Anticipating growing demand for eLearning built for Silverlight, Saffron has created a dedicated team to explore how it can be used to enhance the online learning experience. Hanif Sazen, CEO of Saffron Interactive, says, "We see Silverlight as being one of the key technologies of the future, and, with a number of development projects for Microsoft under way, it only made sense for us to create a dedicated team."

One of the key benefits of Silverlight is that it enables designers and developers to work in parallel and therefore reduces overall development time. It also supports smooth and high-quality 3D graphics and animation rendering, making it a competitive alternative to Flash for creating engaging eLearning.

The sub-surface fire awareness course is for Heathrow Express' business partners and second-tier suppliers, who total approximately 700 people in a range of job roles ranging from cleaners to engineers. The course will not only meet necessary requirements, but will also increase learners' awareness of the risks of fire and their ability to respond appropriately in the event of one. This invaluable training will also include a focus on track awareness and demonstrates Heathrow Express' commitment to the safety of its passengers and staff.

A key part of the training will be to maintain learner engagement and make a clear link between the training and their work at the Heathrow Express site. To overcome this challenge, Saffron is working closely with the Heathrow Express team to develop an expert understanding of the content and to create bespoke graphics and animations.


Furthermore, the course will include realistic and relevant dilemmas to enable the learner to recognize how their correctly raising the alarm in the event of a fire will save lives.

Heathrow Express' Learning and Development Manager Chris Knapp says, "We currently run approximately 46 sub-surface fire awareness courses a year, on average attended by 20 delegates each. The new eLearning course will deliver the training in one hour with no travel required, bringing a direct business benefit of 2760 hours per year. Over the projected five-year lifespan of the course, that's a total saving of over 13,800 hours from delegates alone."