A1 Technologies Wins BETT 2010 Education Award

The RapMan 3D Printer Wins the Digital Devices Award at the world’s largest educational technology event.

Since its inception early in 2009, A1 Technologies has been fully committed to bringing advanced, low-cost, 3D technology into the classroom. The company believes that this tenacious aim is fundamental in the bid to achieve widespread uptake of 3D technologies by making young people - with a profusion of creativity and excitement - aware of the technologies that are available for the disciplines of design, engineering and manufacturing, which are seeing a rapid growth in industry.

At the BETT 2010 event, which took place last week, A1 Technologies was awarded one of the prestigious BETT Awards, which highlight exemplar digital products intended for the education marketplace. In the Digital Devices category, A1 Technologies was the outright winner from a total of five finalists with the RapMan 3D printer - a product that the company launched early in 2009.

The BETT event (previously British Education and Training Technology) is now in its 25th year and is the world’s largest educational technology event. The show took place at the National and the Grand Halls at Olympia, in London, featuring almost 700 stands and receiving 29,000 visitors.

Commenting at the awards ceremony, with more than 700 attendees present, Richard Joslin, Exhibition Director at EMAP said, "Congratulations go to all the winners of the 2010 BETT Awards and finalists, who each reflect excellence in educational ICT. The 2010 BETT Awards received a huge number of entries demonstrating its highly-regarded and coveted nature within the industry. The BETT Awards provide educators with a fantastic opportunity to see some of the best resources and suppliers driving forward innovation, creativity and learning within schools and class rooms the world over".

Martin Stevens, A1 Technologies’ CEO, was delighted with the award for the RapMan, he commented; “I firmly believe that children - of any age - should be able to interact with 3D technology. Having watched first hand as children soak up and quickly grasp 3D concepts with the RapMan and with our other products, I am inspired by their initiative and resourcefulness. By encouraging students to learn and experiment with this sort of technology, the next generation of designers and engineers will have a wealth of knowledge at their finger tips and the pay off for organizations employing them will be huge.”

The low-cost RapMan 3D printer, along with A1 Technologies' other innovative and ultra-low-cost 3D technologies - the David 3D laserscanner and the 3D Chameleon haptic design package - are real cross-curricular products. Perfect for Design & Technology, they are also ideally suited to other curricular lines, and help to deliver the new Diplomas as well, including Engineering, Manufacturing & Product Design, IT, Construction and the Built Environment, and Creative and Media.