I attended the AEC keynote this am and have to admit much of it was fairly new to me. But, we are seeing a massive opportunity at CFdesign, to help with many of the flow and thermal design challenges plaguing this industry. I came out of the session with one simple phrase “BIM is where its at”.
On to the Manufacturing Keynote, one of my favorites of the week. Buzz Kross was the usual MC of the show and didn’t disappoint. He highlighted a few customer successes. But one speaker, in particular, really stood out. That was Dr. Peter Diamandis, from the X Prize Foundation. You can check out his site for all the details, but essentially he seems to collect money to create a contest that requires uber smart folks to solve a problem that can help overall humanity. Anything from human space travel to medical breakthroughs to helping underprivileged nations. The point that I took from this whole presentation is to never give up, strive to be better than you ever thought possible and push the limits of technology. FINALLY, someone has something good and motivating and inspiring to say in this crappy economy.
But, by far, my highlight of the week was Amy Bunszel’s presentation on the “hot technology” that may or may not be coming from Autodesk. Lots and lots of super cool stuff coming. Autodesk is way more than simply “moving from 2D to 3D”, they are taking beyond to true “Digital Prototyping”. These words have been kicked around for a number of years, but this is the first year that we are truly “seeing” it. In classic Autodesk style, they do not jump into things lightly. There is planning, market analysis and really well thought out steps taken before something is “rolled out”. Can be frustrating at times for those that are impatient, but the end result is a well thought out plan that sculpts and molds into a “Platform”. That is the biggest take away I have from #AU2009, the platform has been formed and now the pieces are being put into place.
