It is Alive in the Lab: Autodesk Gallery

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**14 The Solar System

"The fireball that we rode was moving
But now we've got a new machine
Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah the freaks said
Man those cats can really swing
They got music in their solar system
They've rocked around the Milky Way
They dance around the Borealice
They're Space Truckin' everyday"
— Deep Purple

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next two months. I started small and am working my way up.

10¹⁴ MAGNITUDE
100,000,000,000,000 m
100 Billion Kilometers

The Solar System

287 Billion Kilometers

It’s been said that it’s sad when someone leaves home unless they’re just going out for cookies. We are indeed leaving our neighborhood as we continue our journey, but alas not for cookies.

The solar system comprises the sun (99.86% of the system’s mass) and the objects orbiting it, formed from the collapse of a molecular cloud 4.5 billion years ago. The inner planets—Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars—are primarily composed of rock and metal while the outer planets (gas giants) are composed mainly of hydrogen and helium (Jupiter and Saturn) and ices (Uranus and Neptune). Formerly the ninth planet, Pluto is now one of the five dwarf planets in the system.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Full Scale 3D Printed Motorcycle: Is our wheel backwards?

At AU 2008 I happened to be nearby when our team was hoisting the 3D printed motorcycle for display. Autodesk had given me a FlipCam to take some video, so I did. I got this comment on my YouTube video today.

So is the front wheel mounted the wrong way? I took this picture in the Autodesk Gallery today.

Front_wheel
Enlarge

Here is the back wheel:

Rear_wheel
Enlarge

The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us and check out the wheels for yourself.

The search for correct orientation is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 09:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

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Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**13 Voyager 2

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

Artist rendering of the NASA Voyager 2 spacecraft. Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech.

10¹³ MAGNITUDE
10,000,000,000,000 m
10 billion kilometers

Voyager 2

10 billion Kilometers

Despite what you may think, Voyager 2 did not have a sibling, Voyager 6, which nearly destroyed Earth before being stopped by the robot-stumping James T. Kirk. Designed to study the outer solar system, Voyager 2 was launched in 1977. Its primary mission ended in 1989 after encountering Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—the four gas giants—and it is now on extended mission beyond the heliosphere.

Voyager carries an audio-visual disc (if discovered by intelligent life) containing photos, scientific information, spoken greetings, and a medley of Earth sounds and music. It is currently 10 billion kilometers from the sun and is expected to transmit until 2025.

Voyager 2's Solar System Tour:

Closest approach to Jupiter occurred on July 9, 1979.
Closest approach to Saturn occurred on August 25, 1981.
Closest approach to Uranus occurred on January 24, 1986.
Closest approach to Neptune occurred on August 25, 1989.

Despite Voyager 2's impressive itinerary, that's only one-tenth of the Solar System.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**12 Distance from Pluto to the Sun

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

10¹² MAGNITUDE
1,000,000,000,000 m
1 Billion Kilometers

Pluto to the Sun

5.9 Billion Kilometers

Before leaving our cosmic neighborhood, we tell the sad tale of the once-and-former planet Pluto. Composed of rock and ice, Pluto is roughly a fifth the mass of the moon. Its eccentric orbit takes it between 4.4 and 7.4 billion km from the sun, causing it to periodically come closer to the sun than Neptune.

The discovery of many objects similar to Pluto in the outer solar system led to the questioning of its status as the valid ninth planet in our solar system. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union defined what it means to be a "planet." Sadly, Pluto didn’t make the cut.

To do this day, Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson claims to get letters from school children asking him to please restore Pluto's status as a planet. Old planets die hard among the young.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 01:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**11 Distance from Jupiter to the Sun

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

10¹¹ MAGNITUDE
100,000,000,000 m
100 Million Kilometers

Distance from Jupiter to the Sun

779 Million Kilometers

For 10¹¹ we find ourselves in the vast stretch between our largest star and our biggest planet. The distance from the sun to Jupiter is approximately 779 million km. We say approximately because Jupiter and the rest of the solar system follow an elliptical orbit around the sun. Sometimes it’s closer (741 million km), and other times more distant (817 million km).

Another significant item about this very stretch of space (between Earth and Jupiter) involved murderous apes, rousing music, and a rather insane computer named HAL. And while our own machines can frustrate us on occasion, at least they haven’t tried to rub us out—yet.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**10 Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds

"And if you feel that you can't go on
And your will's sinkin' low
Just believe, and you can't go wrong
In the light, you will find the road"
— Led Zeppelin

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

10¹⁰ MAGNITUDE
10,000,000,000 m
10 Million Kilometers

Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds

10 Million Kilometers

In the time it takes you to read this (about half a minute), light will have traveled around 10 million kilometers. Makes you sound like a really slow reader. The speed of light in a vacuum (c in E=mc²) is 299,792,458 meters per second.

While light seems to move instantaneously, its speed is noticeable when dealing with huge distances. It can take anywhere from minutes to hours for messages to get from Earth to a distant spacecraft or vice versa. The light we see from stars today left them years ago (in some cases thousands of years or more), allowing us to study the universe’s history by looking at distant objects.

"The night is clear
When the stars appear
I recite their names
The farthest lights
Only now arrive
Wonder how they've changed?

The stars appeared
But they're always there
Up above the day
The farthest lights
Take us back in time
Wonder how they've changed?"
— Freedy Johnson

"Light, light, light. In the light. Everybody needs the light." — Led Zeppelin

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Design Night in the Autodesk Gallery on June 6: Faster. Stronger. Tech-ier.

Past

Design Night is an events program at the Autodesk Gallery. At each event, guests explore a different theme — such as biomimicry, light, or robotics — that challenges the conventionally narrow definition of design. The theme is reflected in all aspects of the event, from the activities guests enjoy to the food they eat to the music they hear. The result is a fun and fascinating venue for exploration, networking, and the exchange of ideas. So far we have had:

September 6, 2012: Small is the Next Big Thing // more
October 4, 2012: Public Interest Design // more
November 1, 2013: Future of Transportation
December 6, 2012: Leaps and Bounds // more
February 7, 2013: Mother Nature: Celebrity Designer // more
March 7, 2013: Illumination // more
April 4, 2013: Robots // more
May 2, 2013: Making It! // more

Present

On Thursday, June 6, 6-10 p.m., the Autodesk Gallery in San Francisco will host another Design Night: Faster. Stronger. Tech-ier., where we will explore the design's impact on athletic performance. So get your athletic self over to Design Night and:

Hear a talk from Dr. Matthew Nurse, director of Nike Sports Research Lab // more
Experience extreme aerodynamics in a virtual wind tunnel (Project Falcon)
Perform feats of strength and agility (even if you're not strong nor agile)

Athletes are getting faster, stronger, and better with a mix of hard work, fierce determination, and cool technology. Though we're not yet to implementing the vision of the The Six Million Dollar Man, we are fast approaching it. From space-age materials and software that analyzes the perfect swing to shoes designed to exploit the unique abilities of their wearer, new design technology is changing the face of sports and transforming the way we play.

Action

So come to Design Night if you're curious about athletics and what it means for the future of design. Also enjoy an open bar, food, activities, and much, much more so...um...hurry! The previous Design Nights have sold out quickly. Registration is required and ticket pricing is as follows:

$25 General
$20 Students
$15 Autodesk Employees

To attend the event:

Admission fees include admission to the presentation, as well as an open bar, food, music, and hands-on activities. The last four Design Nights have sold out in advance! As an athlete myself (I have a stand-up desk without a chair. Oh yes, I am now old enough to consider standing as exercise.), I am interested in this design night.

Keeping score is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 12:10 PM in Autodesk Gallery, Design Night | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Shanghai Tower is now the tallest structure in China

computer-generated image

With its twisting and tapering shape, the Shanghai Tower is a shining example of performance design. I have shared information about the Shanghai Tower before:

autodesk.com: The Shanghai Tower Gallery Exhibit
It's Alive in the Lab: The Shanghai Tower at The Gallery at One Market
It's Alive in the Lab: Powers of Design Exhibit: 10² Shanghai Tower

In June of 2012, my colleague, Ben Cochran, visited the Autodesk office in Shanghai. He sent me a picture of the tower, noting that the welders were working on it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

A while back I had a Facebook friend send me some pictures of the tower when he visited China, but I cannot seem to find them. I defy anyone to tell me how to search one's Facebook timeline. I tried. I even tried looking at my Activity and scrolling down one page at a time for as far as it would go before the server timed out.

The other day I got another photo. My colleague, Sydney Xu, snapped a picture from his cubicle in the Shanghai office. Sydney noted that even though the Shanghai Tower is not yet complete, it has surpassed the Financial Center and is now the tallest structure in China.

The inner column is being constructed first. The twister/tapering outer wall envelope will be added afterwards.

Thanks Ben and Sydney.

The telling of tall tales is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**9 The Sun

"I want the world to see
I don't care when it will be
There's no doubt
I wanna go to the sun, everyone"
— Peter Frampton

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

10⁹ MAGNITUDE
1,000,000,000 m
1 Million Kilometers

The Sun

1.39 Million Kilometers

Our next subject needs no introduction. The star of the sky, with a diameter of 1.39 million kilometers and accounting for 99.86 percent of our solar system’s total mass, the sun has a core temperature of 15.7 million K and generates energy by nuclear fusion.

