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Autodesk offers free software access to fuel innovation

18th June 2015

By: Natasha Odendaal

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

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In an attempt to fuel innovation, uncover new-world innovators and designers, and advance design and engineering, Autodesk has opened up its professional design, engineering and entertainment software portfolio to those wanting to learn.

Students, teachers, universities, schools and other academic institutions, as well as qualifying hobbyists and design enthusiasts, worldwide, now received free access to Autodesk’s professional software and services, Autodesk strategic initiatives director Jonathan Knowles told Engineering News Online on the sidelines of the fourth yearly Autodesk University Extension, in Bryanston, Johannesburg, on Thursday.

Following on an initiative late last year that saw all US schools and universities gain access to the extensive portfolio, Autodesk expanded access to include “every country, every teacher and every student, anywhere” in an effort to “tap” into the youths’ desire to design and create things.

The youth – in effect digital natives – were already “pushing the boundaries of design and innovation” and their experimentation and training on the software would unleash a better-trained and adaptable workforce ready to design for new manufacturing and construction techniques in a rapidly changing world.

Knowles said Autodesk was “working hard” to reach new designers and innovators, as the next game-changing innovation would likely come from the most unexpected place, particularly amid the power of marrying a tablet or computer and an Internet connection in an age where university lectures, such as those at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, were being made available for download free of charge.

He added that he “fundamentally believed” that innovative design and engineering would solve most of the current challenges the world faced, but the cost of acquiring the right software remained an inhibitor for most.

Further, many of the programmes on offer were also now user-friendly, as part of fuelling innovation meant ensuring the tools were easy to understand and use.

Further democratising the design software, smaller businesses, or those not undertaking projects on a regular basis, could subscribe to the Autodesk range on an as-needed basis, unsubscribing upon completion of the project, penalty free.

In line with this, the group had also launched a $100-million Spark Investment Fund to push the boundaries of three-dimensional (3D) printing and drive the growth of the 3D ecosytem, starting with a $10-million injection into Silicon Valley-based Carbon 3D.

In October, Autodesk announced that it intended to invest, over the next several years, in entrepreneurs, startups and researchers that revolutionised 3D printing technology and accelerated the “new industrial revolution”.

Autodesk previously noted that Carbon 3D’s Continuous Liquid Interface Production technology overcame the current speed, mechanical properties and material choice limitations of the 3D printing industry, and “promised” to connect the digital thread from design through prototyping to 3D manufacturing by enabling the production of commercial quality parts.

This followed on the unveiling of the open and free 3D printing software platform Spark, with Autodesk inviting “the entire 3D printing community to collaborate, build and improve” the platform and its associated Ember 3D printer and materials.

“Spark Investment Fund recipients will become part of the Spark partner programme and have access to marketing and other developer services available to Spark partners,” the company pointed out.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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