Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology

Contact: Caroline Chetelat at ABYC

(410) 990-4460, x22

Westlawn Drives Down Costs for Students

Students Can Save Thousands of Dollars on Software – Tuition Held at Last Year’s Levels

March 3, 2009, Annapolis, MD: The Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology today announced that it has instituted a number of measures designed to help students cope with education costs and encourage them to keep studying during these tough economic times. These include controlling tuition costs and finding ways for students to obtain otherwise expensive design software at little or no cost.

First, tuition for all courses will be held at 2008 levels through September 2009. Second, as of March 15, 2009, Westlawn will be offering a no interest tuition payment plan for all four modules of its professional diploma program in yacht and boat design, as well as for the Westlawn short course, Elements of Technical Boat Design.

In addition, Westlawn will continue to offer students two low interest options for financing the four-module Yacht and Boat Design program and for the Elements of Technical Boat Design. With interest rates from three percent to nine percent, students have the flexibility to choose the payment plan that best meets their needs. Students moving on from Module 1 to the advanced modules can continue to finance their tuition by rolling over any balance due as they progress in their study. This tuition financing program is available through TFC Credit Corporation, which has been financing student tuition for over 35 years. To read complete details of the no interest tuition payment plan, as well as information on the tuition financing through TFC Credit, go to the Westlawn web site at www.westlawn.edu to download the Westlawn catalog and enrollment forms.

Rendering by Westlawn Student Peter Neceda

Westlawn has also arranged for active Westlawn students to be able to download AutoCAD online directly from Autodesk. This is a full version of AutoCAD Mechanical student release. It is not a trial version. Active Westlawn students can log into the designated sign-up page through the Westlawn student forum on the Westlawn web site, www.westlawn.edu. The commercial price of AutoCAD Mechanical is $3,999 and Westlawn students can download and us it for free!

Additionally, Westlawn has worked with the DRS C3 Advanced Technology Center to receive deep discounts for Westlawn students on the following software:

- Orca3D Level 1 (hull design and fairing with intact hydrostatics with stability) is just $125 for

- Westlawn students (commercial price is $1390) – a savings of $1265.

- Orca3D Level 2 (all of Level 1 plus speed/power analysis and weight and cost tracking) is $250 for Westlawn students (commercial price is $2780) – a savings of $2530.

Westlawn Director, Dave Gerr noted, “Orca Level 1 is all that’s required to complete Westlawn studies, but it makes sense to take advantage of this student discount to get Level 2. Having both will make the advanced class work go more quickly, and it will serve students well in their careers.”

Rendering by Westlawn Student Bruno Ancic

Westlawn students also need the general-purpose Rhino (Rhinoceros) 3D modeling program to run Orca3D. If students don’t already own Rhino, Westlawn and the DRS C3 Advanced Technology Center has arranged a special Westlawn discount package price for Orca3D plus Rhino as follows:

- Orca3D Level 1 & Rhino $288 (commercial price $2,385);

- Orca3D Level 1 & Rhino/Flamingo/Penguin/Bongo $558 (commercial price $3,085);

- Orca3D Level 2 & Rhino $401 (commercial price $3,775);

- Orca3D Level 2 & Rhino/Flamingo/Penguin/Bongo $671 (commercial price $4,475);

Savings over the full commercial prices range from $2,907 to $3,804 depending on the package.

Gerr explained, “All that is required to complete the Westlawn program is AutoCAD plus Orca3D Level 1 and Rhino. Technically, the total cost of the necessary AutoCAD software to complete all the Westlawn coursework is now just $288.” “However, students looking to further enhance their skills and do more advanced work will find the additional software (Orca3D Level 2, Flamingo, Penguin and Bongo) to be a worthwhile long-term investment.” Flamingo is a photorealistic rendering plug-in for Rhino, Penguin is a sketch/cartoon/illustration plug-in for Rhino and Bongo is a design animation plug-in for Rhino.

To take advantage of these discounts, Westlawn students must follow the student-purchase procedure on the Westlawn online student forum at www.westlawn.edu, and they must currently be an active student.

One of the most widely used and most fully-featured suite of hull-fairing and marine-design software packages is Maxsurf, from Formation Design Systems. A three surface, full feature version of Maxsurf’s, internationally acclaimed design software is available free of charge to Westlawn students. With over 3,000 users worldwide, Maxsurf has been an industry leader for twenty-five years. Maxsurf designs can be saved as Rhino documents and open seamlessly with Rhino version three or four. Maxsurf designs can also be exported as DXF or IGES documents for further development in many other CAD programs including AutoCAD and MicroStation.

Maxsurf offers student users unprecedented support via access to their academic web site www.formsys.com/academic/Maxsurf. In addition to software, the site provides student forums, tutorials, design articles, sample designs and answers to FAQ’s, all free of charge.

Many, if not most, Westlawn students will find the free three-surface Maxsurf software the only hull-design program needed to complete their coursework. However a six-surface version of the program is offered to students for $940, one half the commercial price of $1,880.

Westlawn also has special student pricing on New Wave Systems’ ProSurf ($295), which we sell directly to active students. Though not as up to date as some of the other hull-design software packages, it is still a powerful, effective program, and many students find it the easiest to learn and to use.

“We understand that things are hard for many people right now – including Westlawn students. We want to do as much as we can to give our students the ability to continue their Westlawn education at the lowest cost possible, and encourage new students to enroll with us,” stated Dave Gerr.

Founded in 1930, the Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology is the only nationally accredited and state-certified distance-learning school of small-craft design in the United States. As the not-for-profit educational affiliate of the American Boat and Yacht Council, the mission of the Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology is threefold:

■ To provide our students with the skills and knowledge required to build a rewarding career in the profession of yacht and small-craft naval architecture.

■ To support continued growth of the recreational and small-craft marine community through the development of well-trained, safety-oriented, boat designers developing better products for the benefit of the boating public.

■ To provide continuing education to marine-industry professionals.

To learn more about Westlawn, please call (860) 572-7900 or visit the Westlawn website at: www.westlawn.edu.