It takes the sun’s light 8 minutes and 19 seconds to travel the 149.6 million kilometers to Earth. Formed 4.5 billion years ago, the sun will enter a red giant phase in 5 billion years, ejecting its outer layers into space, either consuming the Earth or boiling away its water and destroying its atmosphere. Either way it’s bad news.

I recall the old joke where President George W. Bush wanted NASA to send a manned space flight to the sun. When asked about the intense heat that would incinerate the astronauts, he replied "We'll land at night." I guess I don't wanna go to the sun, everyone.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**8 Jupiter

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

10⁸ MAGNITUDE
100,000,000 m
100,000 Kilometers

Jupiter

142,984 Kilometers

If the solar system is our neighborhood, then Jupiter is the biggest (and gassiest) kid on the block. A gas giant with a mass 2.5 times that of all other planets in our solar system combined, Jupiter is the third-brightest object in the night sky after the moon and Venus.

Jupiter’s most prominent feature is the Great Red Spot, a storm larger than Earth that has possibly been raging since 1665. Ganymede (the largest of Jupiter’s 64 moons) has a diameter greater than that of Mercury. Although Jupiter dwarfs Earth with a diameter 11 times as great (about 140,000 km) and 1,321 times its volume, it’s considerably less dense and is just 318 times as massive.

Even though Jupiter is by far the biggest planet in our solar system, the sun is 10 times bigger! Based on data from back in the day when the solar system had 9 planets, Shaan Hurley created a blog post about solar.dwg which depicted the orbits to scale. Thanks to Owen Iverson for the reminder.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**7 Earth

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

A composite image of the Earth using multiple swaths taken by NASA's Earth-observing satellite Suomi NPP. Image courtesy of NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring.

10⁷ MAGNITUDE
10,000,000 m
10,000 Kilometers

Earth

12,742 Kilometers

Once thought to be flat, the center of the universe, or even sitting atop a giant tortoise, Earth continues to fascinate, surprise, and challenge us. The third planet from the sun, Earth is the fifth-largest of the eight planets in the solar system with a diameter of nearly 13,000 kilometers, as well as the densest.

Formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago, Earth will continue to support life for up to another 2.3 billion years. And the facts are endless, from species that have lived and died to civilizations built and crumbled. But rather than describe Earth with facts, we simply close by calling Earth what it is—home.

Earlier in the week Autodesk participated in the Earth Day festivities on the first floor of the Landmark Building at One Market where we work. Visitors could assess their own carbon footprint.

Though the score for the average American is 27, mine was only 17. My Smart Car and the energy improvements I made to my home helped me score well. I lost points because I don't favor organic food, because the farming process is not scaleable.

Surprise. Surprise. Earth Day also featured a protest in San Francisco.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Autodesk Gallery: Bay Lights Exhibit

IMAGINE

At 1.8 miles wide and 500 feet high, Bay Lights is a the world’s largest LED light sculpture — featuring 25,000 white LED lights that are individually programmed to create a never-repeating, dazzling display across the western span of the Bay Bridge. Shining from dusk until 2:00 a.m. for 2 years, the lights will inspire over 50 million people in the Bay Area, with billions more seeing it in the media and online. By conservative estimates, $97 million dollars will be added to the San Francisco economy.

DESIGN

A small but important part of the Bay Lights project is a custom plastic clip that attaches the LED lights to the suspension cables on the bridge.

The design of the clip was completed using an iterative process:

A 3D model of the bridge suspension cable (to which the clips would attach) was created from photographs of the cables.
Design software was used to create a clip that exactly mated with the suspension cable. The first concept used a small plastic part to lock the LEDs on to pre-assembled rails, but this added complexity and installation time. A second approach eliminated the rails and enabled attachment using steel-reinforced zip ties.
55 clips were then 3D-printed and installed on the bridge. This confirmed the desired ease of installation and stability while also protecting the data cables from the stresses and strains of 2 years of outdoor exposure.

Some of the people/companies involved in the project include:

Leo Villareal // more
Gian Villamil (Autodesk) // more
Guillermo Melantoni (Autodesk) // more
Timothy Childs (Bay Lights Project) // more
TechShop // more

Some of the software involved:

AutoCAD // more
Autodesk Inventor // more
Autodesk 123D Catch // more
Autodesk 123D Design // more

CREATE

The clip design was refined and tested again before final adjustments were made to allow the manufacture of thousands of clips in a UV resistant polycarbonate via a two-part injection molding process. The solution allows for assembly of zip ties before work crews go out on the bridge, improving efficiency and safety of the team. It is estimated that several hundred thousand dollars was saved by the chip design.

FUND

My_lights
Enlarge

The total project cost is specified as $8 million, and is being covered by private donations. To date, ~$6 million has been raised. I have made donations to dedicate lights to:

Sheryl Sheppard, my wife, (tower #1, cable #34, light #69) [first one, had not thought of the birthday thing yet]
Stephanie Sheppard, daughter, (tower #2, cable #13, light #6) [her birthday is 06-13]
Jeanene Price, mother-in-law (tower #1, cable #24, light #38) [her birthday is 01-24-1938]

Equally important as the funding is that the LED lights are environmentally friendly. They use hardly any electricity. The energy cost of operating the Bay Lights is less than $15 per night. This means that of the $8 million, less than $15,000 will be used for energy for the entire life of the project. You can learn more about the project on its web site.

The Bay Lights // more
Give The Gift of Light // more

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for some of the text that comprises this blog posting. Bay Lights is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Attachment is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**6 The Moon

"Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On a, Jupiter and Mars"
— Frank Sinatra

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

10⁶ MAGNITUDE
1,000,000 m
1,000 Kilometers

The Moon

3,476 kilometers

From green cheese to little green men, the moon has captivated our imaginations since humans first looked upon the night sky. With a diameter of nearly 3,500 kilometers (a quarter the diameter of Earth) and 1/81 its mass, it’s the brightest object in the sky after the sun. The moon’s gravitational pull produces our tides, while its own dark depths, believed by ancient astronomers to be water, are vast pools of lava called maria—Latin for “seas.”

In 1969, as a captivated world watched, Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon, achieving what President John F. Kennedy called “the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.”

"You often hear that the United States no longer has big goals, the way it did when President Kennedy challenged the country to put a man on the moon. And by big goals, I mean something that costs an enormous amount of money, focuses the entire country on the objective, takes years to accomplish, and delivers more in the way of psychological and technological benefits than it gets from actually accomplishing the goal. Walking on the moon was trivial compared to the emotional and psychological boost it provided, and the technology developed along the way."
— Scott Adams

Living more sustainably can be our next rallying cry. Autodesk software helps people imagine, design, and create a better world.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**5 Palm Islands

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

Palm Jumeirah, as seen from the International Space Station. Image courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center.

10⁵ MAGNITUDE
100,000 m
100 Kilometers

Palm Islands

520 Kilometers

If we measured scale by ambition, the Palm Islands would be considerably larger than 10⁵. An artificial archipelago of three islands in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the Palm Islands will contain over 100 luxury hotels, villas, marinas, water parks, restaurants, shopping malls, sports facilities, and health spas when completed.

Shaped like palm trees, the settlements are constructed of sand dredged from the bottom of the Persian Gulf, adding 520 kilometers of beaches to Dubai. Over 1 billion cubic meters of rock and sand will be used in their construction, with each breakwater rock given its own GPS coordinate and placed individually by crane.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**4 Masdar City

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

Visualization of proposed Masdar City master plan. Image courtesy of Masdar City.

10⁴ MAGNITUDE
10,000 m
10 Kilometers

Masdar City

10 Kilometers

The pursuit of the green building holy grail is happening at 104. Located near Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Masdar City will be a zero-waste, zero-carbon-emission development relying entirely on solar energy and other renewable energy sources when completed, with its headquarters being the world’s first positive-energy building, producing more energy than it consumes.

Using Building Information Modeling (BIM), Masdar designers can integrate architectural, structural, and building systems from the start, designing the city to be a hub for clean tech companies and home to 45,000–50,000 people and 1,500 businesses.

Automobiles will be banned with travel accomplished via public mass transit. This, coupled with Masdar's perimeter wall designed to keep out the hot desert winds, allows for narrow, shaded streets that help funnel cooler breezes across the city.

Masdar Headquarters

Image courtesy of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture ^{source: smithgill.com}

With regard to the Masdar Headquarters, a key ingredient of this building is its large photovoltaic array on the roof. When construction resumes, the array will be built first and the resulting solar energy will be used to build the rest of the building.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10⁵ Palm Islands
10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**3 Bay Bridge

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

Visualization of the soon to be completed eastern span of the Bay Bridge. Bridge image courtesy of the California Department of Transportation. Design and 3D rendering by the Parsons Brinckerhoff Project Visualization Group..

10³ MAGNITUDE
1,000 m
1 Kilometer

Bay Bridge

3.5 Kilometers

Okay, this one’s big, as in the biggest engineering project in California history. Crucial to the success of replacing the east span of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge was the ability to communicate to the general public how the world’s largest self-anchored suspension bridge would reshape the surrounding landscape.

Engineering, manufacturing, and construction data was used to create contextual, photorealistic visualizations of the bridge. Showing these on the Internet, local television, and in Bay Area theaters helped guide public behavior during critical periods of construction and road closures. Reduced traffic and increased transit ridership during these times helped construction crews start earlier and avoid delays.

