Autodesk Honors High-School Students for Excellence in Mechanical Design and Animation at the Prestigious FIRST Robotics Competition Championship
Rolling Meadows High School and Wheeling High School Team Up to Win Autodesk Inventor Grand Prize; Los Altos High School Wins Grand Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Animation, Using Discreet 3ds max Software
Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADSK), the world's leading design software and digital content company, today announced the winners of the Autodesk Inventor Award and the Autodesk Visualization Award at the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship event. The FIRST organization was founded to inspire and excite young people about science and technology by bringing together professional mentors and young people to solve professional-level engineering design problems. Autodesk has been a sponsor of the FIRST competition for 10 years and extends that support to include the Autodesk Awards of Excellence."Working with the FIRST organization to promote engineering as a fun and rewarding professional career is such an important part of our commitment to the education community," said Robert Kross, vice president of the Manufacturing Division at Autodesk. "It is extremely encouraging to see so many high-school students and future professionals use our software to build these amazing works of engineering and get so excited about a field that has such a positive impact on our world."
Autodesk Inventor AwardEach team participating in the FIRST Robotics Competition was offered Autodesk Inventor software, a powerful 3D mechanical design tool, to design and build their robots. Through a series of drawings, photographs, and 3D renderings created in Autodesk Inventor software, teams were able to convey how their design ideas evolved from their imagination into a working robot. Winners were selected based on technical expertise, quality of the robot design, and presentation of the final design. Prizes for the Autodesk Inventor Award included the Compaq(R) Evo(TM) Notebook N600c featuring the Mobile Intel(R) Pentium(R) III processor, education copies of the latest release of Autodesk Inventor software, Autodesk logo merchandise, and unique trophies.
The "WildStangs" from Rolling Meadows High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and Wheeling High School in Wheeling, Illinois, won the Autodesk Inventor Grand Prize. The "x-bots" from Franklin High School in Seattle, Washington, and the "Crescent Robotics" from the Crescent School in Toronto, Ontario, won Honorable Mention Awards.
Autodesk Visualization AwardAutodesk challenged FIRST Robotics teams to use Discreet 3ds max software (Discreet is a division of Autodesk) to produce a 30-second animation about their robot, their team, or the spirit of FIRST. Winners were selected based on content communication, creativity, and technical execution, and prizes for the Visualization Award included education copies of the latest release of 3ds max software, Compaq Evo Notebook N600c featuring the Mobile Intel Pentium III processor, Autodesk logo merchandise, and unique trophies.
The Grand Prize winner of the Visualization Award was "Eagle Strike," from Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California. The Rising Star Award, presented to a rookie team, went to "The Wolf Pack" from Unionville High School in Markham, Ontario. Three teams won Honorable Mention Awards, including the "Gila Monsters" from Highland High School in Gilbert, Arizona, who won for compelling creativity; the "Blueprints" from Merrimack High School in Merrimack, New Hampshire, who won for content communication; and the "TechnoKats" from Kokomo High School in Kokomo, Indiana, who won for technical excellence.
The FIRST Robotics Championship event was held April 25-27 at Walt Disney World's Epcot in Orlando, Florida.
About FIRSTAccomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people, their schools, and their communities. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With the support of many of the world's most well known companies, the nonprofit organization hosts the FIRST Robotics Competition for high-school students and the FIRST LEGO(TM) League for children 9-14 years old. To learn more about FIRST and the 2002 FIRST Robotics Competition go to www.usfirst.org.
About AutodeskFounded in 1982, Autodesk, Inc., is the world's leading design and digital content company. The company serves a diverse portfolio of markets, including building design, geographic information systems, manufacturing, digital media, and wireless data services. By delivering tools that foster innovation and creativity, Autodesk helps customers throughout the value chain leverage digital design data to work better, faster, and smarter. For more information about the company, see www.autodesk.com.
Note to Editors: Autodesk, Autodesk Inventor, Discreet, and 3ds max are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
CONTACT: Autodesk
Nicole Pack, 415/507-6282
Email: nicole.pack@autodesk.com
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