Christopher Benner
Meet Obiora Odugu. Obiora is an E4C fellow working with the Autodesk Foundation from Feb 10 – Sept 30. He provides technical support and assessment to Autodesk Foundation non-profits and start-ups. He is excited about this role as he gets to experience and work with multiple organizations developing products that are transforming human life and advancing the SDGs.
He is passionate about designing robots and great products. He believes a great product should have qualities of a genuinely democratic government – Made by and for the people using it. He has been engaged in projects that demonstrate this belief. In 2021, he worked with ASME Engineering for Change (E4C) as an Autodesk design fellow helping Kheyti redesign their greenhouses for farmers at the bottom of the pyramid. He has also worked on multiple products within the furniture, electronic, and energy sector.
What attracted you to a career in Manufacturing / Design / Electronics?
Food. I wanted to download food from the internet and then I stumbled on 3d printing. Since then, I have aimed to make products that can truly help people.
What advancement in Manufacturing / Design / Electronics are you most excited about and why?
I am most excited about Generative design because it offers to streamline the design to manufacturing process. By generating multiple iterations, generative design is looking to remove repetitive tasks and let engineers focus on what really matters – Innovation.
What’s an interesting trend you’ve observed in the Manufacturing / Design / Electronics industry?
Unification of platforms and streamlining tools for design and manufacturing is a trend I have observed. Also, the super-intensive focus on collaboration has also been an interesting trend.
From your perspective, what does the Manufacturing / Design / Electronics industry look like a year from now? Five years? Ten?
A year from now, I imagine we would continue to improve current ways of collaborating and translating files. In five years? I think we would continue to see additive manufacturing take center stage in the prototyping phase and certain additive technologies catering to mass manufacturing. In 10 years? I see a consolidation of collaborative tools. I mean one platform for everything from design to manufacturing on the cloud.
So much knowledge in the Manufacturing / Design / Electronics industry is experience-based. What do you think are the best ways to share knowledge?
The best way to share knowledge has and will always be through internships and collaboration. I think engineering firms need to continue expanding their opportunities to take interns and collaborate with other teams. Nothing beats hands-on.
Now that you using Manufacturing / Design / Electronics Industry Solutions, what’s the #1 thing you’re able to do that you weren’t before?
Explore Autodesk PLM tools. This was difficult to get access to but now definitely having a look at UpChain and Fusion 360 manage.
From your perspective, what is the role of Community in the Manufacturing / Design / Electronics industry?
I have always said nothing beats a community of folks looking to rally behind a brand/idea. Community ensures that there is a support structure in place for everyone. I believe the role of the design and manufacturing community is to provide updated resources for new and expert engineers in the field.