For additional information about the bridge, check out my previous blog articles:

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10⁴ Masdar City
10⁵ Palm Islands
10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Design Night at the Autodesk Gallery on May 2: Making It!

Past

Design Night is an events program at the Autodesk Gallery. At each event, guests explore a different theme — such as biomimicry, light, or robotics — that challenges the conventionally narrow definition of design. The theme is reflected in all aspects of the event, from the activities guests enjoy to the food they eat to the music they hear. The result is a fun and fascinating venue for exploration, networking, and the exchange of ideas. So far we have had:

September 6, 2012: Small is the Next Big Thing // more
October 4, 2012: Public Interest Design // more
November 1, 2013: Future of Transportation
December 6, 2012: Leaps and Bounds // more
February 7, 2013: Mother Nature: Celebrity Designer // more
March 7, 2013: Illumination // more
April 4, 2013: Robots // more

Present

On Thursday, May 2, 6-10 p.m., the Autodesk Gallery in San Francisco will host another Design Night: Making It!, where we will explore the amazing world of the Maker movement. So get your creative self over to Design Night and:

Hear a talk from Mark Hatch — TechShop CEO // more
Build a birdhouse (bird not included)
Make your own creature (Don’t worry, we’ll leave the lights on.)

It’s a brave new world, and everything is changing. The oily machines of manufacturing are being joined by squeaky-clean computers, 3D printers, and digital fabrication services. Creativity is rampant and people (like you and me) are saying see ya to mass-produced, non-individuality goods. As it turns out, making exactly what you want is something anyone can do, and maker-types obviously learned their kindergarten lessons because they love to share. That means one idea spawns hundreds more, and innovation is running amok.

Action

So come to Design Night if you're curious about the maker movement and what they mean for the future of design. Also enjoy an open bar, food, activities, and much, much more so...um...hurry! The previous Design Nights have sold out quickly. Registration is required and ticket pricing is as follows:

Advanced Tickets: $20 General / $15 Autodesk Employees / $10 Students
Day of Event Tickets: $25 General / $20 Autodesk Employees / $15 Students

To attend the event:

Visit the event registration site.
Click Register (at the bottom right).
Fill out the form.

Admission fees include admission to the presentation, as well as an open bar, food, music, and hands-on activities. The last four Design Nights have sold out in advance!

A different kind of making out is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Design Night | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**2 Shanghai Tower

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

Visualization of the Shanghai Tower, which will be China’s tallest building when completed. Image courtesy of Gensler.

10² MAGNITUDE
100 m
100 meters

Shanghai Tower

632 meters

With China’s Shanghai Tower we’re not just getting bigger now, but taller. At 632 meters and 128 stories, it does more than simply reach the sky — it commands its resources. Optimized for high performance and sustainability, the tower, through its uniquely twisting shape, is designed to collect rainwater for use in air conditioning and heating systems.

Extensive use of wind tunnel and 3D simulation tests resulted in a highly efficient stack of nine cylindrical buildings sheathed in an insulated, energy-saving double-skin glass facade that reduces wind loads by as much as 24% (resulting in construction cost savings of $57 million), and uses wind turbines to generate power.

The Shanghai Tower represents a city in a stack. There are 12 floors of living space, a public park, 12 more floors of living space, another public park, etc. So there will be people milling about trees and shrubbery, walking their dogs, playing frisbee, etc. even though they are hundreds of stories in the air. The twisting/tapering shape of the exterior envelope was inspired by the foil of a race car — it even has a notch. The tower is truly an example of performance engineering. See my previous blog article for additional information.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10³ Bay Bridge
10⁴ Masdar City
10⁵ Palm Islands
10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**1 Ma'erkang Housing Reconstruction

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

One of the first homes to be rebuilt in Sichuan province.

10¹ MAGNITUDE
10 m
10 Meters

Ma’erKang Housing Reconstruction

12 Meters

101 is a modest scale, but this 101 is nearly limitless in its hope and humanity. In 2008, an 8.0 magnitude earthquake rocked Wenchuan, Sichuan province in China, destroying 9 million homes. Amid the devastation, a project to rebuild these homes called Ma’erKang was born.

To succeed, construction had to be low-cost and quickly completed, meet earthquake requirements, maintain cultural identity, and take the environment into consideration. A light-steel component system dramatically reducing construction time was developed with donated Autodesk design software.

Local materials were used wherever possible, and due to the simple design, residents could participate in the rebuilding, putting up their first house in just six days.

As a Bay Area resident, I am empathetic with earthquake victims. Actions like this make me proud to work at Autodesk. When reconstruction of the first village was complete, our CEO, Carl Bass, flew to China for the ribbon cutting ceremony. Our company is committed on an organizational and a personal level.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10² Shanghai Tower
10³ Bay Bridge
10⁴ Masdar City
10⁵ Palm Islands
10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 05:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**0 Biome Concept Car

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

Physical prototype of Biome concept car. Image courtesy of Mercedes-Benz.

10⁰ MAGNITUDE
1 m
1 Meter

Biome Concept Car

4 Meters

After the amazing things being done at minute scales, you’d think design at this scale (1 to 100 meters) would be more pedestrian, but there’s nothing conventional about the Biome—a fully imagined concept car unlike anything else.

Inspired by symbiotic relationships in nature, the Biome is made from an ultra-lightweight biological material grown from seeds. Echoing the natural form, protective shell, and structural cavities of an animal skull, it uses bioluminescence for headlights, releases pure oxygen as it operates, and becomes a seamless part of an ecosystem we can only imagine—for now.

You've heard of a concept car. Well this is more like a car concept. Imagine it — a car that runs off of sunlight and produces oxygen. A car that is grown from 6 seeds: one per wheel, one for the frame, and another for the shell. Actually the growing part is less far fetched than the power source. Think of your femur. No one had to hone it into the shape of a femur. It just knew how to grow itself into that shape. The DNA that Mercedes Benz is patenting, biofibre, has its roots in bone material. The Biome car gives you a sense of where automakers believe manufacturing is headed.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10¹ Ma'erkang Housing Reconstruction
10² Shanghai Tower
10³ Bay Bridge
10⁴ Masdar City
10⁵ Palm Islands
10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**-1 Prosthetic Fairing

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

Image courtesy of Bespoke Innovations.

10^-1 MAGNITUDE
0.1 m
1 Decimeter

Prosthetic Fairing

6 Decimeters

We’re well into the “human” scale (micrometers through kilometers), and in this case, we’re being quite literal. Bespoke Innovations of San Francisco crafts prosthetic limbs unique to each individual, offering amputees a replacement limb as physically close to the original as possible.

Using 3D software, combined with scanning and printing technology, Bespoke designs and prints individual, aesthetically appropriate prosthetic fairings. These fairings are specialized coverings designed to surround an existing, custom prosthetic limb. By performing a 3D scan of the individual’s remaining limb, or of a physically similar model if the individual has lost both limbs, Bespoke can precisely restore the unique contours of the lost limb.

Long ago companies made prosthetic limbs with the intention of having them look real. No one was fooled. Parents would have to tell their children to stop staring at the limb wearer. Bespoke Innovations has gone the other direction. They customize the look based on each wearer's desires and tastes. Now people approach limb wearers and say for example "That is a cool looking leg." What was once a source of embarrassment is now a source of pride.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10⁰ Biome Concept Car
10¹ Ma'erkang Housing Reconstruction
10² Shanghai Tower
10³ Bay Bridge
10⁴ Masdar City
10⁵ Palm Islands
10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**-2 Lego

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

Image courtesy of The LEGO Group.

10^-2 MAGNITUDE
0.01 m
1 Centimeter

LEGO

3.2 Centimeters

Sometimes it takes grown-up engineering to bring childhood favorites to life. The art of crafting small individual LEGO pieces into elaborate play sets or large-scale models for LEGO theme parks, retail locations, and special events, often requires engineering analysis that can sometimes resemble a very adult architectural project.

Using 3D modeling software to explore a variety of imaginative design concepts, LEGO designers and engineers turn their ideas into brick-by-brick construction schematics so they can determine their structural feasibility before fabrication—and ultimately a whole lot of fun.

Lego Dinosaur in the Autodesk Gallery

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10^-1 Prosthetic Fairing
10⁰ Biome Concept Car
10¹ Ma'erkang Housing Reconstruction
10² Shanghai Tower
10³ Bay Bridge
10⁴ Masdar City
10⁵ Palm Islands
10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**-3 Sonata Silicium Watch Components

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

Image courtesy of Ulysse Nardin.

10^-3 MAGNITUDE
0.001 m
1 Millimeter

Sonata Silicium Watch Components

2 Millimeters

We’ve arrived at a scale where we can really see what we’re looking at—if we squint. In this case, the miniscule (about a millimeter) parts of the world’s first mechanical 24-hour alarm watch with a countdown display, the Sonata Silicium from Ulysse Nardin. Comprising more than 400 of these parts, this mechanical marvel had to be precisely designed and assembled to ensure the elements would work in delicate concert.

Designers used 3D modeling to visualize the intricate assembly of gears and springs, enabling them to spot and eliminate even the slightest interferences early in the design process, thereby cutting development time in half.

