Between the Lines

Be Part of Autodesk University 2020

Autodesk University 2020 and connected events will be reimagined as digital experiences this year. We have started the call for proposals from May 20, 2020 and it is open until June 22, 2020. For this year, I am considering some proposals myself including ones focused on innovation as well as how a hackathon or innovation sprint can surface innovative solutions to challenges for your company or industry. Be a leader and submit an idea In addition to proposing a class... Read more →

COVID-19 Design Challenges – Call To Action

My longtime friend and Autodesk colleague Kean Walmsley and I have been talking about ways Autodesk technology might assist our customers, and even us at Autodesk in these changing times or the “new normal”. How might we evaluate social distancing, points where people could congregate or HVAC flows all based on best health and safety practices being publicly discussed in this potential new normal environment when many self isolated communities slowly phase back in public settings and buildings. I would... Read more →

Enter the AEC Excellence Awards 2020

Do you have an outstanding architecture, engineering, or construction project that deserves recognition? Showcase it to the world in the AEC Excellence Awards 2020. Enter now: autode.sk/34DBTOC Don’t miss the opportunity to showcase your outstanding design and construction projects. The call for entries opens on April 15, 2020. Deadline for submission is June 10, 2020. https://youtu.be/LSC8yxbvJVQ Read more →

Digital Happy Hours – We Must Stay Connected

We held a Digital Happy Hour via Zoom last evening with 6 amazing people. This is just something of an experiment to connect and support each other and raise a glass and laugh. It was good and we all needed to laugh, share what was going on in our lives, and interact while most are working from home isolated and keeping social distances in real life. In the end it was unanimous to hold it again and several indicated others... Read more →

AEC Mass Timber Summit and Hackathon Postponed

The AEC Mass Timber Summit and Hackathon planned for next weekend in Portland Oregon has been postponed due to the coronavirus health emergency.For more information, please stay tuned to https://www.masstimberhackathon.com/ This is the message from AEC Hackathon co-founder Greg Howes: “Due to Covid-19 we have postponed the first Mass Timber Summit and Hackathon in Portland, Oregon on March 20-22nd The Mass Timber Conference on March 24-26th in Portland has also been cancelled. We wish everyone good health during this difficult... Read more →

Up Close and Personal with 3ds Max Event

Join the team behind 3ds Max for a first look at and discussion around recent Max updates. During this 2 hour and 30 minute live stream event, we'll be joined by guests from Scanline VFX, Ubisoft, and Hoare Lea. 1:00-1:20: Introduction & Updated Roadmap; Nancy LaRue, Industry Marketing Manager with Product Manager 1:20-1:40: Arnold & Physical Material as default, Viewport updates; Zap Andersson, Principal SW Engineer 1:40-1:55: Bake to Texture; Louis Marcoux, Principal UX Designer 1:55-2:10: Modeling Updates; Logan Foster,... Read more →

AEC Hackathon Copenhagen 2020

"The world is becoming too fast, too complex, too networked for any company to have all the answers inside." Yochai Benkler This past weekend myself and consultants Jan Liska and Paolo Serra from Autodesk Global Consulting Delivery participated in the public AEC Hackathon in Copenhagen Denmark. These AEC Hackathon events are where experts from the built environment and tech innovators get together to break silos in the AEC industry. This AEC Hackathon was hosted by the inspiring innovation lab BLOXHUB... Read more →

Greetings from the Happiest Place on Earth

Denmark in many studies is listed as having the happiest citizens, and I think it is absolutely true. This weekend I am joined by two amazing Autodesk Global Consulting employees Jan Liska and Paolo Serra to participate in the AEC Hackathon in Copenhagen Denmark. This Hackathon begins today at 15:30 and continues until Sunday evening. The tech talks are free and to participate in the hacking it is a small ticket price with discounts for students. Join Us Next Week... Read more →

Limbitless Impact Through Design

Last week, the Autodesk Portland office was fortunate enough to have one of our Autodesk Foundation grantees visit and speak to our employees and product teams about their non profit named Limbitless. Limbitless is working with OHSU, a local hospital and one of four in the United States that are running medical trials to get FDA medical approval from testing prosthetics with children. Limbitless uses Fusion 360 and Eagle to design the prosthetics and also use Maya for developing a... Read more →

Join Us Next Week to Innovate and Break AEC Silos

There is a great AEC Hackathon event being held next week in beautiful Copenhagen Denmark. The goal is to break down the silos in AEC design, technology, and the workflows to result in better cities. I will be joined by two of the expertly skilled and amazing Autodesk consultants from our Autodesk Global Consulting Delivery organization. It’s going to be a lot of work and fun. You should consider attending if you will be in Copenhagen end of next week,... Read more →

One Team Conference

Are you an Autodesk employee or Autodesk partner that is attending OTC in Las Vegas in two weeks and interested in meeting and discussing innovation? I would love to meet readers and those interested in innovation areas for Autodesk customers and their industries. Click Here To Email Me Read more →

Learn How to Create Electrical Schematics in Fusion 360

There is a free webinar next week that will teach you how to harness (pun intended) the new ECAD feature in Fusion 360. My first schematic with Fusion 360 The building block of every successful circuit board is it's schematic. The Schematic editor is engineered to save design time by providing access to thousands of components. In this webinar you will learn how to design your first schematic. February 11, 2020 02:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Register Now Read more →

