Description
Key Learnings
- Develop a plan to reimagine your own education programs to meet the needs of the future workforce.
- Discover the key trends that are shaping the future of work.
- Develop strategies for attracting and retaining top talent in industry.
- Learn about the challenges and opportunities that the future workforce presents to businesses.
Speakers
- NBNathan BakerWorking towards Education 4.0, to reskill & upskill future-ready technical professionals! Background in welding, fabrication, entrepreneurship, design, engineering, machining, & manufacturing. Currently learning/applying programming, mechatronics, AI, & anything/everything else Industry 4.0 related. Come check out our world-class educational facility any time here at the Institute for Sustainable Industry 4.0 at Clover Park Technical College (CPTC) in Lakewood, WA!
- Matt ErbachMatt Erbach has been teaching Precision Manufacturing in Northern Illinois for 16 years to both high school students as well as post-secondary apprentices. He has been using Autodesk projects for 20 years, currently integrating Fusion360 as a CAD and CAM software into manufacturing classes as well as in SkillsUSA and ProjectMFG competitive events. He is currently the Vice President of the Haas Technical Education Community, and is a 2018 award winner in the Harbor Freight Tools For Schools prize for teaching excellence.
- AHAndrew HewittAndrew is the Head of Department for Design & Technology at Aston University Engineering Academy (AUEA) in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Andrew helps students make the connection between classroom and real-world learning through Aston's challenging and innovative employer-linked academic STEM curriculum, readying them for future success by maximizing their employment potential.
- CHCarla HerreroI've always been keen to materialise ideas of any kind, and that naturally led me to study Mechanical Engineering at UCL. During my undergraduate degree I participated in any activity, challenge or competition that would allow me to put my studies to practical use: from designing small robotic vehicles to a full scale Formula Student car. All these opportunities unexpectedly pushed me into the exciting world of motorsports. After my second year of university, I had the opportunity to join Mercedes AMG-HPP, who design and make Formula 1 hybrid engines, and worked within both design and performance based roles. Upon my return to university for my final year of study, I explored Fusion 360's Generative Design workspace to produce mass-optimised structural uprights for the wheel assemblies of UCL's Formula Student race car. Now, having recently graduated from UCL's Department of Mechanical Engineering, I've joined Mercedes AMG-Petronas Formula 1 Team as a Graduate Design Engineer within the rear suspension group, and am looking forward to continue learning as much as I can!
[APPLAUSE]
NATALIE STAINES: At Autodesk, we help a global audience of educators and students design and make anything with free access to our entire portfolio of products. We believe as a company in the impact that education has on bridging the talent gaps in the industries that we serve, and in driving innovation in industries like manufacturing and engineering, design and construction, and media and entertainment.
I'm Natalie Staines, and I lead the education marketing team here at Autodesk. And I have the privilege of being on stage with a panel of educators and telling their stories and hearing from them on how we can advance the learning that our students go through. And they have direct experience applying Autodesk in their classrooms.
So we're going to have a conversation about what they've been experiencing, how they're reimagining for roles of the future, like design and make. We're going to talk about diversity and sustainability, and what we see happening in industry as things very quickly advance.
So with no further ado, we will go down the line and we'll have you give an introduction of your name, what you do, and then we'll get started. So Andy, over to you.
ANDREW HEWITT: Yeah. Hello, everyone. My name is Andy. I'm a teacher and head of department at Aston University Engineering Academy in Birmingham in the UK. We teach students 13 to 18 years old. And the idea is that we're preparing them for the big wide world of engineering.
So because of that, we teach them a range of different disciplines, such as hydraulics, pneumatics, mechanical engineering, product design, so on and so forth. So that's my work bio.
My personal bio, I love design and technology. It was a subject that I gravitated towards when I was in my teens. And then some two decades later, I still love what I do and I'm still astounded and excited by all the new technology that seems to be coming out every month now. And as a first time attendee of AU, it's good to be surrounded by like-minded people. So thanks for having me.
NATALIE STAINES: Thanks for being here. Nate.
NATE BAKER: Howdy, my name is Nate Baker. I teach manufacturing engineering technologies at Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood, Washington, just south of Seattle. We have this building. We call it the Institute for Sustainable Industry 4.0. Has my program alongside mechatronics, nondestructive testing, and we just added computer programming, networking, cybersecurity, with the vision of creating this Industry 4.0 education environment.