Hey buddy, do you have the time? But of course,... Actually I blogged about the Sonata watch on my birthday in 2010. It's amazing that they can make pieces so small and even more amazing that they are crafted precisely enough to tell correct time.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10^-2 Lego
10^-1 Prosthetic Fairing
10⁰ Biome Concept Car
10¹ Ma'erkang Housing Reconstruction
10² Shanghai Tower
10³ Bay Bridge
10⁴ Masdar City
10⁵ Palm Islands
10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Design Night at the Autodesk Gallery on April 4: Robots!

Design Night is an events program at the Autodesk Gallery. At each event, guests explore a different theme — such as biomimicry, light, or robotics — that challenges the conventionally narrow definition of design. The theme is reflected in all aspects of the event, from the activities guests enjoy to the food they eat to the music they hear. The result is a fun and fascinating venue for exploration, networking, and the exchange of ideas.

On Thursday, April 4, 6-10 p.m., the Autodesk Gallery in San Francisco will host another Design Night: Robots!, where we will explore the amazing world of robotics. From robots that vacuum floors and weld cars to those that diffuse bombs and fight cancer cells, the field of robotics has never been more exciting. So get your autonomous self over to Design Night and:

Hear from an all-star panel including:
- Brian David Johnson – Intel futurist
- Jeff Linnell – Bot & Dolly founder
- Tasha McCauley – 9th Sense Robotics co-founder
- Rod Roddenberry Jr. – Roddenberry Entertainment CEO
Interact with a veritable galaxy of robots in our robot science fair
See SumoBots wrestle.

So come to Design Night if you're curious about robots and what they mean for the future of design. Also enjoy an open bar, food, activities, and much, much more so...um...hurry! Registration is required and ticket pricing is as follows:

Advanced Tickets: $20 General / $15 Autodesk Employees / $10 Students
Day of Event Tickets: $25 General / $20 Autodesk Employees / $15 Students

To attend the event:

Visit the event registration site.
Click Register (at the bottom right).
Fill out the form.

Admission fees include admission to the presentation, as well as an open bar, food, music, and hands-on activities. The last three Design Nights have sold out in advance!

Rosie Jetson is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Design Night | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**-4 Microelectromechanical Systems

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

Microelectromechanical components magnified 700X.

10^-4 MAGNITUDE
0.000,1 m
100 Micrometers

Microelectromechanical Systems

200 Micrometers

The “human” scale begins with the micrometer, and nothing says human like machines — in this case, very, very small machines. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are the technology of tiny mechanical devices.

MEMS consist of components 1 to 100 micrometers in size (0.001 to 0.1 mm), with the larger devices ranging between 20 micrometers to a millimeter. They include a central unit that processes data and several components that interact with the outside world, such as microsensors.

MEMS became practical once they could be fabricated using modified semiconductor fabrication technologies, and include applications like accelerometers in cars, video game controllers, and cell phones as well as microphones in portable devices.

Think about it. These things are only 10 times the size of a grain of sand.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10^-3 Sonata Silicium Watch Components
10^-2 Lego
10^-1 Prosthetic Fairing
10⁰ Biome Concept Car
10¹ Ma'erkang Housing Reconstruction
10² Shanghai Tower
10³ Bay Bridge
10⁴ Masdar City
10⁵ Palm Islands
10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**-5 Sand

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

Photograph of quartz crystal sand grains fused with orange-colored mineral. Image courtesy of sandgrains.com.

10^-5 MAGNITUDE
0.000,01 m
10 Micrometers

Sand

62.5 Micrometers

Compared to what we’ve seen thus far, sand is positively huge. Ranging in diameter from 62.5 micrometers to 2 millimeters, sand particles come in a variety of colors and textures, depending on local rock sources, from fine to coarse and bright white to near black.

Formed when rock is reduced by weathering, sand particles are further degraded by acidic rainfall and water or chemicals from organisms. These particles are then easily stirred by wind and water, causing additional reduction by abrasion. Eventually they are transported to form dunes, river banks, beaches, and sometimes even castles.

After reading this excerpt, a day at the beach will never seem the same.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10^-4 Microelectromechanical Systems
10^-3 Sonata Silicium Watch Components
10^-2 Lego
10^-1 Prosthetic Fairing
10⁰ Biome Concept Car
10¹ Ma'erkang Housing Reconstruction
10² Shanghai Tower
10³ Bay Bridge
10⁴ Masdar City
10⁵ Palm Islands
10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**-6 Red Blood Cells

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

3D rendering of streaming red blood cells.

10^-6 MAGNITUDE
0.000,001 meters
1 Micrometer

Red Blood Cells

7 Micrometers

Our fantastic voyage (get it?) continues with red blood cells. The most common type of cell (representing 1/4 of the body’s cells) and the primary means of delivering oxygen to tissues via the circulatory system, red blood cells absorb oxygen in the lungs (or gills if you happen to breathe that way) and release it while squeezing through our capillaries.

In humans, 2.4 million cells are produced every second, developing in the bone marrow and circulating for 100–120 days before being broken down and recycled in the body. Each circulation of the body takes about 20 seconds.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10^-5 Sand
10^-4 Microelectromechanical Systems
10^-3 Sonata Silicium Watch Components
10^-2 Lego
10^-1 Prosthetic Fairing
10⁰ Biome Concept Car
10¹ Ma'erkang Housing Reconstruction
10² Shanghai Tower
10³ Bay Bridge
10⁴ Masdar City
10⁵ Palm Islands
10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**-7 HIV Virus

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

3D rendering of the HIV virus.

10^-7 MAGNITUDE
0.000,000,1 m
100 Nanometers

HIV Virus

120 Nanometers

We truly wish that the HIV virus did not exist on any scale, but to the world’s great sadness this global pandemic resides at 10^-7. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a lentivirus (of the retrovirus family) that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive.

HIV is different in structure from other retroviruses however. Roughly spherical in shape, it has a diameter of about 120 nm—about 60 times smaller than a red blood cell—and is large for a virus. There is currently no cure for HIV infection. Treatment consists of highly active antiretroviral therapy with promise shown in the area of stem cell transplantation, which remains an investigational area of treatment.

So the HIV virus is 10 times larger than a nano bio-robot that in the future could be used to fight it but 10 times smaller than a blood cell it could infect — makes sense. It's like the story of David and Goliath on two levels with the smaller foe hurting the cell, and hopefully the smaller robot killing the virus.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10^-6 Red Blood Cells
10^-5 Sand
10^-4 Microelectromechanical Systems
10^-3 Sonata Silicium Watch Components
10^-2 Lego
10^-1 Prosthetic Fairing
10⁰ Biome Concept Car
10¹ Ma'erkang Housing Reconstruction
10² Shanghai Tower
10³ Bay Bridge
10⁴ Masdar City
10⁵ Palm Islands
10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**-8 Molecular Transport Nano Robot

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up. This is my eighth post on this topic — each one featuring an item 10 times larger than the preceding one.

Image created by Campbell Strong, Dr. Shawn Douglas, and Dr. Gael McGill using Molecular Maya and CADnano.

10^-8 MAGNITUDE
0.000,000,01 m
10 Nanometers

Cancer Fighting Nano Robot

20 Nanometers

Think what you’ve seen so far is cool? One word—robots. Need we say more? But not just any robots; nano robots. Some incredible things are happening at the nanoscale, like DNA origami, the nanoscale folding of DNA to create various shapes and 3D structures.

CADnano is a software tool used by scientists to accelerate the creation and modification of DNA origami designs. One of the most exciting potential applications of this technology is the creation of agents at the nanoscale, such as transport systems (or robots if you will) to interface with biological systems to address medical challenges. Or to put it a different way, to deliver lethal doses of medication to baddies like cancer cells. In other words, killer robots. How cool is that? Based on differences in DNA structure, the killer robots only attack cancerous cells and leave the normal cells alone.

In the future, treating cancer by blasting all of our cells with radiation to kill the bad ones and only slightly damage the good ones will seem barbaric. It will be like attending to one's lawn by individually pulling each weed versus spraying the entire lawn with weed killer. In the future, before a doctor writes a patient a prescription, the first thing he will do is collect a sample of his DNA by swabbing the inside of his cheek. The pharmacy will then craft the medicine specifically for the patient.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10^-7 HIV Virus
10^-6 Red Blood Cells
10^-5 Sand
10^-4 Microelectromechanical Systems
10^-3 Sonata Silicium Watch Components
10^-2 Lego
10^-1 Prosthetic Fairing
10⁰ Biome Concept Car
10¹ Ma'erkang Housing Reconstruction
10² Shanghai Tower
10³ Bay Bridge
10⁴ Masdar City
10⁵ Palm Islands
10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**-9 Carbon Nanotubes

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

Artist’s rendition of carbon nanotubes.

10^-9 MAGNITUDE
0.000,000,001 m
1 Nanometer

Carbon Nanotubes

1 Nanometer

We’re getting bigger now, if you could call one billionth of a meter bigger, and we’re in the realm of carbon nanotubes. Long, cylindrical molecules with walls formed by one-atom-thick sheets of carbon, carbon nanotubes have excellent thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties that make them potentially useful in electronics, optics, and nanotechnology.

