CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
10 January 2011
Company News
Autodesk Helps Inspire Tomorrow’s Engineers Through FIRST Robotics Competition
For the 19th consecutive year, Autodesk, Inc. is a sponsor of the FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC®) program by contributing its software, mentoring resources and, for the first time, funding grants to U.S. teams. The FIRST Robotics Competition challenges high-school students to collaborate and build a working robot in just six weeks. The annual competition promotes STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills while inspiring students to be leaders in tomorrow’s engineering workforce.
“Students around the world are hungry for opportunities to apply the math and science principles they’ve learned to projects outside the classroom,” said Joe Astroth, Ph.D., Autodesk chief education officer. “As a longtime supporter of FRC, Autodesk is committed to helping students develop real-world skills they need to prepare themselves to solve tomorrow’s design and engineering challenges.”
More than 2,200 teams consisting of 45,000 high-school students from around the world will participate in the 2011 FRC competition. As part of the event’s Kit of Parts, each team will receive Autodesk Inventor 2011 software to design, visualize and simulate their robots in 3D before construction, saving valuable time and resources while exploring design alternatives. Using Autodesk Inventor also exposes students to the same tools and concepts used by the world’s leading engineers. As members of the Autodesk Education Community, each student also receives free access to the company’s 3D design, engineering and entertainment software and accompanying resources, including access to a virtual kit of robot parts modeled in Autodesk Inventor.
For the first time, Autodesk will sponsor 20 teams from the United States, with grants of $5,000 each, to be used for the competition registration fee. Autodesk will also honor two teams with the Autodesk Excellence in Design award at this year’s championship event in St. Louis, Mo., to be held April 27-30, 2011. The award’s 3D Design category recognizes outstanding achievement in design of the FIRST team robot using Autodesk Inventor, AutoCAD or Autodesk SketchBook Pro software. The award’s 3D Animation category honors the FIRST team that creates the best 30-second 3D animation using Autodesk 3ds Max, Autodesk Maya or Autodesk Softimage software. The animation must fit the “Change Their World” theme, while demonstrating understanding of the design process, storytelling, technical execution, creativity and aesthetics, as well as clear, concise, and compelling communication.
For more information, visit the Autodesk Education Community’s FIRST competition website at http://www.autodesk.com/first.
Autodesk Education Initiatives
Autodesk supports students and educators by providing design software, innovative programs and other resources designed to inspire the next generation of professionals. By supporting educators to advance design education and STEM skills, Autodesk is helping prepare students for future academic and career success. Autodesk supports schools and institutions of higher learning worldwide through substantial discounts, subscriptions, grant programs, training, curricula development and community resources. For more information about Autodesk education programs and solutions, visit autodesk.com/education.
Become a member of the CIMdata PLM Community to receive your daily PLM news and much more.
Tell us what you think of the CIMdata Newsletter. Send your feedback.
CIMdata is committed to your privacy. Your personal information will never be sold or shared outside of CIMdata without your express permission.