CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
19 May 2005
Implementation Investments
Next Generation of Architects and Designers Embrace Building Information Modeling to Realize Their Ideas
Autodesk, Inc. announced that Autodesk customer Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann Associates, a multidisciplinary firm specializing in architectural and engineering solutions, has donated Autodesk® Revit® Building 8 software to Pennsylvania State University through the Autodesk "Invest in Education" program. Penn State is the most recent addition to leading schools using Revit Building, Autodesk's solution built specifically for building information modeling, to train tomorrow's architects and designers. With this donation, architectural students in over 80 colleges, universities, and high schools in the United States, including California's Santiago High School, where students recently used Revit Building to win top honors in the 2005 SkillsUSA Architectural Drafting Combo, now use Autodesk Revit Building.
"Revit Building is the future of digital design. It will enable us to teach students the complete building cycle from conceptual studies to detailed construction documentation, and will allow our students to experiment with parametric design and building information modeling," said Dan Willis, professor of architecture and department head at Pennsylvania State University. "Having this powerful tool at our disposal greatly enhances our professional practice and building construction coursework."
To prepare students for the rigors of college coursework and increase their marketability to employers, progressive high schools are also introducing students to building information modeling using Revit Building. Santiago High School in Corona, California, was recently recognized for its teaching excellence when three students took home top honors at the statewide design competition, SkillsUSA Architectural Drafting Combo 2005. The contest required students to solve "real-world" design challenges including: sketching, creating working drawings, and revising drawings. Each student received a student copy of Revit Building from Autodesk educational reseller Paton and Associates, and first place winner Stephen Helms will compete in the SkillsUSA/VICA National Championships that will be held in Kansas City, Missouri in June.
"Students were able to experiment with different layouts and elevation appearances without panicking about time constraints," said Bill Brown, teacher at Santiago High School. "The schedules were never a problem because Revit Building tracks changes automatically, so customizing schedules to the judge's criteria took only a few minutes."
The Autodesk Invest in Education Program is a software grant program aimed at connecting commercial customers with local education institutions in order to develop industry relevance, build the future talent pool and enable customers to give back to their communities. Commercial customers who purchase Autodesk® software are eligible to donate seat licenses to educational institutions. In addition to the Invest in Education program, Autodesk is also helping to educate and train the next generation of architects and designers to realize their ideas by sponsoring the International Architecture Student Design Competition, and by supporting the 2005 Newhouse program at the Chicago Architecture Foundation.
"Technology has become inexorably integrated into the practice of architecture, from creation of design information with digital tools to collaboration through the Internet, and Autodesk is committed to equipping the next generation of architects and designers with powerful and cutting-edge information and design tools," said Phillip Bernstein, FAIA, vice president, Autodesk building solutions and lecturer at Yale University's school of architecture. "Today's students are embracing new modeling technology with a vengeance-and in the process laying the foundation for dramatically advancing the industry."
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