This week Eerik and I got to attend the Autodesk University conference and Impact Summit in London. Autodesk University brings together industry leaders in manufacturing and construction to learn about the trends and emerging technologies Autodesk enables with their software tools, and how we can use these tools to boost our impact.
In addition to the breath of courses and keynotes, Autodesk Foundation organized the fifth installment of their Impact Summit, which gave us the chance to connect face-to-face with some of the other social enterprises and impact-oriented organizations the Foundation is supporting. It was inspiring to meet changemakers in architecture, health, IoT and solar, and exchange in a series of workshops and presentations our learnings, challenges and best practices. It was great getting an overview on all the progress that is made to democratize access to basic needs, like energy. At the same time, much work remains.
Autodesk Foundation is thrilled to host 15 of our portfolio companies at the Impact Summit at #AULondon! Welcome @BuildHealthIntl, @KenyaCIC, @MASSDesignLab, @KickStart_Intl, @GearboxKE, @SweetSensors, @GoSolOrg, @mkopasolar and @InspiraFarms! pic.twitter.com/nuhJPYWEXB
— Autodesk Foundation (@AutodeskFdn) June 18, 2018
Convergence of manufacturing and construction
The main theme at AU London was the convergence of the construction and manufacturing industries. The trend in construction is towards much more pre-fabricated, manufacturing-like deployments, while the fabrication industry is getting into much more unique, individualized production as seen in construction. In many ways both industries are converging which brings new possibilities.
Autodesk Forge
We also got to take full advantage of the many courses and workshops offered at AU. Very interesting for us was learning about Autodesk Forge, a tool that allows for cloud-based design adaptations, among other things. We are very excited about this new tool and where it’s going.
Education
It was also great learning about Autodesk’s commitment to foster education in Sub Saharan Africa, thinking about how we can expand our cooperation beyond Student Design Challenges like the one we did with UNHCR and Worldskills, and start to empower students directly with our solar technology.
Birmingham Tech Center
Last but not least we got to visit Autodesk’s Birmingham tech center, which is a cutting edge facility working with industry leaders to push what’s possible in digital fabrication. This is one of four tech centers Autodesk operates, last year we were at their San Francisco location, Pier 9. They are serious about CNC, additive and subtractive manufacturing, but we can’t resist to share this video of them using a robotic arm to machine a block of Choccolate to create an easter bunny. Must watch!