Their unique chemical bonding makes them among the strongest and stiffest materials yet discovered. Another promising application is in Kanzius cancer therapy, where nanotubes are inserted around cancerous cells and then excited with radio waves, causing them to heat up and kill the surrounding cells.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10^-8 Molecular Transport Nano Robot
10^-7 HIV Virus
10^-6 Red Blood Cells
10^-5 Sand
10^-4 Microelectromechanical Systems
10^-3 Sonata Silicium Watch Components
10^-2 Lego
10^-1 Prosthetic Fairing
10⁰ Biome Concept Car
10¹ Ma'erkang Housing Reconstruction
10² Shanghai Tower
10³ Bay Bridge
10⁴ Masdar City
10⁵ Palm Islands
10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**-10 Wavelength of Hard X-Rays

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

10^-10 MAGNITUDE
0.000,000,000,1 m
100 Picometers

Wavelength of Hard X-rays

100 Picometers

Now to the X-ray, that great detector of secrets. X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength between 0.01 nm (10 picometers) and 10 nm. Upon their discovery, X-rays were given their mysterious name to signify an unknown type of radiation.

X-rays with a wavelength from 10 to 0.10 nm are classified as “soft” and those from about 0.10 to 0.01 nm as “hard,” due to their penetrating abilities. As an entire generation of comic book readers found out when attempting to see … well, you know … when looking at their friends, X-ray glasses employed neither soft or hard radiation, but rather … none.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10^-9 Carbon Nanotubes
10^-8 Molecular Transport Nano Robot
10^-7 HIV Virus
10^-6 Red Blood Cells
10^-5 Sand
10^-4 Microelectromechanical Systems
10^-3 Sonata Silicium Watch Components
10^-2 Lego
10^-1 Prosthetic Fairing
10⁰ Biome Concept Car
10¹ Ma'erkang Housing Reconstruction
10² Shanghai Tower
10³ Bay Bridge
10⁴ Masdar City
10⁵ Palm Islands
10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**-11 Fluorine Ion

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

Artist’s rendition of a fluoride ion comprising an atomic nucleus with orbiting electrons.

10^-11 MAGNITUDE
0.000,000,000,01 m
10 Picometers

Fluorine Ion

38 Picometers

Fluorine (atomic number 9) is the lightest element of the halogen column of the periodic table. At standard pressure and temperature, it is a pale yellow gas. Rare in space, fluorine is much more common here on Earth, representing the 13th most abundant element in Earth’s crust.

In its various forms (one of which the familiar fluoride) it is used to enrich uranium, refine aluminum, produce steel, develop Freon and chlorofluorocarbons (ozone-depleting CFCs), and make Teflon—none of which you should brush your teeth with.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10^-10 Wavelength of Hard X-Rays
10^-9 Carbon Nanotubes
10^-8 Molecular Transport Nano Robot
10^-7 HIV Virus
10^-6 Red Blood Cells
10^-5 Sand
10^-4 Microelectromechanical Systems
10^-3 Sonata Silicium Watch Components
10^-2 Lego
10^-1 Prosthetic Fairing
10⁰ Biome Concept Car
10¹ Ma'erkang Housing Reconstruction
10² Shanghai Tower
10³ Bay Bridge
10⁴ Masdar City
10⁵ Palm Islands
10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Powers of Design | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: #AutodeskGallery, #AutodeskLabs, Autodesk Gallery, Autodesk Labs

Come to Design Night on March 7 at the Autodesk Gallery in San Francisco

On Thursday, March 7, 6-10 p.m., the Autodesk Gallery will host Design Night: Illumination, where we will explore how artists and designers are using light to enhance our lives, from the very practical to the stunningly beautiful. From solar power technology and programmable LEDs to mind-blowing light art, there’s a lot more to light than meets the eye. So bring your sunny disposition to Design Night and experience:

A talk by internationally renowned artist, Leo Villareal, designer of the Bay Lights that willl adorn the Bay Bridge
A retro, jumbo light sculpture
An insane infinity booth
Glow-in-the-dark alcoholic drinks (non-radioactive, I promise)
A light show created by people holding hands and low voltage (no electrocution, I promise)
Light painting

Registration is required and ticket pricing is as follows:

Advance Tickets: $20 General / $15 Autodesk Employees / $10 Students
Day of Event Tickets: $25 General / $20 Autodesk Employees / $15 Students

To register for the event, please visit the event registration site.

Admission fees include admission to the presentation, as well as an open bar, food, music, and hands-on activities. Tickets are limited and may sell out in advance, so be sure to get your ticket early. The February Design Night did indeed sell out.

Light is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery, Design Night | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**-12 Gamma Rays

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up. On Monday we talked about the size of the nothing space that exists between the nucleus of an atom and its electrons. Now we're jumping up in magnitude to a gamma ray. Whoo hoo!

Artist’s rendition of gamma ray.

10^-12 MAGNITUDE
0.000,000,000,001 meters
1 Picometer

Gamma Rays

Less than 10 Picometers

Long beloved by writers of science fiction and comic books, gamma rays have been responsible for everything from mutant lobsters to super powers. But gamma rays are actually quite prevalent in our lives. As electromagnetic radiation of high frequency and short wavelength, they can be produced in a variety of ways, including supernova explosions, the destruction of atoms, or the decay of radioactive material in space.

Gamma rays have wavelengths less than 10 picometers, or less than the diameter of an atom. Gamma radiation has several everyday uses, including sterilizing medical equipment, keeping food fresh, and gamma knife surgery, an effective treatment for brain tumors and functional disorders.

Gamma rays are responsible for turning Dr. Bruce Banner into the Incredible Hulk. They are the highest energy form of light. The rainbow of visible light that we are most familiar with is just part of a far broader spectrum of light, the electromagnetic spectrum. Past the red end of the rainbow, where wavelengths get longer, are infrared rays, microwaves and radio waves, while beyond violet lie the shorter wavelengths of ultraviolet rays, X-rays and, finally, gamma rays. ^{source: livescience.com}

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10^-11 Fluorine Ion
10^-10 Wavelength of Hard X-Rays
10^-9 Carbon Nanotubes
10^-8 Molecular Transport Nano Robot
10^-7 HIV Virus
10^-6 Red Blood Cells
10^-5 Sand
10^-4 Microelectromechanical Systems
10^-3 Sonata Silicium Watch Components
10^-2 Lego
10^-1 Prosthetic Fairing
10⁰ Biome Concept Car
10¹ Ma'erkang Housing Reconstruction
10² Shanghai Tower
10³ Bay Bridge
10⁴ Masdar City
10⁵ Palm Islands
10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

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Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**-13 Nada, Zilch, Zero, Zip

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

10^-13 MAGNITUDE
0.000,000,000,000,1 m
100 Femtometers

Nada, Zilch, Zero, Zip

100 Femtometers

Nothing to see here folks. We’ve entered the big nowhere in the realm between an atom’s nucleus and its orbiting electrons. While there has been research done for decades at this level (think Manhattan Project), it’s currently the scale at which we measure the probability of interaction between small particles. And probability, as you might imagine, is not an easy thing to illustrate.

To be honest, I had never considered the space between a nucleus and its electrons. Since atoms are the building blocks of all matter, I guess you could say it is possible to get something from nothing. Happy Presidents' Day.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

Future blog posts will cover:

10^-12 Gamma Rays
10^-11 Fluorine Ion
10^-10 Wavelength of Hard X-Rays
10^-9 Carbon Nanotubes
10^-8 Molecular Transport Nano Robot
10^-7 HIV Virus
10^-6 Red Blood Cells
10^-5 Sand
10^-4 Microelectromechanical Systems
10^-3 Sonata Silicium Watch Components
10^-2 Lego
10^-1 Prosthetic Fairing
10⁰ Biome Concept Car
10¹ Ma'erkang Housing Reconstruction
10² Shanghai Tower
10³ Bay Bridge
10⁴ Masdar City
10⁵ Palm Islands
10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

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Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**-14 Atomic Nucleus of a Uranium Atom

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I am starting small and am working my way up. On Monday we talked about our friends, protons and neutrons, so now let's move up the ladder one notch in terms of magnitude.

Artist’s rendition of the atomic nucleus of a uranium atom.

10^-14 MAGNITUDE
0.000,000,000,000,01 m
10 Femtometers

Atomic Nucleus of a Uranium Atom

15 Femtometers

As we take the first tentative steps on our journey of scale, we arrive at some of the very building blocks (even though they look round) of existence. The atomic nucleus is the dense region consisting of positively charged protons and electrically neutral neutrons at the center of the basic unit of matter, the atom.

Almost all of an atom’s mass is located in its nucleus, the rest provided by its orbiting cloud of negatively charged electrons. The diameter of the nucleus ranges from 1.75 fm for hydrogen—the diameter of a single proton—to about 15 fm for the heaviest atoms, such as uranium.

On Monday when I covered the proton, and its size was about 1.6 femtometers, not knowing what a femtometer was, I thought "1.6 femtometers -- really? Why didn't scientists just make it 1.0 femtometers and define a femtometer as the size of a proton, much like the Celsius scale was defined for water?" A femtometer is a metric unit of length equal to one quadrillionth of a meter. Realizing that, it all makes sense. It's like the old saying "A billion fentomillions saved, is a billion fentomillions earned."

