3D Design Software Leader Creates First Foundation Dedicated to Design
for Impact
SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar. 4, 2014--
Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) today launched the Autodesk Foundation,
which will invest in and support the most impactful nonprofit
organizations using the power of design to help solve epic challenges,
such as climate change, access to water, and healthcare, among others.
In partnership with the company, the Autodesk Foundation will provide
select design-oriented grantees with software, training and financial
support.
“We have been delighted by the number of people using our technology to
design a better world and solve global problems,” said Autodesk
President and CEO Carl Bass. “These are the people who inspired us to
align our philanthropic giving with our core business, to support more
of these nonprofits to bring their ideas to market. We will also be
encouraging the thousands of Autodesk employees to get involved in
Foundation programs.”
“We believe that design offers humanity our greatest hope for addressing
some of the most urgent, inter-connected and non-negotiable challenges
of our time,” says President and CEO of the Autodesk Foundation and
Autodesk Senior Director of Sustainability Lynelle Cameron. “We want to
support and accelerate the design-led revolution currently underway, by
investing in design-driven entities that are pursuing scalable solutions
with measureable impact.”
Tackling Epic Challenges Through Impact Design
Impact design focuses on generating significant, measurable progress
toward solving today’s epic challenges – access to healthcare and
education; clean energy and water; efficient transportation; or the many
other global problems we face. Through the Foundation’s Impact
Design Program, carefully selected nonprofits will receive funding,
and in partnership with Autodesk, Inc., software and training to create
solutions that address these challenges.
KickStart International, one of the Foundation’s pilot grantees,
exemplifies impact design. The Foundation recently hosted four of their
engineers from Kenya to come to San Francisco for a multi-week design
software immersion and fabrication workshop. KickStart designs simple
agricultural irrigation tools that help African farmers start profitable
businesses and rise out of poverty. “Before this training, it took more
than a year and 20 hand-made prototypes to develop a subassembly of our
water pump. Now we have been able to design, test critical prototypes of
the next version of our irrigation pump with Autodesk tools, and then
fabricate them at the Autodesk facilities. We are saving months of work
and will be able to create better products, faster, from now on,”
explained Alan Spybey, director and designer at KickStart.
The program’s first grantees also include:
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MASS Design Group, which designs health facilities in parts of the
world where they’re needed most. The Autodesk Foundation is supporting
its efforts in rural Malawi to design maternal waiting homes, which
are shelters for expectant mothers, enabling women who once waited
until the onset of labor to travel to receive medical care and a safe
hospital birth.
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D-Rev, which designs and develops devices and products to improve the
health and income of people living on less than $4 a day. Autodesk has
helped fund crucial durability testing of the next generation of the
organization’s ReMotion Knee, an inexpensive and easy-to-fit
prosthetic joint for those in the developing world.
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The Rural Studio at Auburn University, whose 20K House program
challenges students to design energy efficient homes that can be built
for $20,000. Autodesk is helping to fund the construction of one of
these housing prototypes in rural Alabama.
Autodesk Technology Impact Program Delivers Software to Create Change
During the 2013 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting, Autodesk
launched the Technology
Impact program, providing software donations to select nonprofits
that are employing design to create a better world. One nonprofit
benefitting is Habitat for Humanity, and Executive Director for Greater
San Francisco Phillip Kilbridge believes, “Autodesk has been a great
collaborator for us. From providing us with complimentary tools to plan
our builds to additional hands on our sites, we couldn’t run as smoothly
without them.”
Autodesk has committed to donating $7.5 million in software to at least
500 nonprofits in the first year of the program’s operation. Through the
Technology Impact Program, Autodesk offers qualifying nonprofits two
licenses of its professional design software suites: Autodesk Product
Design Suite Premium, Autodesk Building Design Suite Premium, Autodesk
Infrastructure Design Suite Premium, and Autodesk Entertainment Creation
Suite Ultimate.
Employees Contribute to the Foundation Goal
Autodesk’s employees play a significant role in the Foundation’s efforts
to create a better world. Autodesk supports the 7,390 employees
worldwide to volunteer with or donate to the nonprofit organizations
they care most about. As part of the Foundation launch, Autodesk
increased the annual donation matching commitment per employee and has
made it easier to volunteer. A senior director at Autodesk, Minette
Norman explains, “With my work experience and commitment to
volunteering, I help manage a local food bank site on Saturdays. It’s
something I’m passionate about, and I value that Autodesk cares too.”
Last year, Autodesk employees around the world volunteered more than
8,200 hours.
Providing Critical Disaster Response
The Autodesk Foundation provides financial support and facilitates
in-kind and technical support to areas struck by unexpected disasters.
The company has most recently supported relief efforts for Typhoon
Haiyan and the tsunami stemming from the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Autodesk and its employees have held various fundraisers and donated to
charities and relief organizations including Doctors Without Borders,
American Red Cross and Architecture for Humanity. Autodesk further
supports disaster response efforts through matching employee donations
with corporate funds.
About the Autodesk Foundation
The Autodesk Foundation invests in the most impactful people and
organizations using design to solve epic challenges. As the first
foundation exclusively focused on design for impact, the Autodesk
Foundation directs investments to design-driven entities that are
pursuing measurable and scalable solutions. For more information, visit www.autodesk.org or
follow @AutodeskFdn.
About Autodesk
Autodesk helps people imagine, design and create a better world.
Everyone—from design professionals, engineers and architects to digital
artists, students and hobbyists—uses Autodesk software to unlock their
creativity and solve important challenges. For more information visit autodesk.com or
follow @autodesk.
Autodesk, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Product Design Suite Premium,
Autodesk Building Design Suite Premium, Autodesk Infrastructure Design
Suite Premium, and Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite Ultimate and
are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its
subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All
other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their
respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and
services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without
notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors
that may appear in this document.
© 2014 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.
Source: Autodesk, Inc.
Autodesk, Inc.
Carolyn Rohrer, 415-233-9813
carolyn.rohrer@autodesk.com