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Our minds expanded, our skills and workflows improved, and our professional networks grew. (We also sharpened up our cornhole game.) It was AU 2017 in Las Vegas, and it was pretty amazing.
We’ll be digesting what we saw, heard, and learned for weeks to come, but let’s briefly recap the highlights from the week.
During the Opening Keynote, CEO Andrew Anagnost talked about how to thrive in a world of automation, and how automation can enable us to do more, do it better, and do it with less. We also heard from industry leaders including Hilbrand Katsma of Van Wijnen and Pierre Maillot from Bosch.
In the Technology Keynote, SVP of Design and Creation Products Amy Bunszel and some special guests provided a look at how Autodesk can help you and your company stay at the forefront of your industry. She was joined by Tim Evans of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and Kelsey Stein, who specializes in BIM-based Preconstruction services at Skanska. Andrew Anagnost also returned to the stage alongside Jack Dangermond, president of Esri, to announce a new effort to bridge BIM and GIS mapping technologies.
What’s more, the Design & Manufacturing Keynote and the Architecture, Engineering & Construction Keynote were chock full of new product announcements, including end-to-end integrations to close the loop on the design, make, and manage process.
In the Exhibit Hall, we got to see the projects featured in the Future of Making Things Experience. The pioneering work in a range of industries provided, if not a roadmap, exciting glimpses of how we’ll be doing things in the coming decades.
In the Theater, we saw engaging presentations on a range of topics from generative design and BIM to the cloud and robotic fabrication—and they were all 15 minutes or less, the perfect accompaniment to the deeper learning happening all week. (And we also watched Blade Runner 2049, hosted by the film’s VFX Supervisor Richard Hoover. That rocked.)
There was more. Much more. 650+ classes. Incredible parties. Great networking events. And that cornhole.
If you were at AU this year, thank you. And please send in your surveys—tell us what you thought—your feedback helps us make AU better every year.
If you weren’t there, you can watch the keynotes and select sessions right now—check out the live stream schedule. Other sessions will be available at AU online soon.
We can’t wait to see you next year.
