Rapid prototyping is increasingly being used in the production of injection molding inserts. This technology enables for much lower lead times in prototype and low-volume production. However, the thermal and structural properties of prototyped inserts are different than those of conventional machined inserts. The focus of this class is to use Simulation Moldflow Insight software to evaluate the thermal and mechanical behavior of rapid prototyped injection molding inserts. We will look at 3 sets of inserts that were analyzed using different manufacturing techniques and materials, which included selective laser sintered (SLS) bronze, PolyJet ABS-like material, and conventional machined stainless steel. Molding trials were performed on the inserts, as were computer simulations. The experimental and simulated results were compared for the thermal gradient, structural performance, part warpage, and part shrinkage.

Additive manufacturing, commonly known as rapid prototyping, is becoming an extremely fast-growing manufacturing process, enabling the quick manufacture of complex parts at minimal cost. However, there appears to be a great deal of confusion and misinformation regarding process capabilities and uses. In this class we will help you to understand the information surrounding this significant manufacturing process. You will gain an understanding of the current 3D printing techniques, the capabilities and limitations of the technology, and the brief history of rapid prototyping.

Engineers and designers are constantly pressed to deliver greater performance while simultaneously cutting costs and using up less space. This phenomenon requires many design revisions, and the designer and engineer must work together to arrive at the best possible solution that meets the design criteria. This class will start by demonstrating how to create simulation-ready geometry within the Fusion 360 Simplify workspace. Iterating seamlessly between Fusion 360 software and Autodesk CFD software, this class will dive into setting up rapidly prototyped electronics-board configurations and evaluating its thermal performance. Stepping through electronics-cooling best practices, postprocessing simulation results, and evaluating multiple designs—you will learn not only how to validate the original design, but also how to innovate and land on the best possible design. You will learn the effectiveness of iteration CAD modifications and up-front simulation, and master rapid prototyping workflows.

Designers often face the dilemma of unlimited options and a limited timeframe. AiCorb is an ambitious AI design tool made to address this issue. Established in 2017 as a collaboration between a top Japanese general contractor and a pioneering U.S. research institute, AiCorb currently focuses on facade study and 3D modeling, offering two key features: interpreting a designer's intent from sketch to design, then converting from design to building information modeling (BIM) via a Revit plug-in. As a result, designers can cut down their work time for a mid-sized building feasibility study from eight weeks to less than one week. This class will also explore how AiCorb possibly plans to implement a feedback system that will generate optimal facade designs based on engineering analysis simulation results from apps like Autodesk Forma software. Participants will discover the potential of AI to enable "rapid prototyping" in the early design stages, and they'll gain insights into an innovative design workflow where the designer helps the client make better-informed decisions.

This class shows how Fusion 360 is the one stop solution for colaborative work in rapid prototyping. Designing components, simulating and rendering previews, as well as programming industrial level milling machines can be done in one program.

The class focuses on an example part from a formula student racing car, with global reaching collaboration, which is modelled and programmed live during the class while highlighting the immense workflow speed of Fusion 360.

Manual energy‑code compliance—extracting lighting counts, circuit data, and building areas to feed COMCheck—can be tedious, error‑prone, and hard to maintain. In this session, you’ll see how easy it is to spin up Dynamo graphs (with Python nodes) that 1) Extract building area, active fixture details, and lighting circuits directly from your Revit model; 2) Export everything to Microsoft Excel or generate a COMCheck CXL package in seconds; and 3) Run COMCheck nearly automatically, then visualize results or loop back to your BIM environment. Beyond the “how‑to,” you’ll learn how a few hours of Dynamo prototyping can spark ideas for fully fledged Revit add‑ins—demonstrating why rapid prototyping is the fastest path from concept to deployable tool.

This class presents several real-world examples using Fusion 360 software as a platform for making things using a Tormach PCNC milling machine. We will look in depth at case studies in rapid prototyping, mass customization, tool making, and specialty manufacturing.

Generative design is a process that enables you to develop and explore an entire space of plausible designs at an unprecedented speed, yielding new and unimagined results. As an approach to problem solving, generative design combines big-picture processes and abstract thinking to unlock creativity and drive product innovation. This session will focus on the unique generative-design capabilities made possible with the Dynamo extension, a platform for visual programming, and T-Splines. Attendees will learn quick and more efficient workflows, using simple primitives and symmetry operations, to create complex geometry ready for rapid prototyping. Additionally, we will cover best practices for importing and exporting data from/to Alias software and Alias SpeedForm software. This session features Dynamo Studio and Alias SpeedForm. AIA Approved

In this class, experienced Alias industrial design software users, concept artists, illustrators, and designers learn the powerful Alias techniques used to create an art book of fantasy vehicles, airplanes, bikes, spaceships, and mysterious expeditions. Power Alias user Michal Jelinek shares his story about how he created the art for the book. He explains how the creative modeling process differs in entertainment versus product design. He also discusses how to capitalize on polygonal modeling expertise in Alias, as well as how to use the Alias dynamic shape modeling tools and hybrid modeling capability. Finally, he shows how to prepare Alias concept models for rapid prototyping.

Whether it's being used in rapid prototyping and consumer products or small-run manufacturing, 3D printing has become an important part of the workflows of many hobbyists, artists, engineers, and fabrication companies. This course will look at the landscape of the 3D printing industry in order to break through the hype that surrounds it. You will discover how 3D printing is being used in the real world for both personal and professional uses. From creating art to engineering prototypes, this course will also explore the expanding use of 3D printers and their place in an enhanced design workflow. The course discusses the current state and future implications of 3D printing in the real world.

