It is Alive in the Lab

My Favorite Blog Posts of 2017

When I started this blog in April 2007, it was about showcasing free technology previews that were available via Autodesk Labs. Hence the name, It's Alive in the Lab. Now it's about showcasing the work of Autodesk and our partners... Read more →

Managing Cost, Reliability, Responsiveness, and Sustainability are part of AMP's Strategy

I live in Alameda, California, and through a series of blog posts, I chronicled some energy improvements that I made to my home: Results of My Home Energy Audit Improvements to My Home based on My Home Energy Audit The... Read more →

Biomimicry-inspired Japanese Train Design Adopted in India

Biomimicry is a branch of science that looks to leverage the results of 3.8 billion years of evolution to solve engineering problems. It asks the question WWND — What Would Nature Do? The theory and practice are used to apply... Read more →

Merry Christmas from Autodesk Forge

Merry Christmas from the Autodesk Forge Team. Autodesk employees in the United States have the week off. It's lovingly referred to as our "week of rest." Thanks to all of our partners, developers, and customers who use Forge to extend... Read more →

Christmas Letter 2017

December 2017 Dear Family and Friends: We decided to send this out electronically to save some trees. I know some people make fun of Christmas letters, but I wanted to give you a status report of our family. It’s short... Read more →

Bullit Chase Scene Inspires Car Design

Bullitt is an action film that stars Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, and Jacqueline Bisset. According to Wikipedia, Bullitt is notable for its car chase scene through the streets of San Francisco, regarded as one of the most influential in movie... Read more →

Two Bespoke Creations: Same Idea, Different Inputs, Processes, and Motivations

photo courtesy of Dr. Erin Bradner We are on the brink of the biggest change in how we make things since the industrial revolution, and this isn't just about new technology. It's about changes in culture, politics, and attitudes. As... Read more →

Elf on the Shelf Now Safe and Sound

Here's the story of our Elf on the Shelf: The Elf, a scout for Santa as to who's been naughty or nice, snuck into my laptop bag and was on the loose in the office. See blog article with pictures.... Read more →

Elf on the Shelf continues to elude us in the Autodesk Gallery

With regard to the Elf on a Shelf, here's a progress report: The Elf, a scout for Santa as to who's been naughty or nice, snuck into my laptop bag and was on the loose in the office. See blog... Read more →

rLoop Levitated its Hyperloop pod at #AU2017

"In science, 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.' I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms."... Read more →

Elf on the Shelf still on the loose in the Autodesk Gallery

Let's ReCap. No, not that ReCap, let's recap: The Elf on the Shelf, a scout for Santa as to who's been naughty or nice, snuck into my laptop bag and was on the loose in the office. See blog article... Read more →

Elf on the Shelf on the loose in the Autodesk Gallery

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, the Elf on the Shelf from our home snuck into my laptop bag, emerged at the office, and was making his way over to the Autodesk Gallery. Autodesk makes software for people who... Read more →

Elf on the Shelf on the loose at Autodesk San Francisco

My wife has decorated our home for Christmas. This includes an Elf on the Shelf. As the lore goes, the Elf magically moves about, acting as Santa Claus' scout, to determine who has been naughty and who has been nice.... Read more →

Debugging Artificial Intelligence

Computer programs often contain errors. They are nicknamed bugs because many years ago, a moth flew into computer pioneer Grace Hooper's hardware and her program produced an incorrect result. Insects aside, why do software bugs happen? It's because computer programming... Read more →

Autodesk Gallery at One Market in San Francisco: Audio Tour-based Scavenger Hunt

Autodesk makes software for people who make things. If you've ever driven a high-performance car, admired a towering skyscraper, used a smartphone, or watched a great film, chances are you've experienced what millions of Autodesk customers are doing with our... Read more →

Book Review: Win Bigly by Scott Adams

I am a fan of Scott Adams. I think his Dilbert comic strip combines the right amount of workplace truth and humor. In addition, I am a regular reader of his blog. My boss, Jon Pittman, even gave me a... Read more →

#CSEdWeek and #HourOfCode is more than trying to code – it’s about learning to think in a new way.

I majored in Computer Science at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette from 1977 to 1981. During that time, I was a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Admiral Grace Hopper (who was Captain Grace Hopper at the... Read more →

Autodesk Future of Work Activity Three of Three

The future of work involves automation and augmentation.They say that robots are coming to take our jobs. At Autodesk, we are hoping to help create new industries to mitigate the negative effects of the changing work environment. Just as people... Read more →

Updated: A little more detail behind the Autodesk Forge APIs

Let's say you've been an Autodesk customer for a long time. You've got decades of your intellectual property captured in AutoCAD drawings. If you'd like to leverage that data to showcase your work to your customers, then Autodesk Forge is... Read more →

If you've ever wondered what Autodesk does, here it is in 15 minutes

Brian Mathews is our VP of Platform Engineering. He recently presented how Autodesk uses cloud computing via Amazon Web Services to help people imagine, design, and make a better world. "Unlike the telescope and the microscope that let us see... Read more →