Recently I was honored to be presenting at the Autodesk University Extension event along with fellow ‘deskers Lynn Allen, Thom Tremblay, Nancy Tremblay, and Jim Cowan at the Digital School in Edmonton Canada. The Digital School is associated with Autodesk Training Center Global e-Training. You may remember Global e-Training if you attended AU 2010 and saw the only two story booth in the exhibit hall.

I must call attention to my casual dress at the first half of the event. I was dressed casually thanks to the airlines loosing my luggage and getting me to the hotel only 6 hours before the event after several delays and cancelled flights. I was tired and looking like a student myself with the exception of being a little bit older, ok a lot older. One of the instructors was so nice to go get me a diet coke to wake me up.

I presented for 4 hours in the morning to various level students. I love speaking with students as they have no boundaries to their questions on technology and preconceived notions on how things work.

We discussed how Autodesk Autodesk Labs works and the vital part being the customers downloading the free technology previews and providing feedback.

Some of the cool Autodesk Labs Technologies I showed to the students;

Autodesk Project Vasari Conceptual Architectural design and analysis http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/vasari/

Autodesk Project Galileo Conceptual design for infrastructure projects  http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/galileo/

Autodesk Inventor Fusion Direct Modeling http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/fusion/

We then explored Autodesk Reality Capture technologies from point clouds to photogrammetry.

Autodesk Project Photofly I showed the next release of this technology that also not only includes serious rocket science math under the hood to create 3D models from digital photos, but now also has the ability to create video as well as textured meshes.

Below is one 3D textured model I showed created automagically from a series of photos I had taken in SE Utah at Hovenweep National Monument. When I rotated around this model the was a brief silence from the students quickly followed with people saying out loud “holy cow” or something like that, then immediately followed by several questions on all the potential uses of this technology. It was a packed room. When we post the new version it will be on Autodesk Labs at http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/photo_scene_editor/. Currently the older 1.2 version is posted.

In the afternoon luckily the airline had delivered me my luggage and nice dress clothes so I was able to change and feel brand new. The student groups moved to a theater and joined local Autodesk product users in the afternoon. Several presenters spoke to the audience including Lynn  Allen showing What's New in AutoCAD 2012.

I presented “Cool Autodesk Technology & Careers in Design - Math, Science, and Engineering”. To fire the students up to “launch” math, science, and engineering related design careers I talked about my personal experiences with NASA, Space Shuttle Program, and future space vehicles. This topic seems to always get people interested in cool things and what people can accomplish with design. Perhaps it is that primal love of all things shiny that produce fire, loud noise, and high horsepower that captures the interest of people. I also pointed out that design is getting more sophisticated to reduce resources like materials, energy, an construction costs.

It was also the day of Autodesk’s 29th birthday.

Everyone attending also received the opportunity for free Autodesk product certifications.

It was a long day but a great event and as a bonus for me this was my first time in Edmonton where there was no snow.

A huge thank you is due to the Global e-Training staff, Digital School students and faculty, and everyone that attended.

Cheers,
Shaan

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