Between the Lines

Thinking Big with Generative Design

See how Stanley Black & Decker’s Breakthrough Innovation Group used generative design and additive manufacturing technologies in a pilot project to lightweight its crimping tool attachment part. The Power of Generative Design is coming to Autodesk Netfabb 2018 “The resulting generative design may look a bit unusual to some, but it reduced the hydraulic crimping attachment weight by just over 3lbs, or 60%. The simulations that were run concurrently showed that the tool maintained the strength characteristics of the original... Read more →

Kids at Autodesk Day

This has to be one of my favorite days of the year at the office, and I remember my grown children attending back in the San Rafael HQ office many years ago. Our employees bring their children in and each office organizes a series of activities. In our Lake Oswego, Oregon office (Portland), we held our Kids at Autodesk Day last Friday. The kids from young to older teenagers signed in and got their own Autodesk badges and then a... Read more →

Pup on Wheels

Autodesk colleague Lizzie Bennett brought Jackson into the Autodesk office, because we love dogs at Autodesk. Jackson is a Corgi with a degenerative disease requiring him to use wheels for mobility. He is such a happy and energetic pup that loves to play fetch. Read more →

Generative Design for the Office Layout

Autodesk used Generative Design to define the optimal workspace in one of our offices. In the future we see design taking in the employee and organizational preferences in the office neighborhoods. Make sure those that work frequently together are located in close proximity, employees that like the sunny exposure are seated in sunny portions of the office, and the employees that prefer a quiet space are in planned quiet area neighborhoods of the office. Think of it like the design... Read more →

Autodesk Has a New CEO

It is breaking news, Autodesk has a new CEO, Andrew Anagnost., Get used to spelling and saying his last name. Our Next Chapter: A Letter from Andrew Anagnost Read more →

Autodesk Pride

Autodesk and our employees are participating in Pride events in Boston, Portland, Toronto, and San Francisco. In Portland, we are a sponsor and have employee volunteers staffing a booth. Autodesk believes strongly in inclusion not only in our workplace, but also our community and world. If you are attending Portland Pride 2017 Saturday and Sunday, stop by booth D6 & D12. I will be volunteering and supporting the booth from 11:00am to 4:00pm on Sunday. Photos from our Autodesk local... Read more →

AU5K Bigger than Ever

Will this be the year you run Autodesk University? AU5k plans for Autodesk University 2017 coming soon. After popular demand and 4 years of fun runs, the morning runs will now be an AU event and on the Autodesk University schedule for Monday & Tuesday at 5:45am. It started a couple year ago when I wanted to get in a run before the long AU conference day began, so I invited others and it grew from there. It has a... Read more →

2nd Annual 3D Web Fest on June 30

Mind blowing visual experience in San Francisco! What: 3D + art + music + tech = one night of jaw-dropping visuals. 3D Web Fest showcases top 3D web creations with live performances by their creators. All proceeds benefit CODAME (ART+TECH projects and nonprofit events, to inspire through experience.) When: Friday, June 30th, 6pm Where: Palace of Fine Arts San Francisco Why: Be inspired, amazed, and maybe disturbed and raise money for CODAME. www.3DWebFest.com Read more →

Technology in 2050

Autodesk colleague Maurice Conti, Director of Strategic Innovation was featured on The Economist podcast Babbage: Megatech: Technology in 2050 http://bit.ly/2rGNxqh. Co-hosted by Economist editors Kenneth Cukier and Daniel Franklin, the episode explores the practical, ethical and philosophical questions raised by the technological advances shaping our society in this century. During the segment with Maurice, the discussion focuses on how a symbiotic relationship between humans and machines will enhance how we design, produce, and even live. This is a great insightful... Read more →

Happy Floppy Ear Friday

I'm in the middle of moving across town and thought I would share video of my new neighbor that has already adopted me. Oakley is a 6 month old Golden Retriever that immediately bonded with me. Yesterday he ran intro my house carrying a stick to play fetch. Here is Oakley and me playing last evening. A post shared by Shaan (@shaanhurley) on Jun 8, 2017 at 8:59pm PDT He tried to get in my car when I was leaving,... Read more →

Throwback Thursday – Autodesk Mugs

Back in the day Autodesk used to be fond of giving coffee mugs to people. I will never remember my first coffee mug as an Autodesk customer and beta tester in 1995. It was a black shiny mug with the Autodesk calipers logo and text in gold flake. A couple years back a fellow Autodesker gave me a much older Autodesk coffee mug for the collection. You can see the mug in the second photo sitting on an unopened early... Read more →

Nested Dielectrics - I Will Drink to That Fusion 360 Update!

Nested Dielectrics are literally a beautiful thing! It sounds like a medical condition or power system design, but In simple terms it is the ability to set priority of the object to render much like draw order works. The ability to allow the order of render priority for transparent materials and was part of the recent May 30, 2017 update to Fusion 360. Here is a blog post on how to use it. How to create realistic renderings with transparent... Read more →

Premiums Instructables for Teachers and Students

Students & teachers get free premium Instructables memberships! Take online classes & explore educational projects. Examples of Instructables for teachers and students: 100 STEAM Projects for Teachers Instructables for Young Engineers If you are not aware, Instructables is a gem for learning how to make almost anything. With step by step instructions called Instructables you lean how to do everything from science projects to building a boat and even to baking a rainbow layered cake or building a campfire or... Read more →

The Future of Making

Cars, buildings, consumer products, luxury goods, clothing & airplanes are being reinvented. Find out more, and pre-order your hard copy of the Future of Making: http://autode.sk/2rxtknH Learn more about one of the stories in the book Modeling Paradise, where Autodesk employee Brett Casson and myself were in Bali working with IBUKU capturing amazing sustainable designed bamboo architecture in 3D. In addition to traditional LiDAR we had some prototype a LiDAR carrying drone and a handheld LIDAR from CSIRO. I will... Read more →