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Previous posts on this topic include:

10^-15 Protons and Neutrons

Future blog posts will cover:

10^-13 Nada, Zilch, Zero, Zip
10^-12 Gamma Rays
10^-11 Fluorine Ion
10^-10 Wavelength of Hard X-Rays
10^-9 Carbon Nanotubes
10^-8 Molecular Transport Nano Robot
10^-7 HIV Virus
10^-6 Red Blood Cells
10^-5 Sand
10^-4 Microelectromechanical Systems
10^-3 Sonata Silicium Watch Components
10^-2 Lego
10^-1 Prosthetic Fairing
10⁰ Biome Concept Car
10¹ Ma'erkang Housing Reconstruction
10² Shanghai Tower
10³ Bay Bridge
10⁴ Masdar City
10⁵ Palm Islands
10⁶ The Moon
10⁷ Earth
10⁸ Jupiter
10⁹ The Sun
10¹⁰ Distance Light Travels in 34 Seconds
10¹¹ Distance from Jupiter to the Sun
10¹² Distance from Pluto to the Sun
10¹³ Voyager 2
10¹⁴ The Solar System
10¹⁵ Cat's Eye Nebula
10¹⁶ Pillars of Creation
10¹⁷ Great Orion Nebula
10¹⁸ M15 Globular Cluster
10¹⁹ Sagitarius Dwarf Galaxy
10²⁰ Trangulum Galaxy
10²¹ The Milky Way
10²² IC 1101
10²³ Local Group of Galaxies
10²⁴ The Local Supercluster
10²⁵ 3C 273
10²⁶ Outer Limit of the Universe

Measurement is alive in the lab.

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Richard Esterle: Fun with Math and 3D Printing

Objects
Enlarge

I recently gave an Autodesk Gallery tour to a maker named Richard Esterle. Richard was attending a math conference in the Bay Area and stopped by the gallery. At the conference Richard made math tangible for students by sharing some of the shapes he 3D printed. Richard even has some of his objects available as toys on Shapeways.

source: shapeways.com

Richard told me he was originally inspired by shapes created by Bathsheba Grossman.

Source: shapeways.com

These shapes demonstrate how "complexity is free" when it comes to 3D printing. Unlike an artisan working with a hand tool, a 3D printer does not care how intricate the shape is. 3D printing also does not require a mold. This opens the door to personal manufacturing since in such a situation, each object is different. Using traditional manufacturing techniques to create molds for one-off object creation would not be cost effective. For example, imagine tailor-made shoes just for you at the same price you pay today.

We may hook up Richard with 123D Make and have him create an exhibit for the gallery! The gallery at One Market in San Francisco is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us. If you would like to know more about Richard "Dick" Esterle, you can check out this TRIBlive article. This way people won't be able to say you don't know Dick.

Shapes are alive in the lab.

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Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**-15 Protons and Neutrons

This exhibit is all about size — everything from 10^-15 to 10²⁶ in magnitude. There's an item illustrating each magnitude.

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I will start small and work my way up.

Artist’s rendition of a proton.

10^-15 MAGNITUDE
0.000,000,000,000,001 m
1 Femtometer

Protons and Neutrons

1.6 Femtometers

Our journey through the powers of 10 ranges from the ludicrously small to the incomprehensibly large. We will do our best not to break your brain. We begin subatomically, with protons and neutrons. One or more positively charged protons (diameter 1.6-1.7 fm) reside in each atomic nucleus—this equaling the atomic number.

Slightly heavier than protons, neutrons have no charge. Hydrogen aside (having one proton), atomic nuclei consist of two or more protons and various numbers of neutrons. While we begin at 10^-15, there are realms still smaller—from quarks (which we know exist but can’t directly observe), all the way down to Planck length at about 10^-20 the diameter of a proton. But don’t quote us, because at so many orders of magnitude smaller than any measurement currently possible, research on Planck length is mostly theoretical.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Measurement is alive in the lab.

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Call for Proposals for the IDEA Studio by February 15

Among other marketing duties, Architecture and Construction Management Education Specialist, Glenn Katz, works with our IDEA Studio. The Autodesk IDEA Studio is a scholar-in-residence program located in San Francisco that supports researchers who are using Autodesk software in imaginative ways to solve real world problems. Learn more and submit a proposal by February 15, 2013 to be considered for the summer cycle!

Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about the IDEA Studio.

What is the IDEA Studio?
The IDEA Studio is a scholar-in-residence program that takes place in the Gallery at One Market in San Francisco. We support researchers who use Autodesk software in advanced, imaginative ways to solve real world problems.

Who participates in the IDEA Studio?
University faculty, graduate students, and researchers from industry. Here’s a sampling of past projects:

Chaotic Mixing for Engineered Wetlands - University of California at Berkeley
Pixels to Objects to Intelligence - University of Southern California
Hyper-Threads - Zaha Hadid Architects

Why participate?

Grants of up to $30,000 are provided to selected project teams to support residency participation.
Residents have ample access to Autodesk experts - from engineers to research scientists to executives - and Autodesk technology.
Residents work in an inspirational studio space in the Gallery at One Market.
A typical residency is 1 to 3 months.

What do participants say about the IDEA Studio experience?

"Our informal ‘hallway chats’ and firsthand exposure to Autodesk customer projects made our time in the Autodesk Gallery even more valuable - and inspirational….We had ideas that might not have emerged or been shared if we were working in isolation. That’s the joy of working as a team in a space that fosters collaboration."
Evan Variano (Assistant Professor from the UC Berkeley Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering)
"Access to Autodesk technology and people through the IDEA Studio program has really elevated this research. It allowed us to do things faster and to do things that we would not have been able to do otherwise."
Laura Klein (PhD student from USC)

What is the proposal process like?
Applicants for the summer cycle should submit a proposal via our Proposal Submission Page by February 15, 2013. The proposal should include:

Project name or topic and a two- or three-sentence statement on its purpose and nature
How the project uses Autodesk software in an imaginative way to solve a real-life problem
How guidance by Autodesk employees would help towards reaching project goals
The technology the project will use and level of experience with that technology
Information about those who the work will help or interest
Grant amount requested

Decisions are communicated within 6 weeks of the proposal deadline.

Check out this video.

I have been fortunate enough to be involved with some of these projects. I was floored when Dr. Evan Variano shared his results that wetlands more effectively take impurities out of water if dual pumps are turned on and off at random intervals. I got valuable feedback on how Project Photofly could be improved through Ph.D. candidate Laura Klein's presentation regarding how she used it on the USC campus. The IDEA Studio is truly win-win for industry and academia alike. Please email IDEA@autodesk.com if you have questions.

Educational opportunities are always alive in the studio.

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Be there at Design Night: Mother Nature: Celebrity Designer

Design Night is an events program at the Autodesk Gallery. At each event, guests explore a different theme – such as biomimicry, light, or robotics – that challenges the conventionally narrow definition of design. The theme is reflected in all aspects of the event, from the activities guests enjoy to the food they eat to the music they hear. The result is a fun and fascinating venue for exploration, networking, and the exchange of ideas.

On Thursday, February 7, 6-10 p.m., the Autodesk Gallery in San Francisco will host our sixth Design Night: Mother Nature: Celebrity Designer, where we will explore how biomimicry generates radical innovation. I have blogged on this topic before — Eiji Nakatsu: Lecture on Biomimicry as applied to a Japanese Train.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. We say it’s a good thing nature never got around to patent protection or today’s designers might be in big trouble. Still, who better to take design inspiration from than Mother Nature? After all, you'd be a heck of a designer too if you had nearly 4 billion years of trial and error under your belt.

So come to Design Night if you're curious about biomimicry and what it means for the future of design. Come and get in touch with nature with:

World-renowned biomimicry expert Dr. Dayna Baumeister
Hands-on Activities
- Evolving Building: Looking at how the natural world adapts to survive changes, we can learn how to build buildings that are optimized to withstand extreme conditions. This is a community build-over-time project, where participants will build and modify a structure based on conditions that change every 15 minutes, from a heat wave to high winds to floods, etc. Materials: clay, Popsicle sticks, leaves, feathers, etc. Participants will experience how buildings can be designed to be locally attuned and responsive, adapt to changing conditions, and evolve to survive.
- Biomimicry Parlor Games: Go Fish: Saddle up to the casino table for a rousing game of Go Fish biomimicry style. Learn how to look to the ocean to generate radical innovation.
DJ: Listen to the sweet jams of DJ Animal.
Specialty Cocktails
- Rosemary Gin Fizz, served with a fresh sprig of San Francisco rosemary
- Honey Rum Fizz, prepared by a highly organized society of bees
Food: Tacos by Picante

Also enjoy an open bar, food, activities, and much, much more so...um...hurry! Registration is required and ticket pricing is as follows:

Advanced Tickets: $20 General / $15 Autodesk Employees / $10 Students
Day of Event Tickets: $25 General / $20 Autodesk Employees / $15 Students

To attend the event:

Visit the event registration site.
Click Register (at the bottom right).
Fill out the form.

Admission fees include admission to the presentation, as well as an open bar, food, music, and hands-on activities.

Imitation is alive in the lab.

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Happy Holidays: The Gift of 3D Printing

Carl Bass is our CEO but is also our maker in chief. The Gallery at One Market features Carl's cheek to cheek bench that he designed with Autodesk Inventor.