Personal skills. I was actually a welder fabricator and self-taught machinist, and then got degrees in all those things. And now I'm an educator. So thank you.
NATALIE STAINES: Bridging industry and education. All right, Bryn, over to you.
BRYN JONES: Hi, my name is Bryn Jones. I work in a further education college based in North Wales, on Anglesey, in the UK. I am mostly involved with the age range between 16-, 17-, 18-year-olds. But I also teach a little bit on the school provisions that we have, and also on the higher education, a little bit on there as well.
I predominantly teach computer aided engineering subjects. I pretty much use Fusion 360 for everything I do. I have a couple of additional roles. I have responsibilities within inspiring skills excellence in Wales, and WorldSkills as well. And we try and do a lot of extracurricular stuff and try and have a lot of fun as well. So yeah.
NATALIE STAINES: Thank you. Iwan.
IWAN ROBERTS: Hi there. My name is Iwan Roberts. I'm also an engineering lecturer at Grwp Llandrillo Menai with Bryn in North Wales. It's the largest further education college in Wales. So we've got around 2,000 staff, 20,000 students, and around 1,000 of them being engineering students.
My background is a degree in product design in Bangor University. And my first role, my first job was a design technology teacher for two years. And I've been at the college here now for seven years. I mainly teach CAD/CAM, CNC, additive manufacturing from levels 2 up to degree apprenticeship levels.
As Bryn mentioned with WorldSkills, our additional roles, I'm the training manager for Additive Manufacturing international UK. So it was really exciting this week, where the competitors are in the national competition. And hopefully soon, we'll be selecting the competitors to go for the Lyon, France WorldSkills finals next September.
NATALIE STAINES: Very exciting. All right.
MATT ERBACH: I'm Matt Erbach. I am an instructor for manufacturing engineering at South Elgin High School in South Elgin, Illinois. I teach students everything from basic manual machining all the way up to 5-axis CNC.
Students in my course or in my courses have participated in SkillsUSA and the Project MFG integrated design challenge on the national level, one of the few high schools to do so. And basically, I've been teaching now for 17 years, 14 to 18-year-olds, and Autodesk has been an integral part of that basically the whole time.
NATALIE STAINES: Thank you. And then we are also very fortunate to have a recent graduate with us. So Carla, why don't you introduce yourself, please.
CARLA HERRERO CORNEJO: Hello, I'm Carla. I'm a recent graduate of mechanical engineering, and I now work at Mercedes AMG Formula 1 Team in the rear suspension group. I grew up loving physics and maths, but I hated that the numbers would stay on paper. So I would try to get involved in anything that would allow me to put my studies to practical use.
During my undergraduate degree, I participated in any activity, challenge, competition, you name it. If it was an opportunity that I could access, I would take that opportunity. That led me to an internship in Formula 1, because I was noticed during one of those projects.
And there, I participated in design and performance roles. And on my return to university after that internship, I collaborated with Autodesk using Fusion 360 to make some components for my Formula student team. And all of these experience kind of snowballed into where I am now working at Mercedes. My job is to make cars go fast, and I'm super excited for the challenge.
NATALIE STAINES: And there's many challenges ahead, which we are going to talk about, and you all kind of planted the seeds of some of the rest of our conversation here. And so now that we have that foundation set, we'll dive into your programs a little bit.
And we'll start with Bryn on this one and then go to Nate as well. But before Autodesk was really in your classrooms or maybe technology in that way, what were some of the challenges you were facing, just in how you needed to be set up for success and for your students?
BRYN JONES: Yeah, I think we probably didn't have a big enough focus on making things when we were in that design stage. We had a big emphasis on 3D modeling and then going into drawings. And we probably guilty of not going through that closed loop of ending up with something physical in your hand.
So yeah, it was very difficult, I think, at times, because when we did try and take our designs, we'd probably have to use a separate software which naturally takes a little bit more upskilling to jump into a different software or different environments, which naturally takes a little bit more time. And in education, we always have limited on the time that we're given. So yeah, everything seemed to-- it was difficult to end up with something to hold.
So we were introduced to Fusion 360 around 2016, and it was probably safe to say we learned alongside the students. At the time, we experimented, and having that option of staying within the same environment, we certainly noticed a massive-- we made a lot more stuff, basically.
And it was-- it's fulfilling for the students then to close that loop, physically hold something, and actually learn a lot more from that process. So yeah, it's taken a while, but we've drastically changed the way we do things.
