Wichita 3rd Grader Gives Santa A Run For His Money; Trades In Legos For 3-D Software To Design Toys.

Business Editors/High-Tech & Education Writers

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 21, 1999

Intergalactic 3-D Video Game from think3 Turns Aaron Ream

Into World's Youngest Known Mechanical Designer; think3 to Create

Game-Based Learning Lab for Local Elementary School 

While most kids have been busy writing wish lists for Santa Claus this holiday season, one third-grader in Wichita, Kan. -- Aaron Ream

-- has been designing toys for himself, giving Santa's elves a run for their money.

What's more, the 8-year-old has been doing it using skills he learned playing his favorite intergalactic 3-D video game, "The Monkey Wrench Conspiracy."

The game-based learning software Aaron's been playing over the past few weeks is aimed at teaching university-level students and professionals, rather than 8-year-olds, to learn and use advanced 3-D mechanical design skills to design the kinds of things that surround us in our daily lives: everything from boutique home accessories, high tech running shoes, and home appliances to engine parts and sit-on-top kayaks.

"It's been really fun playing Monkey Wrench and designing things in 3-D," says Aaron. "Sometimes I can't wait to get home to play on the computer and show my friends all the cool things I can do. Right now, I'm designing a pod racer, Sebulba's pod racer from Star Wars: Episode I. It's sort of like a hover craft that can go up to 600 miles an hour! The next thing I'd like to do is design my own toy and build the real thing from a 3-D model. That will be really cool!"

To promote 3-D design among Aaron's neighborhood pals and schoolmates, think3 is working with Aaron's elementary school, Emerson Magnet, to set up a game-based learning lab. Already, the company has donated thousands of dollars in software and hardware fully loaded with "The Monkey Wrench Conspiracy" video game, along with the company's thinkdesign, thinkstart and thinkreal 3-D design software.

"Not only has the Monkey Wrench game been a lot of fun," says Aaron's dad, John Ream, "but the tutorial was excellent and Aaron has been happy as a clam playing the game and learning how to design in 3-D. He's been building models for years with LEGOs, K'NEX and a variety of other building sets. But he's barely touched his LEGOs since discovering the Monkey Wrench, because it doesn't pose any physical design limitations."

No one was more gratified to learn about Aaron's experience than Joe Costello, chairman and CEO of 3-D design software upstart think3, and mastermind behind this breakthrough approach to high tech learning.

"It was a dream come true to hear about Aaron," says Costello. "The Monkey Wrench has opened up an entire world of 3-dimensional design creativity for Aaron, a world without the limits and boundaries of traditional toys, like LEGOs, blocks and building structures. His experience completely validates my belief that 3-D design can be easy to learn and easy to use, as long as you make it fun, exciting, engaging and full of real content. I mean, if an 8-year-old can get up and running on 3-D design software in just hours, it means just about anyone can. That's really exciting!"

"Although bright, Aaron is just a normal kid that likes the same things as other kids his age," says Ream. "His learning curve has actually been greater than most users of CAD software because he has to learn many math and design basics that they don't usually teach third graders. However, he has several strong motivators -- imagination, creativity and the thirst for learning -- that no doubt are what keep him going."

Intergalactic World of Intrigue and Mystery Makes 3-D Design Pop!

According to think3's Costello, "The idea behind The Monkey Wrench is to get mechanical designers up and running fast on 3-D design software, which has been difficult to learn until now. That's the beauty of turning games into learning tools. Handing anyone an inches-thick book or, for that matter, taking a dense training manual and simply putting it on the computer is not the answer. Games bring a level of entertainment and fun to the experience. Once you've captured the imagination, the mind is much more open to real learning. That's just as true for grownups as it is for little kids like Aaron."

think3's unique, game-based approach to education and training gives students a fun and entertaining video arcade classroom atmosphere for learning and using 3-D design skills. "The Monkey Wrench Conspiracy" 3-D video game transports players like Aaron into an intergalactic world where the evil Dr. Monkey Wrench has hijacked the Copernicus space station. Their mission? To become secret agents dispatched to deep space to thwart the evil Dr. Monkey Wrench's plans to destroy a hijacked space station. To survive, they must design everything they'll need to foil their enemies. Along the way, there are space walks, plenty of bad guys (robots) and booby traps. If a design is flawed, the player is temporarily disabled.

In the course of playing the game, players learn and use 3-D skills by actually using think3's 3-D design software. Throughout the game, they can easily view a series of instructions explaining how to execute the appropriate design moves, or walk through a help list of directives on the right side of the screen. In non-gaming mode, they have the option to take a more traditional path to learning, which still makes 3-D learning simpler and more engaging than ever before. For more information regarding "The Monkey Wrench Conspiracy," visit The Monkey Wrench Zone at http://www.think3.com.

think3 Donates $10 Million-Plus in Software to Bring 3-D to the Masses

think3's game-based learning software is the cornerstone of the company's worldwide educational grant program, thinkstart, which debuted Spring 1999. The program bolsters think3's efforts to bring the benefits of 3-D to the masses of mechanical engineering and industrial design students and designers still working in 2-D, primarily with AutoCAD(TM) from Autodesk (Nasdaq:ADSK).

Through thinkstart, the company is working with educational institutions worldwide to establish 3-D game-based learning labs for mechanical engineering and industrial design students. To date, think3 has donated more than $10 million in software to elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, vocational schools, colleges and universities worldwide. For more information regarding think3's new thinkstart education program, please send an e-mail to [e-mail] or call Silvia Pineda at 408/987-6832.

About think3

think3 is a privately held "upstart" company that produces software for designing common, everyday objects, ranging from home appliances, children's safety products and engine parts to boutique home accessories and custom cars, to name a few.

Under the direction of chairman and CEO Joe Costello, think3 is taking a markedly different consumer-oriented approach to capturing the imaginations of 2-D designers. It's launched a new brand of software -- thinkdesign -- that delivers 3-D power at a 2-D price, taking full advantage of today's high-performance, low-cost PC workstations. It's making it fun and entertaining for designers to learn 3-D skills with an innovative approach to education and training-game-based learning. And it's leveraging the power of the Internet in all aspects of its business, ranging from customer care and VAR partner programs to e-commerce.

With think3, customers get the power of high-end 3-D mechanical design software packages from Dassault Systems (Nasdaq:DASTY), Parametric Technology Corp. (Nasdaq:PMTC), Structural Dynamics Research Corp. (Nasdaq:SDRC) and Unigraphics (Nasdaq:UGS) at a fraction of the price -- and at an even lower cost than traditional low-end 2-D packages such as AutoCAD from Autodesk (Nasdaq:ADSK).

think3 is headquartered in Santa Clara, with engineering centered in Bologna, Italy. think3 products are sold directly by think3, online at http://www.think3.com (U.S.), and through a worldwide network of distributors and VARs. Among the company's top customers are Adidas, Alessi, Buell Motorcycles (a division of Harley-Davidson), Candy/Hoover, Dinan, Mercedes, Perception Kayak, Peugeot Citroen Automobile (PSA) and Tycos Tool & Die. For more information about think3 or to shop for think3 products online, go to http://www.think3.com.

Note to Editors: think3, thinkreal, thinkdesign, thinkstart and thinkshape are trademarks of think3.All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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