Discover what makes Fusion 360 software the fastest rapid-prototyping CAD/CAM software available. Users will learn how to use parametric design history, user-defined parameters, and the tools in the Manufacturing Workspace to create rapid-prototyping templates to bring models from CAD models to machines in minutes. When the tedious work of CAM setups, tool libraries, feeds and speeds, and fixturing / work holding can be baselined in a standard template, designers and operators can spend more time focusing on product development and part optimization. With a few simple rules, tips, and tricks coming straight from the Autodesk Technology Center Workshops, you can create standardized CAD/CAM templates to streamline design to make workflows at any level.

Whether it’s being used in rapid prototyping and consumer products or small-run manufacturing, 3D printing has become an important part of the workflows of many hobbyists, artists, engineers, and fabrication companies. This course is a discussion of the landscape of the 3D-printing industry, and how to break through the hype that surrounds it. You will discover how 3D printing is being used in the real world for both personal and professional uses. From creating art to engineering prototypes, this course will also explore the expanding use of 3D printers and their place in an enhanced design workflow. Finally, we’ll look at the practicality of how you can gain immediate returns from 3D printing your designs today. This session features Inventor Professional and Fusion 360.

This class shows you how the 123D® family of apps can help to design new products—at home. You learn the basics of the 123D family of apps and how to take full advantage of them for rapid troubleshooting and creating prototypes of different complexities. You also learn ways to go from digital to physical, shortening the design process exponentially.

Air pollution is a global health issue, and affects more than 90% of the world’s population. Our team at University of Colorado Boulder, with support from the Autodesk Foundation, has developed air-quality feedback systems and other environmental sensors to help improve public health around the world. We use engineering technology to address global health problems. In partnership with a team from Autodesk Pier 9, a health-based air-quality feedback system (the desktop lamp featured at Autodesk University’s Factory exhibit) was developed using distance design techniques. Fusion 360 software’s CAD, CAM, and Render workspaces were used to collaboratively design the product with inputs from team members in multiple cities, and the electronic computer-aided design (ECAD) integration with EAGLE software was used to design the open-source circuit board. This class will introduce the field of global engineering, with specific examples of how we use CAD, ECAD, and CAM to rapidly prototype solutions to global health problems, from Rwanda to San Francisco.

In this class, we discuss why designers, engineers, and manufacturers need to think of 3D printing and computer numerical control (CNC) machining technologies as an and rather than an or proposition. Today more and more designers and engineers understand the value of 3D printing. However, CNC is often a faster, more cost-effective solution for rapid and functional prototyping.

With the advent of ways to visualize ideas, develop design solutions, and rapidly prototype using digital software technologies, traditional ways of teaching industrial design in the classroom environment are lately being questioned by educators, employers, and students. The intent of this class is to present a curriculum model for teaching industrial design using digital software technologies as and where applicable. We will cover courses demonstrating the incorporation of digital software technologies for ideation, modeling, project management, drafting, prototyping, analysis, and injection mold design. Successful integration of this curricular effort into the discipline of industrial design is important for bridging the gap between education and industry expectations. Select academics and industry professionals will join us in a panel format to share their reactions to the curriculum model as well as to provide insights, experiences, and validations.

With its outstanding modelling tool set, Autodesk Maya software is well suited for concept modelling in many industries. Arnold renderer now ships with Maya 2017 as standard so we will cover some of the impressive physically based shader presets such as car paint.

We’ll take a look at common CAM programming workflows to analyze the repetitive steps within each. We’ll then walk through the steps to create a template that minimizes those repetitive steps to drastically reduce overall programming time. We’ll also take a look at the tools available to speed up iterations, with both native and imported CAD data. If you’re interested in efficient use of Fusion 360 software in a rapid prototyping manufacturing environment, this class is for you.

In this class we will examine how 3ds Max software was used during the previsualization, design, and fabrication phases of a recently released short film created for the new Panasonic Toughpad. The final project had a fabrication schedule of fewer than 2 weeks. It features a machine spread over an area larger than 90 feet by 60 feet, and it includes everything from air cannons to live piranhas. The deadline was tight, and we will discuss how 3ds Max software was indispensable during the early previsualization stage; during the design phases of the various machine mechanics; and during the fabrication process using the rapid prototyping capabilities of computer numerical control (CNC) machining as an output device. We will discuss the process of bringing this project to completion, and we will examine behind-the-scenes footage and see how the project's technical lead, Kim Lee, worked with Paul Neale and used various rigging and dynamics simulation tools in 3ds Max software to speed up design of the several mechanical triggers and releases.

For years I've used 3D printers when teaching workshops to young (and not so young) makers. As delighted as participants are to see their objects appear, we always run out of time. This same problem applies to my design and prototyping cycle. A computer numerical control (CNC) router can, in many cases, cut the same object in less time. Inventables' Carvey is luggable, enclosed, and features a safety interlock-perfect for groups of young people. And it's extremely well supported by Fusion 360 computer-aided machining (CAM). Add in machinable wax, and you've got the perfect material for learning: you can run at high feed rates, you don't have to contend with fine particulates, and you can recover and reuse nearly 100% of the material for the next workshop. I'll share my process, tips, and techniques for using this combination to go from model to material quickly, quietly, and cleanly.