Autodesk University 2009: General Session and AEC Industry Keynotes

Held last week in Las Vegas, Autodesk University 2009 saw a substantial drop in the number of attendees due to the reduced travel budgets of many companies, but it also had a virtual attendance option, enabling many more interested users watch some of the sessions and classes online. The event featured the traditional opening general session, various industry-specific keynotes, over 500 classes covering the broad spectrum of Autodesk applications, close to 120 third-party exhibitors showcasing software and hardware solutions that work with Autodesk products, and various additional social and professional networking events. The main event was also preceded by a day-long Design Computation Symposium focused on the use of optimization and generative tools to explore and inform design solutions, attendance to which was by invitation only.

AECbytes starts off this month by presenting the highlights of the General Session Keynote at Autodesk University, which included presentations by Autodesk CEO Carl Bass, CTO Jeff Kowalski, and guest speakers Jon Landau from Lightstorm Entertainment and  Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute. As we will see, a lot of interesting ideas and concepts about technology, including optimization, computational problem-solving, and cloud computing, were presented, but it was not clear if these were being translated into actual products that professionals could use. A similar overview and analysis of the AEC industry keynote and the Design Computation Symposium will be presented next week, while an overview of AU 2009 exhibitors will be covered in a separate article next month.

The Viewpoint section returns this month with an article entitled "Looking Beyond BIM to Business Information: The Role of agcXML in Streamlining Information Exchange" by Michael Tardif, Director of IPD Systems, Grunley Construction Company, Inc. It discusses the rationale for the agcXML, which was developed by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) in collaboration with NIBS as a standard to support the exchange of business information during design and construction.

As always, please continue to check out the AECbytes Blog for reader comments and the VendorHub to get a consolidated view of all the technology providers in AEC.

And last but not the least, best wishes for a fun and festive holiday season and a great New Year!

Thank you!

Lachmi Khemlani

Editorials > December 2009