NATALIE STAINES: That's a good starting point. And Nate, you had kind of a different set of challenges you were facing, just with your own background and trying to bring that into the classroom. What sort of challenges did you overcome?
NATE BAKER: Yeah. Very similar challenges, just kind of from the other end of things. So very old school machining program. A lot of focus on manual machines, operating CNC machines. So not a whole lot of engineering, so kind of the inverse of what you were just saying, Bryn.
And we taught and students learn these skills in a vacuum. So you learn operator skills separate from programmer skills, separate from engineering skills. And that was because we used separate pieces of software for CAD and CAM, and then CNC machines are different.
And we also saw an effect on students' careers. So when students would graduate from our associate degree program, they would typically end up in very low skill entry level machine operator positions. But yeah, so lots and lots of challenges.
NATALIE STAINES: And trying to find that way for students to learn the hands-on skills that can actually translate into the higher paying jobs and more opportunities. So there's some transformation needed.
And here at Autodesk, we're very focused on this conversation of design and make. It's not just the designing. It's also knowing what that looks like in real life when you've made all the stuff, right? So as it relates to teaching, then you've got to think about, well, how can we set up our classrooms differently?
What is the curriculum that we really need to be teaching? And what are those roles in design and make that you can prepare students for? So Iwan, we'll pass this next question to you, which is really, when we think about how you've advanced and started to reimagine your programs and your teaching, what has that looked like?
IWAN ROBERTS: Yeah, thank you, Natalie. So today's industry is hugely recruiting multi-skilled workers. So yeah, those young individuals will need to have a very diverse skill set. Often, we'll hear companies telling us that they really do want, for example, a very mechanical analytical skilled student, not just maybe one of each.
And I think what that gives us, the impression there is they really want the key skills, but also it's our place as educators to give a taste of everything to students, to give them the adaptability skills. I think that's a very key thing as educators that we need to focus on, so that they can go into these industries and be able to adapt to different roles and specify more of them maybe in their career.
And then Fusion 360 plays a key role in that as a platform for us in education. So often with my students, I can go from a design to a stress analysis, back to the design, then go for some 3D printing, back to the design again, and some more advanced prototyping. And while you're at it, you could do some renderings and some drawings. So you really get a taste of everything, and the whole product life cycle. And I think that's a very key thing, and that, again, what we should be inspiring for educators.
Secondly is a very accelerated production rate. So I'm seeing a huge difference between what I was teaching five years ago or seven years when I started using Fusion 360 to what I'm using now. Partially because I'm really driven to be wanting to improve my own skills, and that will have a natural effect passed on to my students.
But also, Fusion 360 has updates. It has a very intuitive program. And it's always improving and developing, which really keeps me ongoing and developing. So like I said, when you're comparing what I've been doing, my lessons really need to be tailored and changed as often as I can to be as current as they can.
If there's a new update in Fusion 360, you really want to be using it as soon as you can with the students and keep current with everything. And like I said, it is very, very intuitive.
And a quick example of that is a student of mine, an apprentice was a CNC apprentice, but had no CAD experience. And I'd heard the student was very knowledgeable and competent. So I entered him to the Welsh competition. And I had a few hours with him on a Thursday I remember.
The following Monday, he actually competed and he had bronze in Wales. So it just goes to show, with a little bit of background knowledge, you can learn a CAD software like this really, really quickly, and thrive, obviously, as well.
And last thing there really is you've really got to make sure that you're not afraid of going beyond the curriculum. The curriculum isn't as current. Yes, they're developed on an annual basis, but things change rapidly. And I think it's important that you, as educators, are never afraid of going above and beyond or trying different things. And I think, again, going back to Fusion 360, that it's a great platform to be using those creative new tools.
NATALIE STAINES: Yeah, and the tech is nice. But then you're also hitting on like mentorship and you care a lot. We're so lucky to have teachers like you that actually invest in the success of your students. So one, just thank you for that. Bryn, is there anything you would add to just what you're seeing as how the classroom setting has evolved?
BRYN JONES: Yeah, just adding a little bit to what Iwan said, going a little bit of the extracurricular activities, utilizing competitions to your advantage. That's really-- I think that's really important, although it may be a higher standard than the current curriculum. But it's probably closer to the industry needs. And also, you can gain valuable resources from that as well.
But I think one of my main changes, in terms of tasks that I create, is I try and give tasks with a bit more of a collaborative approach. Just an example, around four weeks ago now, a mature lecturer in our department came to me, and asked if we would digitalize a sheet metal toolbox that they've been making for a number of years.
