Elecosoft recently shared that it has introduced its new program called "Asta University". This program will help construction and engineering students get started with construction management and scheduling applications in order to better integrate them into the workforce.
According to the press release:
Elecosoft, an international specialist provider of software and related services to the built environment, announced that it has instituted “Asta University,” a program that provides the company’s Asta Powerproject platform to academia free of charge.
Powerproject is Elecosoft’s flagship product. It is a construction project management software that produces better outcomes on jobs of all sizes with its intuitive scheduling, 4D BIM integration, mobile app, and resource management features. Through Asta University, Elecosoft provides colleges and universities with access to Powerproject free of charge, giving students firsthand experience with one of the industry’s leading construction scheduling and management packages. Schools that are given usage rights to Powerproject are primarily making it available to students within their engineering and/or construction management departments to better understand the use of technology in construction, particularly in the area of scheduling.
Asta is the brand name that encompasses a suite of Elecosoft products, including Asta Powerproject, Asta Connect, and Asta Vision.
Elecosoft has supplied free Powerproject licenses to institutions of higher learning across the country since 2013. The founding of Asta University formalizes this effort while providing a springboard to share additional products in the future within the Asta suite.
According to David Hernandez, head of the U.S. Elecosoft, Asta University helps maintain student interest in construction and related fields. “Holding students’ interest in the classroom can be a challenge,” said Hernandez. “Educators who have introduced their students to Powerproject find that it helps keep their attention and it also shows them that the construction industry isn’t all dry and boring. It actually energizes them.”
Hernandez added that his company is committed to helping train the construction industry’s future professionals. “Using our platform allows students to become familiar with [the] technology they’ll eventually be using out in the field,” he said. “Project scheduling and management are difficult disciplines to master; it’s our mission to provide the tools to make them as proficient as possible so they can hit the ground running when they graduate.”
Some of the schools currently using Powerproject include high-profile institutions such as the University of Washington; the University of Texas at El Paso; the University of Southern California; the University of Nebraska; the University of Miami; the University of Illinois; and the University of Alabama.
