Engineering Students Acquire Skill Sets Required by Professional Organizations
                             Throughout the World

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK), the world's leading design software and digital content company, today announced that starting with the 2004 academic year South Africa's Stellenbosch University will train all first year engineering students on Autodesk Inventor(R) 3D mechanical design software -- a skill set required by professional organizations around the world. The university recently purchased and installed a network of 195 licences of Autodesk Inventor(R) Series software, of which Autodesk Inventor is a key application.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000518/SFTH083LOGO )

First year students studying mechanical, mechatronic, industrial, chemical, civil, electrical, and electronic engineering will all receive training in Autodesk Inventor Series, the world's best selling 3D mechanical design software, as part of a beginning and an advanced class.

"The aim of the engineering curriculum is not to simply teach students to use computer-aided design as an electronic drawing board. The important educational objectives for us are to develop students' ability to be comfortable working in a three-dimensional space and to gain experience in building parametric solid models," said Professor Anton Basson of Stellenbosch University's Department of Mechanical Engineering.

"With six million users, Autodesk software is found in organizations everywhere. By training on our software today, engineering students are gaining the skills sets they need to embark on successful professional careers," said Robert Kross, vice president of the Manufacturing Solutions Division at Autodesk.

"Stellenbosch University's acknowledgement of the Autodesk Inventor software's capability is a further indication that the software is well on its way to entrenching itself as the industry standard," said Errol Ashwell, managing director of Autodesk Africa. "Industry acceptance of the software has been widespread. Approval by educational institutions is further validation of the software's capability and importance in the manufacturing industry around the world."

Stellenbosch University is taking advantage of the Autodesk(R) Subscription program. For an annual subscription fee, the engineering faculty benefit from a complete technology, training, and support program that protects their software investments by providing them with the most current design technology, web support direct from Autodesk, flexible self-paced training options, and a broad range of other technology and business benefits.

"The annual subscription program is tailor-made for educational institutions," explains Ashwell. "Not only will they be training their students using current technology, but they won't have to go through the aggravation of making a special budget request for each software upgrade."

Autodesk Manufacturing's Design and Data Management Solutions

As part of its strategy to help customers create, manage, and share their digital design data and solve critical business challenges, Autodesk Manufacturing Solutions Division offers companies the most comprehensive selection of 2D and 3D design and data management solutions, critical tools that help customers innovate, increase productivity, simplify processes, improve product quality, and accelerate time to market for less cost. Unlike other offerings on the market today, Autodesk's design and data management solutions are easy to install and use, providing rapid results without the complex, costly installations of large-scale product lifecycle management systems. Autodesk's manufacturing solutions include AutoCAD(R), AutoCAD(R) Mechanical and AutoCAD(R) Electrical software, the Autodesk Inventor(R) Professional and Autodesk Inventor(R) Series 3D mechanical design packages that are integrated with the new Autodesk(R) Vault functionality which is available to subscription customers only, and the Autodesk Streamline(R) collaboration service. In addition, customers can take advantage of widely available third-party applications purpose-built for Autodesk software and they can utilize Autodesk Professional Services to garner greater value from their software.

About Autodesk

Autodesk is the world's leading design software and digital content company, offering customers progressive business solutions through powerful technology products and services. Autodesk helps customers in the building, manufacturing, infrastructure, digital media, and wireless data services fields increase the value of their digital design data and improve efficiencies across their entire project lifecycle management processes. For more information about the company, see www.autodesk.com.

NOTE: Autodesk, AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, and Autodesk Streamline are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

     Contact:  Cindi Goodsell, U.S. 415-507-8452
     EMAIL:    cindi.goodsell@autodesk.com
     Contact:  Mary Jearey, South Africa (011) 886-1575
     EMAIL:    jmj@global.co.za


SOURCE  Autodesk, Inc.
    -0-                             11/05/2003
    /CONTACT:  in the U.S., Cindi Goodsell of Autodesk, +1-415-507-8452, or
cindi.goodsell@autodesk.com; or in South Africa, Mary Jearey, (011) 886-1575,
or jmj@global.co.za /
    /Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000518/SFTH083LOGO
              AP Archive:  http://photoarchive.ap.org
             PRN Photo Desk, +1-888-776-6555 or +1-212-782-2840/
    /Web site:  http://www.autodesk.com/
    (ADSK)

CO:  Autodesk, Inc.
ST:  California, South Africa
IN:  CPR STW EDU
SU:  LIC



EB 
-- SFW058 --
8227 11/05/2003 08:01 EST http://www.prnewswire.com