We have recently purchased a laser cutter, so we wanted to utilize the new processes. So naturally, I just picked up the toolbox and put it in the table in the middle of the class and allocated a part for each member in the classroom. And then, suddenly, so created a shared project for them all to be in, asked them to name each component with a name.
And in that case, I wasn't necessarily looking for them to get it right the first time. I was more pitching it as a point where I want them to work together on it. So as they're working, the objective of the session was to everyone have a component, and then have a go at making an assembly of it.
And naturally, some parts didn't fit with others, and they can realize that as soon as they're making the assembly. So rather than coming to me, they were going to the peers and that conversation was being generated quite naturally. So yeah-- so another way I try and orientate tasks is Fusion 360 is great, as it has a number of different environments to choose from in the CAM side of the software.
So I think on my classroom, I've got a couple of printers to my right. There's a small laser cutter here. And in the back, I've got some desktop CNC mill and lathes. And you know, it's not uncommon to have them all going at the same time. I think you want to build that confidence within them to be able to be diverse and work together and using different operations.
NATALIE STAINES: Now, and you're hitting on, OK, so there's CAD and CAM. There's this interdisciplinary approach to teaching and how we can use technology and all these different machines. So when you think about that from a student's perspective, it's a lot to learn.
And what's great is they are learning on the exact same software that professionals use. There's not a student version of Fusion or any Autodesk product. And so that means that it's a little bit complicated and it can be complex to teach.
So Matt, we'll pitch this question to you. If we've got educators who are looking to get started teaching Fusion in their classroom, what advice might you give?
MATT ERBACH: The first big piece of advice would be do projects, project-based learning. But don't limit the scope of the project to simply just maybe design something, but design it, make it, and hopefully reiterate it as well. I do a lot of long-term projects within my class, and it's one of the reasons that I would consider it to be successful.
[CLEARS THROAT] Sorry, excuse me. The best example I have of this is recently, as recently as two years ago, I had a cohort of students design and machine a ballpoint pen. It's three parts. Three students were responsible for designing. A further six were designed for-- were assigned to toolpathing and CAM modeling.
And then once that was running, we hand it down to our lowest level of students. Often, students who have only been with our program for, say, six weeks or so. And those students will produce a production run of parts.
They can all hit the cycle start button. They can all measure. They can all quality control. They can all deburr. So they make their own pen. They make a second pen for me to distribute to program allies or supporters.
And we reiterate that design year on year now. So every year, a new version of the pen drops. And we get the opportunity to integrate all levels of the classroom into a single project that sort of has its own unique life cycle. Now, it's very long term. But if you can accommodate for the time and the pacing of it, it works really, really well.
The other suggestion I would make would be to listen to the students, find out what their interests are, what their motivations are. Because oftentimes, you'll identify the best projects based on just students' interests or motivations.
Recently, I had a very, very large increase in sort of student drive and student engagement when I jumped on a project called-- it's the Life Changer Initiative. It's out of Chickasaw High School in Alabama. And they are making low or no cost prosthetic-- well, they've designed and make low cost prosthetic limbs for those in need in Latin America.
And the process is heavily 3D printing forward or 3D printing based. They have a number of schools in all over the country making parts for these prosthetic limbs. But I sort of accidentally fell into being the sole supplier of machined aluminum parts for these same products.
And the students just absolutely jumped onto it. They saw connection. They saw doing a societal good with the project, which is something I've never really encountered before. But it really upped the motivation, upped the engagement.
Because they knew it was for someone, I think the quality went up as well, because you didn't want to send a substandard part out the door. And these are folks who have a genuine need. This is going to change their lives if it works well for them.
So if you select the project based on those criteria, a bigger project that engages learners from end to end, design, build, and reiterate, as well as motivate the students, you do have a pattern for success within your class. And Fusion 360 is absolutely awesome with that, because you don't have to break software platform from one process to the other. CAD and CAM are all in the same location.
NATALIE STAINES: Those are amazing examples. And way to make-- I mean, it makes it so real, so tangible, so meaningful. So thank you for getting us started on that path. Nate, what would you add to just advice to getting started in teaching?
NATE BAKER: Yeah, a couple of pieces of advice. I would say, one, treat it like any other fundamental skill, you know? No student can learn things like English grammar, reading and writing in the course of a couple of months or even a year. So integrating all the things that you can do with in Fusion and other pieces of software like it into your workflow for almost every assignment, because you can use CAD not just to solve an engineering problem, but you can use it as a visual communication tool.
