Tuesday’s keynote session and welcome — held in an enormous, concert hall-esque room — highlighted some inspiring examples that answered Bass’ initial question: Why do engineers do this work?
Emily Pilloton, founder of Project H, shared her experiences working with high school students in Bertie County, North Carolina, and redesigning a school district through a shop class, Studio H.
In the class, students receive 17 college credits after a year-long look at the entire design process; and how each one can impact his/her community.
After her presentation, Bass noted that Pilloton is the only person featured on the Autodesk stage that has also appeared on The Colbert Report.
Space Travel
Dmitri Kolyuzhnov of Escape Dynamics, the second speaker, regaled the crowed with visions of changing the fundamentals of space travel.
He argued that by shifting the way we think about going into space — from rockets to airplanes — we could open up space for large-scale exploration.
Back on earth, two infrastructure projects have shown how new tools can help visualize and sell large-scale construction projects.
Ron Paananen, program administrator for the Washington State Department of Transportation, shared how the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program project was able to combine paper, CAD, and GIS data to create 90 different options for replacing this damaged but important part of Seattle infrastructure.
Similarly, Caltrans, the California Department of Transportation, has used new visualization tools to improve their roadway projects.
Public Information Officer Bart Ney shared how he has used modeling to show stakeholders projections for new roadways.
He displayed a 180-degree driving simulator that allows virtual drivers to experience the projected roads. He also noted that this technology would soon be available on the iPad as well.
Tesla, Vegas Style
In a demonstration you’d only see in Vegas, Franz Van Holzhausen, chief designer and creative director for Tesla Motors drove the Model S sedan onto the stage to show off its design.
The car uses 6,831 standard form factor lithium ion batteries for power, and can go about 300 miles per charge. Van Holzhausen also emphasized the sleek design of the car, which he referred to as an “aspirational and beautiful product.”
TRON Legacy
The computer nerd highlight of the day came courtesy of Cliff Plumer, CEO of Digital Domain, who shared some of the processes used in the development of the new TRON movie, TRON Legacy.
Plumer said they used powerful visual development technologies to sell the movie before there was a script, story, or actors.
They created a three minute preview of the movie to show Disney executives, which Plumer said made it an easy sell. It gave the studio advanced ideas for ride, television, and game applications.
Scott Summit, co-funder of Bespoke Innovations, remained good-natured even though he had to follow a TRON presentation with ‘the power of customizable prosthetics.’ He emphasized that new technologies have shifted manufacturing away from the age of mass production.
“When something is made for everyone, it’s not made for anyone in particular,” he explained. He shared several examples of both beautiful and functional prosthetic designs that show how the specific user was kept in mind through the entire design process.
Infinite Computing Makes Designs More Powerful
Jeff Kowalski, Autodesk chief technology officer, stated that infinite computing can make computers more aware, more powerful, and more accessible.
According to Kowalski, executives see infinite computing as an important future technology as it can allow for faster simulations for designers.
“Computer power is plentiful. It exists everywhere, and we are never out of touch with data and project teams,” Kowalski said.
Additionally, Kowalski added that cloud computing is a relatively cheap asset with prices that are exponentially decreasing. Engineers working in the cloud now have more power at their disposal, for less cost.
Autodesk Labs Make Designs More Accessible
A number of the technology previews featured projects that have recently graduated from Autodesk Labs as a testament to the future of Autodesk software and how users can utilize infinite computing.
Labs are pre-beta software ideas available to a small community of Autodesk early adopters – about 10 percent of users.
Inventor Optimization Technology Preview, for example, is a web-based simulation tool that allows engineers to minimize weight and cost, and improve product safety.
Project Neon and Project Krypton are two further examples. Neon offers real-time design analysis, while Krypton features project rendering in the cloud for better visualization of projects.
Many of these examples utilize cloud computing so users don’t need to download software or perform heavy calculations on local computers.
Mobile Data Makes Designs More Aware
Autodesk University 2011 also focused on mobile data and accessibility in the field.
Executives announced an update to the mobile platform, AutoCAD WS, for the iPad and iPhone. In eight weeks, over 410,000 users have registered and uploaded 430,000 drawings.
Version 1.1 will be available soon, and features new offline support for designs. It will also allow for direct file uploads from an iPad as well as a simpler gesture interface.
When asked about other tablets and mobile device access, Kowalski told reporters that Autodesk strives to be “agile enough to be able to move where the wind is blowing,” and designs the core of this technology to be platform neutral.
Once it makes financial sense for Autodesk to add new platforms, he said it’s as simple as developing the users expected interface for the device.
The Impact of Design
In his closing remarks at the opening session, Bass argued that good design is the connection between invention, ideas, and innovation, turning those ideas into a reality.
He suggested that the impact of new products can be measured by whether they change behaviors.
Designers are at the center of arbitrating the infinite number of design possibilities. According to Bass, Autodesk offers designers a way to navigate these choices.“Good design is the essential part of innovation,” he said. “Good design creates impact.”