Though Carl is a very hands-on design application user, he sometimes collaborates with other employees like Arthur Harsuvanakit. For example Arthur used 123D Make to generate wooden versions of Carl's bench design for Burning Man.

Carl recently created a bowl that can also be found in the gallery.

Arthur showed me one of the bowls that was fabricated using a traditional melted-metal-in-wax-mold process.

Arthur also showed me the same design fabricated using 3D printing with metal.

Notice the higher precision of the 3D printed version. In fact Carl gave each member of the Autodesk Board a 3D printed one as a holiday gift. In many ways the process of 3D printing is indeed a gift to manufacturing.

Gift giving is alive in the lab.

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Design Night: Leaps and Bounds

Design Night is a new events program at the Autodesk Gallery. At each event, guests explore a different theme – such as biomimicry, light, or robotics – that challenges the conventionally narrow definition of design. The theme is reflected in all aspects of the event, from the activities guests enjoy to the food they eat to the music they hear. The result is a fun and fascinating venue for exploration, networking, and the exchange of ideas.

The events are held on the first Thursday of the month. Last Thursday I attended our fourth Design Night: Leaps and Bounds, where we explored how exponential technology is making a big impact on the world’s greatest challenges.

Here was the setting:

The future isn't now. It was yesterday. Technology is changing exponentially and has the power to solve some of the world's most pressing problems. But what is exponential growth? Well, for example, the 100 years of the 21st century will not provide 100 years of technological progress. It'll be more like 10,000 years. Yeah, we're moving at ludicrous speed now, so hang on and don't blink. There's even exponential growth in the rate of exponential growth.

The evening included:

Instructables robots - Yes, exponential technology means robots are getting brainier every day.
DIY sculpture - Exponential self-assembly required.

By the end of the night, it reminded me of that line from the movie Airplane — "...and Leon's getting larger."
Featured speaker Salim Ismail - Global ambassador and founding executive director of Singularity University.

And what's not to like about: an open bar and food. Here are three fun highlights from the night:

Our brains are wired to think linearly, not exponentially. Salim Ismail told a story about how Singularity University students are first taught to think differently. They are instructed to imagine themselves at a fixed location. They then imagine themselves taking 30 linear steps. They all have a sense of where they be would be after doing so. Then they are instructed to start at the original location and imagine where they would be if they took 30 exponential steps. How far away would they be? The correct answer is a ~billion steps -- enough steps to go around the earth 26 times.
In his presentation Salim provided an analogy for the effects from exponential change to the three states of water:
- ICE - The molecules are densely packed and moving slowly. The form is rigid.
- LIQUID - The molecules are less densely packed and have some movement. The liquid adheres to the form it is contained in.
- STEAM - The molecules are loosely packed and moving rapidly. The form is fleeting and escapes any container whenever there is an opening.
This analogy can be applied to many domains of knowledge such as communication, travel, or manufacturing. We are in the steam age.
With the launch of the International Space Station, since October 31, 2000, the Earth has had a least one human residing at a location other than the surface of the planet. Using exponential growth techniques for extrapolating as to how many people will live in space from that is difficult because the variables for extraterrestrial life are so very different than earth. People need sunlight, water, warmth, etc. that are not always available in space. One disgruntled human can wipe out an entire planet's (or moon's) population by sabotaging the life support system. So when Star Trek™ becomes a reality remains a mystery.

A good time was had by all -- and educational too.

To see what you missed, check out these Socialcam videos:

Growth is alive in the lab.

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Autodesk Gallery: Embrace the Future Exhibit

Our Gallery at One Market just set up twelve new exhibits that come under the heading of Design in the Public Interest. These exhibits feature products, places, and processes where design is used for common good instead of monetary profit. In a series of twelve blog articles over a few weeks, I thought I would pick them off one at a time. So far I have covered all but one of them:

Our last, but not least, one is Embrace the Future.

People:

Embrace Global // more
Embrace Innovation // more

Related software:

Autodesk Inventor // more

San Francisco Chronicle: Embrace infant sleeping bags save lives
Architizer: Architects, You Can Help Save The World! See 5 Remarkable Projects From New Autodesk Exhibition

Many families in India wait to name their babies until nine months after they are born. The reason? High infant mortality rates, caused in part by the inability of low-birth-weight babies to regulate their own body temperature. For example, Shivamadamma, from a farming family in rural India, gave birth to a premature baby boy weighing only 3.5 pounds. Keeping her baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was impossibly expensive. Fortunately, doctors were able to provide thermal support to Shivamadamma's baby with the Embrace Nest infant warmer. Now nine months old and feeding well, the baby is ready for his naming ceremony.

Here are the saddening facts:

20 million low-birth-weight and premature babies are born each year.
450 low-birth-weight and premature babies die each hour.

Crises like this are not uncommon. Globally, 4 million premature babies die each year within their first month of life. Those that survive often have lifelong problems such as early onset of diabetes, heart disease, and low IQ. The tragedy here is not just how vulnerable so many newborns are, but that their suffering is largely preventable. Traditional incubators cost many thousands of dollars. People without access have historically resorted to desperate measures, tying hot water bottles around babies, placing them under light bulbs, or holding them over hot coals -- all well-intentioned, but dangerous alternatives.

The Embrace Nest is a low-cost solution (only $200) that doesn't require electricity or special training -- pioneered by Stanford design students as a class assignment. It has three parts: a sleeping bag, heater, and pouch of phase-change material. Once heated, the phase-change material is placed into a compartment in the sleeping bag and can maintain a constant 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit over 4 hours. Embrace is currently working in India and emergency settings on a case-by-case basis and is looking to expand its work through partnerships with non-government organizations (NGOs).

Embrace's theory of change is not just about babies nestled warmly in one of public interest design's most critical innovations. It's also about global sustainability. Embrace is helping to minimize long-term stress on health-care systems, decrease birth rates (as Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus has argued, parents don't have to bear six children in the hopes of raising two if they know their children will survive), and strengthen the economy and political stability. After all, healthy babies today grow up to be engaged citizens tomorrow.

How's that for one little sleeping bag invented by a few students?

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matthew Tierney, and Brand Marketing Manager, Grace Hom, for content contained in this blog article. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Efficiency is alive in the lab.

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#AU2012 Big Props So Much Larger Than Life

Early this morning I walked the AU Exhibit Hall before it opened. I couldn't help but notice the big props that are included with many of the show booths.

house model -- Autodesk Reality Capture and Fabrication

skull fossil -- Autodesk Reality Capture

buildings that grow themselves into shape -- Autodesk Gallery

car -- Autodesk Manufacturing

indy car -- Autodesk 360

3D printed objects -- Autodesk Inventor

motorcycle -- Faro Laser Scanner Technologies

With apologies to Peter Gabriel, a big time is alive in the lab.

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Autodesk Gallery: Easing the Way Home Exhibit

Our Gallery at One Market just set up twelve new exhibits that come under the heading of Design in the Public Interest. These exhibits feature products, places, and processes where design is used for common good instead of monetary profit. In a series of twelve blog articles over a few weeks, I thought I would pick them off one at a time. So far I have covered ten of them:

Our penultimate one is Easing the Way Home.

People:

Community Solutions // more
Home for Good United Way for Greater Los Angeles // more
City of Los Angeles // more
Aguiniga Designs // more

Many people are homeless not because they can't or don't want to find homes, but because the agencies charged with helping them are rarely coordinated and force them through M.C. Escher-like mazes of complicated paperwork. Community Solutions, a national housing organization with an entrepreneurial approach, knows this in their bones. That's why they collaborated with Home for Good, a multi-organization initiative to end chronic homelessness among veterans in the Los Angeles area, to bring local officials working in housing authority and veterans' administrations together at "boot camp" to trim the fat from the process once and for all.

Here are some unfortunate statistics:

In 2011, more than 630,000 people were homeless, including more than 67,000 veterans.
Veterans are 50% more likely to be homeless than the average American.

Once they arrived, teams used a housing placement board game, created by Aguiniga Designs, to map the steps of their current processes, including every juncture when money or paper changed hands. Once teams identified their full processes, they began working together to identify and resolve hurdles. Before boot camp, it took an average of 47 steps and 237 days for a homeless veteran to get into permanent housing. Since boot camp, the average has dropped to 23 steps and 30 days. And harder to measure, but no less important, are improved relationships between agencies and communities that benefit those who have served our country and now deserve the dignity of a home.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matthew Tierney, and Brand Marketing Manager, Grace Hom, for content contained in this blog article. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Efficiency is alive in the lab.

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Autodesk Gallery: A Place to Call Home Exhibit

Our Gallery at One Market just set up twelve new exhibits that come under the heading of Design in the Public Interest. These exhibits feature products, places, and processes where design is used for common good instead of monetary profit. In a series of twelve blog articles over a few weeks, I thought I would pick them off one at a time. So far I have covered nine of them:

Our tenth one is A Place to Call Home.

People:

Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture // more
Community Housing Partnership // more
David Baker + Partners Architects // more
Mercy Housing of California // more

Related Software:

AutoCAD // more
Autdoesk Revit // more

The New York Times: Design as a Balm for a Community's Soul

Poet and novelist Maya Angelou has said that the "ache for home lives in all of us." In San Francisco, a city where homeless people sleep on the streets on any given night, this ache is palpable. As much-needed dialogue continues between policy makers, advocates, and the homeless themselves, some locals are collaborating on solutions. Community Housing Partnership, David Baker + Partners Architects, and Mercy Housing of California together developed the Richardson Apartments -- permanent, supportive housing for formerly homeless people.