And you can use the manufacture workspace within Fusion to plan out your order of operations, even if it's not a CNC machine. So there's lots of ways you can use it. So just making sure students are using it all the time for everything as much as possible, get as much time in the chair as possible.
Other pieces of advice, I would say because Fusion has these awesome regular updates, you know, about one a month, things are changing so fast. So try not to teach to tools or functions, because those tools and functions change, or they get replaced by better ones that are more efficient.
So instead, our team likes to use the terms methods and workflows. So rather than teaching, OK, here we're going to sit down, learn how to extrude, revolve basic functions, no, we're going to say things like 2D to 3D. That's a workflow. You know, parametric modeling, that's a method.
Things like that don't change over time. So it doesn't matter if you use Fusion five years ago, five years from now, those methods and workflows will be the same. And then, alongside that, because things are changing so much, instilling a mindset of change adaptability into your students too.
It's already been mentioned here with previous prompts, but having students be comfortable with things changing all the time, rather than this is the way we've always done it. We're going to keep doing it that way. Not trying new tools. Experiment and then just plug and play whatever the best tools are at the time to get your job done.
NATALIE STAINES: Thank you. Yeah. No, you just hit on a couple-- we have this amazing formula that we love to talk about, the tool set, the skill set, and the mindset, and you hit on a couple of those. And we've dug into Fusion a little bit.
And so let's shift a little bit to more of the skill set and how does that connect us to industry and the real world skills needed, that are maybe not just how to use some of those toolpaths. So Iwan, maybe we'll ask you this first. What are some of the demands you might be seeing from employers? And what skill sets are you teaching, beyond just the tool and the mindset?
IWAN ROBERTS: Yeah, great question. Thank you, Natalie. So I think generative design has been a huge leap forward for us. And basically, I teach a lot of project units. I might have not mentioned at the beginning as well, a lot of project based units. So they are really the heart and soul of bringing everything together.
Everything that they learn individually, it pretty much is combined in the project. And the members of the panel have explained great examples of that as well. And I think it's vital there really that we improve creativity skills, but also I think a big hiccup that has been happening really is students are mentioning that they're not very creative people, and they struggle with maybe brainstorming for new ideas.
So adding generative design is an open brief there has been a game changer for us. So often now I can go, right, you have to use generative design, and therefore it needs to be a lighter and a stronger product.
And then students are actually thinking in a different way. So they're thinking about constraints, loads on that product. A bit of a research, so that their key skills that the industry wants as well. So product research and testing.
So they're thinking in a completely different and logical way now in order to produce new designs. So within 20 minutes potentially, from when it's arrived back from the cloud, you can have a finished product with generative design.
And that is really making best use of Fusion 360 and its tools, which is what the industry needs really. They want the students and the young individuals that are going to be making wiser choices to leap forward.
So some great examples of that is some examples that students would never have picked before without generative design. So a bionic arm, for example. So creating two rings, top and a bottom, a bulge at the end, and allowing generative design to fill the rest.
That wouldn't really have been a topic that someone would have dived for initially. And I think another great one as well was a student went on work experience on aircrafts. And the company said that they wanted a mechanical bevel geared bottle jack to raise the aircraft, rather than their current hydraulic one, which could be leaking continuously.
So that was a great chance for that student to use generative design, just from a base and a bevel gear, and connect the rest. Again, a really complicated model. And just to remind you that we are only having these students for a short amount of time. So it really is a very good use of time.
Beforehand, we would have potentially taken weeks or months to do those. So generative design has been a huge leap forward for us there.
And secondly is a great project that I was involved with, a company called CloudNC. So I met them in the New Orleans Autodesk University last year. And they are an AI-based add-on within Fusion 360, within the CAM environment, so CNC toolpaths.
And ultimately, what CAM Assist, the product does, is you give it-- you give it your model and your tool library, and say within five clicks and around 20 seconds later, you've got a full list of toolpaths that are ready to be machined that are definitely useful and usable and safe. That is a huge leap forward with using AI in manufacturing.
And I think they're an absolutely fascinating company, and it's been great to be part of their beta program, where I was fortunate to trial the software before they launched in the summer. And also the students jumped in there as well and gave them feedback. And really making sure that the software was becoming more intuitive, and really, more along the lines of what Fusion 360 already is and represents.
