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It’s time again for the Autodesk Manufacturing community to select the 2014 Inventor of the Year from among the dozen companies featured as 2014 monthly Autodesk Inventing the Future honorees. Voting has kicked off here.
For more than eight years, Autodesk has identified the most innovative customers among hundreds of thousands of designers and engineers that create using Autodesk Digital Prototyping tools. The honorees employ software including Autodesk Product Design Suite, Autodesk Factory Design Suite, the Autodesk Simulation family of products, Autodesk PLM 360 and Autodesk Fusion 360.
The Inventing of the Future honoree with the highest number of votes will receive the Inventor of the Year honor. Voting is under way and closes March 13 at 5 p.m. Pacific time.
Autodesk seeks Inventing the Future candidates each month from its Manufacturing customer base through a brief Q&A interview on a company or individual addressing their business, products and inventive spirit. Inventing the Future submissions can be sent to inventingthefuture@autodesk.com.
The Contenders: 2014 Inventing the Future Honorees
Dec.: Makeosity, Inc. is a New York City-based online and in-school community connects youth to teachers, experts in the do-it-yourself field and business professionals in order to make new things, acquire skills and ultimately launch businesses. Makeosity middle school students used Fusion 360 to design an energy scooter that, when ridden, generates electricity that can charge mobile devices.
Nov.: WindPax believes a simple breeze can help the world generate power. That’s why the startup out of West Virginia University developed the world’s first portable, collapsible wind turbine. Designed with Autodesk software including Fusion 360, the WindPax turbine supplies power for hikers, campers and recreation in the developed world. The turbines can also serve as a source of power in developing nations and disaster situations where power isn’t available.
Oct.: Light pollution affects many metropolitan regions worldwide, and Singapore green building technology developer, Green Building Group used Autodesk software including Autodesk Inventor as part of Autodesk Product Design Suite to develop new light-emitting glass that reduces glare. Green Building compares LES technology to “moonlight,” while other existing light sources are closer to sunlight and can add to light pollution.
Sept.: Hydrobee is on a mission to help anyone anywhere in the world generate personal power from nature. To accomplish this, the Hydrobee team developed the PowerBee, a USB battery pack that is recharged by water, wind, sun, fire, bicycles, muscles and more. Designed with Fusion 360 and Inventor software, the PowerBee provides power to recharge devices, while also serving as a source of dependable electricity in developing countries.
Aug.: Nicholas Manousos’ latest adventure in watchmaking is the creation of Tourbillon 1000%: a working tourbillon that is 10 times larger than normal. A tourbillon is a device that is often used in very high-end watches as a display of watchmaking virtuosity. The large scale of the Tourbillon 1000%, designed with Fusion 360 and then 3D printed, allows people to clearly see all of the moving parts at work and to fully comprehend the complexity and beauty of the device.
July: When a local man began to experience issues with a handheld device that helps him communicate, Virginia middle school students jumped in to design a better option with the help of Fusion 360 software. The students are part of an engineering class at Swanson Middle School in Arlington, VA, where they learned to use Fusion 360 and 3D printers to develop a more intuitive device that allows the man to communicate with a touch screen computer.
June: Italian lighting company SIMES has created an international name for itself developing outdoor lighting fittings used in renowned international public facilities from concert halls to parks. SIMES outdoor lighting solutions, designed with Autodesk Digital Prototyping tools including Product Design Suite and Autodesk Simulation CFD, can be found around the world installed at high-profile facilities.
May: Renowned for his ornate and whimsical kinetic sculptures, Korean artist U-Ram Choe worked in 2014 as an Artist in Residence at the Autodesk Workshop at Pier 9 in San Francisco. Choe had access to a wide range of digital fabrication and additive manufacturing tools at the workshop, but his tool of choice is Inventor.
April: Pittsburgh, PA-based SolePower develops power-generating shoe insoles for charging portable electronics. The insoles, designed with Fusion 360 and Inventor software, not only make it handy to charge cell phones on the go, but the technology also has the potential to serve as a reliable power source in developing nations.
March: Bill Spracher, the lead designer and engineer at AMP’D Gear, and Jeff Tiedeken, a master fabricator and hydraulics designer at Monkey Likes Shiny, turned to Fusion 360 to collaborate quickly and inexpensively to design a next-generation, all-terrain prosthetic leg for an injured military member.
February: Fashion designers of all ages now have an opportunity to make a statement with Makies: customizable, 3D-printed dolls developed by MakieLab. The United Kingdom-based company allows customers to digitally prototype their own 10-inch fashion dolls and then MakieLab manufactures the doll via 3D printing techniques.
January: ITAMCO, based in Plymouth, Indiana, is one of the most unique gear shops in the world, delivering precision machined components to original equipment manufacturers that serve a wide array of industries – ranging from oil and gas and renewable energy, to mining and construction and aerospace and defense. ITAMCO uses a variety of Autodesk tools, including Inventor as part of Autodesk Product Design Suite along with Autodesk Factory Design Suite, to better serve its customers.