Mass Timber Summit and Hackathon in Portland Oregon

Are you passionate about technology, AEC design, sustainable wood, and mass timber design and construction? If you answered yes to any of these, you should consider attending the Mass Timber Summit Hackathon being held in beautiful Portland Oregon March 20-22, 2020. Join leading architects, engineers, researchers, builders, fabricators, real estate professionals and technologists for a weekend of innovation focused on mass timber, digitalization of construction, automation, robotics and software. Mass Timber Workshops and Hackathon Link to Event Page www.masstimberhackathon.com Presenters... Read more →

Tomorrow's Construction - 2020 Trends

A webinar was recently held and recorded with some good information covering the future of the construction industry. This Autodesk online event was moderated by Matthew Steere and had panelist Olivier Lepinoy and Ryan McMahon. All three know the current state of construction and have research and ideas on how the future of construction will develop. “The construction industry of 2010 looks dramatically different than the one at the end of 2019 – and for good reason. Today’s jobsites are... Read more →

AEC Hackathon 7.0 Copenhagen

One of my favorite events filled with innovative thinking and ideas combined with collaborative fun and technology are the AEC Hackathons held around the world. The next big AEC Hackathon is being held next month in one of my favorite cities in the world, Copenhagen Denmark. ] Feb 21 2020 18:00 - Feb 23 2020 20:00 In a nutshell, the hackathon starts with a group of people from industry, academia, tech, architects, and programmers that for the most part don't... Read more →

Architecture, BIM, and Mechanical Community Meetups

Architecture Community Virtual MeetUp Do you work in the architectural field? Do you have questions about tools within AutoCAD, Revit, or another Autodesk architectural software platform? Are you looking to pick the brains of talented professional engineers in your field? If so, please join us for our Architectural Community Virtual Meetup on the 4th Tuesday of each month. Next Architecture Community Virtual MeetUp Tuesday, January 28, 2020 8:00am PT | 11:00am ET This month you’ll learn how to develop sets... Read more →

XR Party

I attended a great XR Party (Extended Reality (AR & VR) last evening in Portland at Open Signal PDX , the Open Signal: Portland Community Media Center. It was a gathering of the XR community and showed a short in XR no longer being just a cool fringe technology, but now a maturing communication and story telling technology platform as XR us being used in many businesses from marketing, gaming, journalists, architects, story tellers, local community organizations, and artists all... Read more →

The Autodesk Group Network – Find Your Group

There are currently 70+ groups around the World and growing of thousands of Autodesk product and technology users just like you. Go have a look and find your group or enter your existing group (add a group) to the growing list. Local groups are an invaluable resource and network as I remember running the Portland Autodesk Users Group years and years ago and many awesome local people looking to share ways of using the software and back then it was... Read more →

Innovation Stations Open at OMSI

On Friday evening I attended the grand opening at the OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) for the new Center for Innovation - Innovation Station exhibit in the turbine hall. OMSI's Center for Innovation is using our community's creativity and design thinking to solve global problems. And its fun! Tinkercad was also released for a new group of kids and adult visitors of OMSI on Friday as part of the new Center for Innovation exhibit. Children and adults alike... Read more →

AEC Excellence Awards 2019

Every year we recognize some customers for their AEC designs. Every year I am amazed, inspired, and in awe of their projects and the innovative ways they used Autodesk software. These nine winners and the Innovator of the Year will present at Autodesk University 2019 in only a couple of weeks. Read about the winning customers and their projects. ”When it comes to the AEC industry, projects come in all shapes and sizes. So does the innovative use of technology—whether... Read more →

Autodesk University 2019 Thrive Guide

We are now less than four weeks from Autodesk University 2019! Autodesk University is the premier Autodesk customer event held yearly where several thousand creative design and visualization experts descend on Las Vegas. They arrive wide eyed, craving knowledge from the best in the industry. They leave tired and full of valuable knowledge to make them more productive back at work. After attending every Las Vegas based Autodesk University, I have compiled and published this annual long list of tips... Read more →

Autodesk Media and Entertainment Showcase 2019

Last Thursday in our Portland Autodesk office, we held a free event for anyone to celebrate and show the creative customers and community of our entertainment products such as Autodesk Maya and Autodesk 3ds Max. We had several presentations from local visual fx and animation studios with amazing visuals and insight on how they work and create what they do. We also had two Autodesk product owners of 3ds Max and Bifrost. Speakers Gabe Selinger of Liquid Development Sarah DeFlaminis... Read more →

If You Love 3D and are in Portland Oregon Today

I hope if you are in the Portland Oregon area today, that you plan to attend the second annual Autodesk Media and Entertainment Showcase. The event is free with some food and refreshments with the highlight amazing local speakers who use Autodesk Media and Entertainment products like 3ds Max and Maya. See how people are using Autodesk products to create amazing VFX and animations and how technology can be used in incredible ways to unleash creativity and save time. You... Read more →

Autodesk Portland Media and Entertainment Showcase Event is Next Week

I hope if you are in the Portland Oregon area, that you plan to attend this second Media and Entertainment Showcase. The event is free with some food and refreshments with the highlight being amazing local speakers who use Autodesk Media and Entertainment products like 3ds Max and Maya. See how people are using Autodesk products to create amazing VFX and animations and how technology can be used in incredible ways to unleash creativity and save time. You will also... Read more →

Start Your AU5K Training Tomorrow With This Easy Training Plan

Autodesk University is just over a month, a mere 48 days from now in November, and once again the highly popular AU5K is once again happening on Tuesday morning at AU with hundreds running, walking, and cheering last year. Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost even ran last year and has plans to run with us again this year. So please join me and everyone else at the AU5K and start preparing for it now with easy attainable steps building up. I... Read more →