Between the Lines

Don't Let the Kids Brains Turn to Mush

While many kids are home from school, take this as an opportunity to keep them learning. Find some interesting and fun projects (good to use fun to hide the learning benefit with kids) on the Instructables site. Also consider Tinkercad which is free, fun and can build and flex spatial and design thinking skills that will be invaluable to builder a better future. Another great Resource for exploring and learning: Distance Learning Resources from the Smithsonian https://learninglab.si.edu/ Read more →

We All Need a Happy Hour – You In?

With so many working from home or feeling anxious and isolated due to COVID-19 uncertainty, I thought it might be a good thing to get together at least digitally to talk about tech, life, laugh, summer plans, and just socialize. We must not get isolated and sad and instead find new ways to reach out and connect and support each other. What do you think, would you join a free Zoom video call to connect? It would be a Happy... Read more →

A Message from Autodesk on COVID-19

Please take a moment to read the message from Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost on what Autodesk is doing about coronavirus COVID-19 for our customers, employees, partners, families, and our communities. Read the Message autode.sk/covid-19 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 →

Tips and Tricks for Working Remotely

Many of us out of caution by our employers may be finding themselves working from home, and need a support group with tips on how to effectively work from home and perhaps the social isolation that creates from colleagues. The Autodesk community has started a thread for people to share their tips and tricks and it might be a good resource for you. Having a community helps in challenging times. “Tips and tricks for working remotely https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/the-community-room/tips-and-tricks-for-working-remotely/td-p/9374553 Hello Autodesk community!... Read more →

Congratulations Old Timers

At 22 years with Autodesk, many consider me an “old timer”, but I'm really not compared to others at Autodesk. Internally back in the day Autodesk employees referred to themselves as “deskers”, and “old timers” was a term of respect for those with a 20 year gold badge or more. Last week at the One Team Conference, we celebrated 35 years for Simon Jones of GCD (Autodesk Global Consulting Delivery). Simon has accomplished so much for AEC at Autodesk and... Read more →

Thank You Bill Adams

Bill was a rare human that no matter what was going on, Bill made you smile or laugh. Bill Adams has been a longtime smiling Revit BIM and Star Wars loving Autodesk community member at AU, AUGI, the Internet (yes the entire Internet) and honestly everywhere where he could. He was always, and I mean always the first to wish this blog a happy anniversary even making a cake at 7 years or wishing me a birthday especially since he... Read more →

Manufacturing and AEC Construction Industries are Starting to Converge

“For years, architects, engineers, and contractors have talked about converging manufacturing and construction processes. AECOM is working to make it happen.” This is a good article detailing a customer case and how AECOM is working in the converging industries of manufacturing and AEC construction. Creating the Conditions for Convergence Read more →

Autodesk Gets Even More Serious on Industrialized Construction

Industrialized construction (IC) is a construction system that uses more innovative and integrated techniques that connect the design to-make process. Just this past Friday it was announced that that Amy Marks aka “Queen of Prefab” has joined Autodesk as the Head of Industrialized Construction Strategy and Evangelism. Amy Marks joining shows one more proof point on how serious the commitment is from Autodesk that Industrialized Construction is critical to the future of construction. Read the announcement: Insights from the Queen... 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 →

The Digital Vaults of the Smithsonian Museum Have Opened

This week, 2.8 million of the Smithsonian Museum’s digital collections were released for public use from https://www.si.edu/openaccess. You can now download, transform, and share the wonders of the Smithsonian. When I first met with the Smithsonian at the beginning of the digitizing project I had no idea we would get to this exciting point that the collection will be open and free. This is an amazing resource for learning around the world. 21st-Century Diffusion with Smithsonian Open Access “For the... Read more →

Geometry Systems for AEC Generative Design

If you are interested in new and innovative techniques to define geometry or spaces using generative design, this article is for you. The article by Lorenzo Villaggi Senior Research Scientist, The Living, an Autodesk Studio is filled with lots of information and a link to further Autodesk University class material. ”This article will show how to approach design problems through the generative design framework (problem formulation) with a focus on how to incorporate design intents in the form of geometric... 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 →

Ski on a Powerplant

Yesterday I met up with the AEC Hackathon team and a local architect and skier for a special tour of Copenhill. Copenhill is a Powerplant where they built a public year around ski hill on top of the powerplant. Copenhagen doesn't normally get snow or even have nearby mountains, so this innovative project gives locals the ability to ski every day of the year. They ski on a silicone mesh placed over the natural grass on the roof. The powerplant... Read more →

Autodesk Portland

The Autodesk Portland office has become a favorite among employees for its uniquely Portland Oregon style and history. Now the office has its own sticker thanks to Fusion 360 team member Jake Fowler and his graphics illustration skills. I think he captured the character of the building perfectly! Here is looking from the west. 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 →

Making Sustainable Design More Cost Effective

“In late 2020, the Beijing skyline will welcome an eye-catching new addition: the Beijing CBD Z6 Tower. With a 5-star hotel and office space for 10,000 people, the CBD Z6 Tower features a design innovative for its visual impact and its sustainability. The CBD Z6 Tower takes its shape from a flower bud just beginning to blossom. A double-skin façade system of panels serves as the bud’s “petals” and provides a gap in the cladding that supports natural ventilation, keeping... Read more →

Learn AutoCAD Cassette from 1986

In a blast from the past I took the infamous cassette tape in my Autodesk historical collection and purchased a cassette tape to MP3 converter to see if the 34 year old cassette had anything good on it after all this time, and who was the voice on the tape. The cassette was still good! Low and behold it had someone I had not expected, Autodesk founder John walker narrating the 30 minute cassette tape and at the end talking about product support and bug reporting. Upon listening I was transported magically back to 1986. Read more →

Happy 161st Birthday

Happy 161st Birthday to my beautiful Oregon! Here are a couple of my favorite photos I have taken of Oregon. Read more →

Be Mine

Happy Valentines Day 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 →

Autodesk Maya Bonus Tools

The Maya Team has posted a compilation of free and updated Maya Bonus Tools 2019-2020 to the Autodesk App store for use with Maya 2017, 2018, 2019, and Maya 2020. Bonus Tools 2019/2020 is a free collection of useful Autodesk® Maya® scripts and plug-ins. After installing Bonus Tools, an additional pull-down menu will be added to the end of the main Maya menu. This menu provides easy access to a variety of tools and utilities for daily use. Maya Bonus... 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 →