innerworkings - Train your developers to code (properly)
I spent some time talking to Bob and the guys at innerworkings about their product and service - it is a developer training interface which integrates directly with Visual Studio and gives developers (ones that write code for a living rather than students) practice based learning opportunities to hone and improve their skills on building .NET applications.
They are based in Dublin and gave me a demo over LiveMeeting a week or so ago to show what their service does. The product is pretty cool and the fact it embeds itself directly within Visual Studio makes it a natural learning tool that doesn't interrupt a developer's production environment. Here is some blurb from their site on their offering:
Take .NET training that's 100% practice-based Gain skills by solving problems using key .NET techniques Work at your own pace in a realistic learning environment Get feedback as you learn from our code-checking engine Enjoy smart, engaging, and effective .NET learning 
NOW THE GOOD NEWS IF YOU ARE A STUDENT: innerworkings have very kindly offered us 60 FREE test accounts on their training environment to distribute as part of the Imagine Cup Software Design challenge. That means that teams will be able to spend time getting very practical development skills on .NET. This will increase their chances of doing well in the competition but more importantly will help them shine when they come to interview for jobs after university. And I'm hoping that innerworkings will become an industry mentor for a team in this year's competition and pass on their wisdom to a lucky team ;-)
Go check out www.innerworkings.com