Here are some disappointing statistics:

In San Francisco, an estimated 10,000 people sleep on the streets on any given night.
Veterans are 50% more likely to be homeless than the average American.

The building includes 120 bright, simply furnished residential studios, plus plentiful communal space fit for the kinds of gatherings that give people in transition a chance to strengthen their resilience together. An open grand staircase, connecting the first through fifth floors, reduces reliance on the elevator and encourages interaction. In a large, open-air courtyard, an expansive mosaic mural of dancing figures stretches across the surface of the building. It's fitting that these dignifying, communal dwellings are named after Drs. Julian and Raye Richardson, Bay Area-based partners and public intellectuals who founded Marcus Books, the oldest black bookstore in the country, in 1960. Richardson Apartments, like Marcus Books before it, has become a new kind of home for civil rights.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matthew Tierney, and Brand Marketing Manager, Grace Hom, for content contained in this blog article. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Shelter is alive in the lab.

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Autodesk Gallery: Freedom to Move Exhibit

Our Gallery at One Market just set up twelve new exhibits that come under the heading of Design in the Public Interest. These exhibits feature products, places, and processes where design is used for common good instead of monetary profit. In a series of twelve blog articles over a few weeks, I thought I would pick them off one at a time. So far I have covered eight of them:

Our ninth one is Freedom to Move.

People:

D-Rev: Design Revolution // more
Jaipur Foot // more

Related Software:

Autodesk Inventor // more
Project Hydra // more
Autodesk Simulation CFD // more
Autodesk Simulation Moldflow // more
Autodesk Simulation DFM // more

When we speak about freedom, we often think of it in a political context. But for the 30 million people worldwide without the freedom of mobility, it’s very personal. D-Rev: Design Revolution, a nonprofit technology incubator, is working to change that with the ReMotion Knee -- a prosthetic knee joint developed by design students at Stanford University. It is currently being piloted in India with Jaipur Foot, the largest provider of prosthetics in the world.

There is a big need for this since:

In the developing word, over 9 million people are in need of a prosthetic knee joint.

Few realize that modern prosthetics can cost thousands of dollars. The ReMotion Knee not only improves on the design of a traditional, single-hinge, prosthetic knee joint but does so at a fraction of the cost. Once in full production, each ReMotion Knee is intended to cost only $13. Though the ReMotion Knee only uses five plastic pieces and four fasteners, it allows for a full 165 degrees of movement. It’s both lightweight (1.5 lbs) and durable, thanks to a self-lubricating, oil-filled nylon polymer.

To date, 3,500 people’s lives have been transformed by a ReMotion Knee -- a product that embodies Oliver Wendell Holmes' famous words: "I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity."

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matthew Tierney, and Brand Marketing Manager, Grace Hom, for content contained in this blog article. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Mobility is alive in the lab.

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Autodesk Gallery: Illuminating Possibility Exhibit

Our Gallery at One Market just set up twelve new exhibits that come under the heading of Design in the Public Interest. These exhibits feature products, places, and processes where design is used for common good instead of monetary profit. In a series of twelve blog articles over a few weeks, I thought I would pick them off one at a time. So far I have covered over half of them:

Our eighth one is entitled Illuminating Possibility.

People:

d.light // more

Related Software:

Autodesk Inventor // more
Project Hydra // more
Autodesk Simulation Moldflow // more
Autodesk Simulation DFM // more

Architizer: Architects, You Can Help Save The World! See 5 Remarkable Projects From New Autodesk Exhibition

"There just aren't enough hours in the day!"

It's almost like a modern-day mantra, isn't it? Now imagine if that already too short day effectively ended the second the sun slid below the horizon. It's daily reality for one in four people who don't have access to reliable electricity. Some rely on kerosene lamps, which have been proven dangerous. Others have no alternative to darkness at all.

d.light is changing that, one affordable solar lamp at a time. Their brightly colored lamps, which range in price from $7 to $40 and provide up to 12 hours of light, are designed to withstand use in harsh conditions. The internal circuitry is protected from dust and insects, and the light can survive a two-meter drop. They have multiple brightness settings and come with a cell phone charger. The lights provide up to 12 hours of light.

Here are some facts to shed light on this topic:

2.6 billion people in the world don't have access to reliable electricity.
A prevalent choice for lighting is kerosene which is: expensive, carries a high risk of fires, and is hazardous to human health.
dlight products offset 288,000 tons of carbon emissions -- the weight of 28 Eiffel Towers.
d.light products have already touched 7 million people -- 8 times the number of people in San Francisco.
1.4 million students use the lamp to study.

In addition, d.light provides educational and economic opportunity. Monika Singh, a 14-year-old student in a village in Uttar Pradesh, describes her own experience: "We begin studying at 7 or 8 p.m. and study for 2.5 hours with the light. The time that we take to study has been reduced, because with good light, we can now study faster." d.light lamps -- including its most recent edition, S1, aimed at students -- allow children like Singh to learn and work beyond sunset, making their future substantially brighter. By the end of 2015, aspires to improve the quality of life for 50 million people; by the end of 2020, 100 million people. Now that's a lot of light. "Light of the world, shine on me..."

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matthew Tierney, and Brand Marketing Manager, Grace Hom, for content contained in this blog article. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Light is alive in the lab.

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Autodesk Gallery: Citizen-Powered Change Exhibit

Our Gallery at One Market just set up twelve new exhibits that come under the heading of Design in the Public Interest. These exhibits feature products, places, and processes where design is used for common good instead of monetary profit. In a series of twelve blog articles over the next few weeks, I thought I would pick them off one at a time. So far I have covered half of them:

Our seventh one is Citizen-Powered Change.

People:

Code for America // more
City of Boston // more
City of Honolulu // more
City of Seattle // more

LinkedIn IDEO.org's Tim Brown: Must-See Public Interest Design

Code for America, dubbed "Peace Corps for geeks," embeds computer developers in city governments, where they work with officials to redesign cumbersome bureaucracies. The organization could not have been founded at a better time and is now helping to address huge budget shortfalls since the economic downturn in 2008. But Code for America Fellows are doing more than improving the DMV experience; they're inspiring citizens to get involved in small, but meaningful ways. Here's an example:

Snowstorms often bury fire hydrants, endangering firefighters' capacity to respond in emergencies. Code for America fellows, recognizing this, created the Adopt-a-Hydrant app, through which local Bostonians can claim responsibility for clearing a particular hydrant. Better yet, if you dig it out, you get to name it. The first was called "Al" by the app's creator, Erik Michaels-Ober. If you neglect your hydrant, it can be "stolen" by other locals, creating a game out of this slice of civic life.

It quickly became evident that it wasn't just hydrants that needed attention. Here's a cold hard fact:

State and local governments in the United States spend $2.5 trillion annually, but have experienced sharp budget declines since the 2008 economic downturn.

Honolulu is using the app to get citizens to adopt tsunami sirens. In Seattle, locals are adopting storm drains. In fact, nine cities are currently using this handy little app, intentionally designed to be open, free, and easy to customize for local needs. This is not your grandparents' government.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matthew Tierney, and Brand Marketing Manager, Grace Hom, for content contained in this blog article. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Civic pride is alive in the lab.

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Be there: Design Night: Leaps and Bounds on December 6 at the Autodesk Gallery in San Francisco

Design Night is a new events program at the Autodesk Gallery. At each event, guests explore a different theme – such as biomimicry, light, or robotics – that challenges the conventionally narrow definition of design. The theme is reflected in all aspects of the event, from the activities guests enjoy to the food they eat to the music they hear. The result is a fun and fascinating venue for exploration, networking, and the exchange of ideas.

On Thursday, December 6, 6-10 p.m., the Autodesk Gallery in San Francisco will host our fourth Design Night: Leaps and Bounds, where we will explore how exponential technology is making a big impact on the world’s greatest challenges.

The future isn't now. It was yesterday. Technology is changing exponentially and has the power to solve some of the world's most pressing problems. But what is exponential growth? Well, for example, the 100 years of the 21st century will not provide 100 years of technological progress. It'll be more like 10,000 years. Yeah, we're moving at ludicrous speed now, so hang on and don't blink. There's even exponential growth in the rate of exponential growth. Head hurt? Don't worry, come to Design Night and we'll make it all better with:

Instructables robots - Yes, exponential technology means robots are getting brainier every day
DIY sculpture - Exponential self-assembly required
Featured speaker Salim Ismail - Global ambassador and founding executive director of Singularity University

Also enjoy an open bar, food, activities, and much, much more so...um...hurry! Registration is required and ticket pricing is as follows:

Advanced Tickets: $20 General / $15 Autodesk Employees / $10 Students
Day of Event Tickets: $25 General / $20 Autodesk Employees / $15 Students

To attend the event:

Visit the event registration site.
Click Register.
Fill out the form.

Admission fees include admission to the presentation, as well as an open bar, food, music, and hands-on activities.

Fun is alive in the lab.

Posted by Scott Sheppard at 04:00 AM in Autodesk Gallery | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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