 feet) the highest mountain in the Americas, in the southern and western hemispheres, and the second highest of the world's seven continental summits located in Andes mountain range, in the Argentine province of Mendoza.

While he was there he opened the newest branch in our global offices!

Pictures and Full story here

To find out what Mark will be sharing next, visit his blog at: www.rand.com/imaginit/ManufacturingBlog

IMAGINiT's Visualization Solutions Blogger, Mark Gerhard, shares his insight on Autodesk's visualization software including Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design. In this month's newsletter, Mark shares an excerpt of his blog:

How do you select objects in 3ds Max?
Do you click on the object in the viewport to select it?
If you are in the Perspective Viewport and you're set to Smooth and Highlight and you have a lot of objects in front of each other, it can drive you crazy. Max seems to perversely choose every object except the one you want.

Anybody every experience this? Use to happen to me a lot. I think there's some code that performs a "z-cycle" which is to blame. What's the fix? Toggle to Wireframe. F3. Don't know why it works but it works. You can click on the wire of what you're trying to select and you will select it. Everytime.

Also gives your left hand something to do. F3. Wire On/Wire Off. Try it. Tell me if you like it.

To find out what Mark will be sharing next, visit his blog at: www.rand.com/imaginit/VisualizationBlog

Design and engineering productivity is a key component to how well business thrives. That's why IMAGINiT Technologies provides ProductivityNOW, a resource and service for Autodesk®, AutoCAD®, and select CAD/Design software users. Our service is designed to get the answers you need for your program and IT challenges, when you need them. Whether your team needs assistance with an installation, access to technical tips, or simply an answer to a question, IMAGINiT's ProductivityNOW program is the ideal solution for you.

ProductivityNOW

Early releases of curriculum for the most up to-date design applications are available from ASCENT, the world's largest courseware developer for Autodesk products. Their unique courseware supports curriculum to give you and your students a competitive edge.

A free networking site for students in the fields of architecture, design, civil engineering, manufacturing, gaming and animation.