In 2015, PTC created a new award to celebrate one of the most significant, and often overlooked roles in the entire PTC ecosystem. The award honors an instructor that consistently exceeds expectations, elevates the reputation of the Authorized Training Partner network, and delights students. Jeff Fulciniti, Senior Director North America Interim PTC University, presented The PTC University Instructor of the Year award to its premier recipient January 6th, 2016.
This award was given to Joel Cartwright, one of the 138 eligible instructors across all of PTC Americas business. “PTC has a vast ecosystem of very well regarded partners and instructors. Some with substantial years of experience and product knowledge that could simply not be replicated,” said Alister Fraser, Authorized Training Partners and Academic Programs, Americas, PTC.
Joel’s passion for education, product expertise, and un-matched client-facing skills has allowed him to thrive throughout his tenure in the PTC and EAC ecosystem. Joel loves to meet new students, welcome previous ones, and consistently impart the educational tools allowing individuals to improve their own position and skills.
“The instructors at EAC, and Joel specifically, are critical to the value EAC provides its customers. Effective instruction on the technology allows our customers to innovate and optimize without software getting in the way,” said Thane Hathaway, President & CEO of EAC Product Development Solutions.
When asked about what this award means to him, Joel responded, “The Instructor of the Year award stands for many things. It starts with PTC’s commitment to quality within their software options, their Learning Management System (LMS), and the instruction manuals we use in class. The entire PTC University community tries very hard to uphold quality. Here at EAC my fellow instructors and I take educating our customers very seriously. Our standards are very high and I am truly honored to receive this award and recognition.”
A number of factors contributed to selecting the award recipient. Members of the PTC University staff evaluated instructor certification and course mastery scores, student evaluations of course content and customer satisfaction, the volume of students trained, and the number of courses taught by an instructor.
For more than 15 years Joel has been a front-runner in most, if not all, of the award criteria and 2015 was no exception. He has been a full-time PTC Certified instructor since 2000 and joined EAC Product Development Solutions in 2004. Cartwright delivered an astounding 70 classes during 2015. That’s an average of more than one per week. Despite this high volume and a nearly perfect certification record he maintained the highest overall customer satisfaction score among all PTC Americas instructors.
Joel explained that the key to success is simple. He treats all of his students with the same respect, eases them through struggles, and makes them excited to learn more.
“For a large majority of our end users, an instructor might be the only person from PTC they interact with throughout their entire CAD or PLM career. The instructors in our network are very often the public face of PTC. They carry on their shoulders our credibility as a company and the perception of our solutions depends in large part on the experience customers have with their instructors,” said Jeff Fulciniti, Senior Director North America Interim PTC University, PTC.
“I am incredibly proud of Joel. I don’t believe there is a more worthy recipient of PTC’s Instructor of the Year Award. It’s good to see that his demeanor, professionalism, expertise, and consistent focus on creating value for the students does not go unnoticed. Joel is dedicated to staying on the leading edge of product development education. This is why students ask for him by name. I’m honored to have him on our team,” said Hathaway.
