Universities and High Schools Throughout the United States Use Autodesk Revit Building Thanks to Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann and 'Invest in Education' Program

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., May 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK) today announced that Autodesk customer Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann Associates, a multidisciplinary firm specializing in architectural and engineering solutions, has donated Autodesk(R) Revit(R) Building 8 software to Pennsylvania State University through the Autodesk "Invest in Education" program. Penn State is the most recent addition to leading schools using Revit Building, Autodesk's solution built specifically for building information modeling, to train tomorrow's architects and designers. With this donation, Autodesk Revit Building is now used by architectural students in over 80 colleges, universities, and high schools in the United States, including California's Santiago High School, where students recently used Revit Building to win top honors in the 2005 SkillsUSA Architectural Drafting Combo.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050415/SFF034LOGO )

"Revit Building is the future of digital design. It will enable us to teach students the complete building cycle from conceptual studies to detailed construction documentation, and will allow our students to experiment with parametric design and building information modeling," said Dan Willis, professor of architecture and department head at Pennsylvania State University. "Having this powerful tool at our disposal greatly enhances our professional practice and building construction coursework."

Santiago High School Wins Design Awards

To prepare students for the rigors of college coursework and increase their marketability to employers, progressive high schools are also introducing students to building information modeling using Revit Building. Santiago High School in Corona, California, was recently recognized for its teaching excellence when three students took home top honors at the statewide design competition, SkillsUSA Architectural Drafting Combo 2005. The contest required students to solve "real-world" design challenges including: sketching, creating working drawings, and revising drawings. Each student received a student copy of Revit Building from Autodesk educational reseller Paton and Associates, and first place winner Stephen Helms will compete in the SkillsUSA/VICA National Championships which will be held in Kansas City, Missouri in June.

"Students were able to experiment with different layouts and elevation appearances without panicking about time constraints," said Bill Brown, teacher at Santiago High School. "The schedules were never a problem because Revit Building tracks changes automatically, so customizing schedules to the judge's criteria took only a few minutes."

Investing in the future

The Autodesk Invest in Education Program is a software grant program aimed at connecting commercial customers with local education institutions in order to develop industry relevance, build the future talent pool and enable customers to give back to their communities. Commercial customers who purchase Autodesk(R) software are eligible to donate seat licenses to educational institutions. In addition to the Invest in Education program, Autodesk is also helping to educate and train the next generation of architects and designers to realize their ideas by sponsoring the International Architecture Student Design Competition, and by supporting the 2005 Newhouse program at the Chicago Architecture Foundation.

"Technology has become inexorably integrated into the practice of architecture, from creation of design information with digital tools to collaboration through the Internet, and Autodesk is committed to equipping the next generation of architects and designers with powerful and cutting-edge information and design tools," said Phillip Bernstein, FAIA, vice president, Autodesk building solutions and lecturer at Yale University's school of architecture. "Today's students are embracing new modeling technology with a vengeance -- and in the process laying the foundation for dramatically advancing the industry."

About Revit Building 8

Autodesk Revit Building 8 is Autodesk's state-of-the-art building information modeling (BIM) system that mirrors the real world of architecture by letting architects and designers work on buildings holistically, rather than in terms of separate floor plans, sections and elevations. All designs and documentation are coordinated, consistent and complete, regardless of the number of changes made throughout the design process. Through Revit's parametric change technology, any change is automatically coordinated throughout a project, including model views, drawing sheets, schedules, sections, plans and renderings -- making the design iteration and revision process significantly more streamlined.

A Comprehensive Portfolio of Software Solutions for the Building Industry

With the right combination of leading-edge technologies, decades of proven industry experience and unparalleled worldwide services, Autodesk offers the most comprehensive portfolio of products for the building industry. Ranging from the most advanced technology for building information modeling to the most widely adopted design and documentation solutions, Autodesk supports information and management needs through the building lifecycle. Building solutions products include Autodesk Revit Building, Autodesk(R) Architectural Desktop, Autodesk(R) Building Systems, and Autodesk(R) AutoCAD(R) Revit(R) Series.

About Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc. is wholly focused on ensuring that great ideas are turned into reality. With six million users, Autodesk is the world's leading software and services company for the building, manufacturing, infrastructure, digital media, and wireless data services fields. Autodesk's solutions help customers create, manage and share their data and digital assets more effectively. As a result, customers turn ideas into competitive advantage by becoming more productive, streamlining project efficiency and maximizing profits.

Founded in 1982, Autodesk is headquartered in San Rafael, California. For additional information about Autodesk, please visit www.autodesk.com.

NOTE: Autodesk, AutoCAD and Revit are registered 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: Noah Cole of Autodesk, +1-415-547-2405, or noah.cole@autodesk.com.

SOURCE Autodesk, Inc.
05/19/2005
CONTACT: Noah Cole of Autodesk, +1-415-547-2405, or noah.cole@autodesk.com
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