More than 7,500 People Attend Autodesk University, the Industry’s Fastest-Growing User Conference
CEO Carl Bass Puts the Spotlight on Customers Redefining 3D to Experience an Idea Before It’s Real
SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Dec. 4, 2006 — Thousands of “agents of change” from more than 60 countries attended Autodesk University, the annual user conference for Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas from Nov. 26 – Dec. 1. The record-setting crowd of more than 7,500 represents a 40 percent increase over the previous year’s attendance. Users came to Las Vegas to expand their knowledge of Autodesk’s industry-leading 2D and 3D software tools in order to be more innovative in their work and more competitive in the market. Conference attendees participated in more than 500 classes, presentations and events in Autodesk’s core industries including manufacturing, infrastructure, building, and media and entertainment.
Carl Bass, President and Chief Executive Officer of Autodesk, delivered a keynote presentation that emphasized Autodesk’s commitment to forming strategic relationships with a broad array of customers to address critical business problems and give customers competitive business advantage. In addition, Autodesk customers showcased best practice examples of how they are utilizing Autodesk software “to experience an idea before it’s real.”
“Autodesk customers are able to experience their ideas and designs before they’re real by using advanced 3D technologies to visualize, simulate and analyze the real-world performance of designs before having to actually create anything. This capability allows our customers to make changes and improve these ideas, helping to save time and money, improve quality and foster innovation,” said Bass.
By integrating best-in-class 2D and 3D model-based design solutions, Autodesk customers around the world have enhanced their ability to design, communicate and collaborate using model-based designs.
In addition, Bass emphasized the company’s dedication to sustainable design and to helping architects, engineers and product designers adopt the principles of sustainable design and design for more efficient utilization of environmental resources by using the predictive capabilities built into Autodesk’s industry-leading 3D applications such as Revit, Civil 3D, 3ds Max and Inventor software products.
Bass concluded with a sneak peak of Autodesk Island in the rapidly growing virtual world of Second Life with a live demo of Bass’s avatar conducting a meeting with an Autodesk customer in-world.
At Autodesk University, members of the Autodesk community experienced an opportunity to connect with their peers within the design industry and learn about integrating today’s best technologies into everyday business practices to drive innovation, improve quality and sustainability, and better communicate their designs. This year, Autodesk University offered the largest number of courses in the history of the event. Attendees chose from 500 multi-level classes and hands-on labs on industry-specific tracks that addressed topics including best practices, updated trends and challenges faced by global customers.
Participants attended a variety of networking events, which created the ideal environment for acquiring new skills, fresh insights and promising business contacts. Members of the community will be able to remain in contact with each other year round through the newly launched AU Connect, and continue to receive the most updated information from Autodesk through AU Online. More than 200 classes from AU were recorded and are available at AU Online for users to watch at any time. AU Connect serves as a networking tool for peers in the design community to share best practices and collaborate on ideas.
About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is a Fortune 1000 company, wholly focused on ensuring that great ideas are turned into reality. With seven million users, Autodesk is the world’s leading software and services company for the manufacturing, infrastructure, building, media and entertainment, and wireless data services fields. Autodesk’s solutions help customers create, manage and share their data and digital assets more effectively. As a result, customers turn ideas into competitive advantage, become more productive, streamline project efficiency and maximize profits.
Founded in 1982, Autodesk is headquartered in San Rafael, California. For additional information about Autodesk, please visit http://www.autodesk.com/.
Autodesk, Civil 3D, Inventor, Revit and 3ds Max are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
Autodesk reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.
© 2006 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.
