digital STEAM

3ds Max Digital Study Packet videos have arrived on DigitalSTEAM!

They are finally here! Over 30 new 2012 3ds Max Digital Study Packet videos and Skills in the Autodesk Digital STEAM Workshop!!! Look for projects soon.
http://curriculum.autodesk.com/student/public/level1/digital/software_id/14/category_id/

Predicting the Future of Computing from the NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/12/06/science/20111206-technology-timeline.html?src=me&ref=science
I love the NY Times when they have interactive articles! I had the opportunity to hear the Creative Director speak at Siggraph a few years agao and it was so interesting to see him show the history of interactive news. You can make your own predictions here about the future.

ACTE 2011

VEX at ACTE!

ACTE 2011 with Certiport

At the ACTE Show! Great stuff working in the Certiport booth and talking to lots of interesting teachers about certification and Digital STEAM. It's great to get a chance to show teachers how deep the project is and how the Digital Study Packets and Skills documents support the Certification.

Here is where you can see the project Visualize a Virus!

Science Inspiration!

Check out the Digital STEAM Project Visualize a Virus! http://curriculum.autodesk.com/student/public/Level2/overview/project_id/22 and use the Molecular Maya Toolkit!
The Autodesk Research team http://www.autodeskresearch.com/groups/nano has been driving a number of initiatives to study how Maya can benefit the synthetic biology and nanotechnology industries through collaboration with academic institutions and researchers. Maya is being used within the life and material sciences to create stunning visual simulations of molecular structures and behaviors.
Through this initiative, Autodesk recently sponsored the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) 2011 event-http://2011.igem.org/Jamborees an undergraduate Synthetic Biology competition, where teams build biological systems that are designed to advance the research of solutions for issues in sectors ranging from health and medicine to the environment, food, and energy.
It was great to find out that many teams at iGEM were keen to use Maya to create molecular visualizations to help communicate and analyze the nano-level interaction within their research. We’ve summarized a few of the projects which we received in order to highlight them to the Autodesk Education community.
You can also take a look at some of the work that has been created by leading bio-medical animators at the MolecularMovies website. The site also provides the Molecular Maya toolkit http://www.molecularmovies.com/toolkit/ , an extension developed by Dr. Gael McGill to import scientific data into Maya to design accurate protein and molecular structures.

I have been on the road a lot this year, meeting great teachers and seeing some really exciting and innovative programs. We did our first big webinar for teachers this week and it was a big success, look for another one in mid-December!

Teacher Travels

I attended World Skills 2011 in London and was amazed at all the talent and meeting lots of interesting students who are interested in using Autodesk software! Now I am in Sweden visiting my friend Ann-Marie Van Otter who is a professor at Gothenburg University teaching technology teachers how to use technology in the classroom, Ann-Marie is doing wonderful work here and I am so excited to be coordinating efforts with her, she even made me do a primary school pupil project!

I had to select 5 words and create a chair, not sure I received an A+ on this, but I am planning on roughing it out in Maya next time and then finishing in Inventor to manufacture it  (can you guess my 5 words?) Well here they are; Man, Ugly, Teaching, Queen, Designed......I think I got it!

Charles and Ray Eames' living room makes an interim home at LACMA

I know I always wanted to walk into Charles and Ray Eames' living room, and now I will be able to! The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has a new exhibit installed, it's  the midcentury legends' of design untouched living room  relocated and reassembled, piece by piece, The article talks about how they made the move and how they will move it back! I was so inspired by their work when I was in school and still wish I had an Eames chair, this is such an important part of design history from the last century that it should not be missed, so if you live in southern California go see it!

http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-eames-lacma-20110924,0,4918637.story

Los Angeles Times Solar Decathlon Article

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2011/09/solar-decathlon-2011.html

Great article in the Los Angeles Times Home section this Saturday about the Solar Decathlon collaboration entry between SCI-Arc and Caltech. Definitely worth reading, amazing design that turns the house inside out with the insulation on the outside. The team created an interesting house that has an open floor plan and modular furniture that can be moved and stacked, not to mention the amazing energy savings. The house is named CHIP Compact, Hyper-Insulated Prototype check out the article!