So closing them together nicely really. An amazing experience for me and the students to be a part of that. And I can only recommend if anyone can find a similar project to do with their students. Work with a company, contextualize everything, make everything meaningful, and you will get amazing results. And I think that is the key to bridging to the industry, is that we do those decisions.
NATALIE STAINES: Definitely agree with you. And we're lucky to have Carla here, who is our real life example of bridging straight from university into Mercedes. What happened in university and how did it prepare you to join into the role you have now?
CARLA HERRERO CORNEJO: I think what most prepared me for the working world at university was all the projects that I was involved in while I was there. So as it's been mentioned before, they really prepare you for making real things and working with people, collaborating in a team.
So one of the big projects that I worked on, and this was the one that I used Fusion 360 for, that Autodesk helped me with, were the uprights for my Formula Student team. I'm not sure if everybody knows what Formula Student is, but Formula Student is a global competition in which university students-- it can be groups of 20 to 400 people-- design, make, and build a race car that is fully drivable, and we take it to the race circuit at Silverstone in England. And we compete in summer.
So it's a crazy project that allows you to make a real thing, come across the mistakes, and solve them. I designed the uprights. I had no clue what uprights were when I was told to make them. But they are essentially the structural component that connects the wheel assemblies to the suspension system and the chassis of the vehicle.
As I said, I had no clue what they were. So I went out and I did the research. And once I understood what they were, I built a mathematical model to understand how my part would have to behave in different load cases. Coming into a corner, coming out of a corner, a curb strike, things like this gave me a full understanding of what my part had to endure.
And then I got on to Fusion, and it really allowed me to visualize those load cases and see how my part would behave in different scenarios. And then I also used generative design to see what creative options I had to make these parts as efficient as possible, explore the design space.
And it was insane the results that I got, and all of that was within one platform, which was incredible. So I used everything from the design, simulation, and the generative design platforms on that project. It really allowed me also to understand the meaning of engineering compromise and how it really is about making decisions and what you can let go of, what's more important. And generative design just makes a beautiful example of that.
I also think that with AI and technology developing so fast, collaboration with humans becomes so important. It's almost a performance item. When I was working on these uprights, I obviously had to interact with all the components that were surrounding it, all the bearings, all the wheels, the suspension system.
And I could look at the work that my team members were doing with these components while I was working, and while I was home in Madrid and remotely and all of these things, and that was incredible with working on the cloud.
On that note, my laptop was stolen on a flight to Madrid to my house, and I knew that I hadn't lost any of my work because of the cloud environment, which was amazing. I think another little project that's worth mentioning was a project hosted by the IMechE. This is the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in England. And every year they host a design challenge that university students can get involved in. It's really fast and you learn a lot in a short period of time.
In our case, it was a small robotic vehicle that I built alongside three other of my course mates at university. And within a week, we went from a blank sheet of paper to a fully designed, manufactured, built, coated, and working vehicle, which was incredible. And I learned so much alongside my friends at uni.
And we did go on to win that competition, both the regionals and the nationals, which was insane. And it just really goes to show how these projects that everyone has been mentioning really build your knowledge and prepare you for real-life working scenarios, where you'll be working with a team and communicating with people constantly. And yeah, I think those were the most rewarding experience, and also the most educational experiences that I got for then working in a real professional environment.
NATALIE STAINES: Yeah. Now you get all the experiences of working under pressure and probably failing a little bit and learning from those failures. So you've got a lot of conversation here validating all the different ways that you can get hands-on experience, whether it's through teams or skills or projects. So knowing that, Andy, we'll hand it to you, what else would you prioritize in terms of helping build the skills and preparing students for industry?
ANDREW HEWITT: Yes. So we at my school, we've built a lot of positive relationships with local companies, because that's our goal is to contextualize the learning as much as possible. So over the years, we've built a lot of good relationships with local companies and industry professionals.
And I'll sound a bit like a broken record, because Matt and Nate have already highlighted this, but when we get the feedback from them about what kind of attributes they want from graduates, it is to be multi-disciplined, which makes sense because when you look at the technological landscape at the moment, it is developing, so they do want students that have a wide competency and can take to new tasks. And then have those transferable skills, if they need to go into another aspect of that company.
So when they join as our students, we do introduce Fusion as a one-stop shop. We talk a lot about the design and make process. And we find that Fusion captures that pretty much from start to finish. And we get feedback from our students and our employers when they come back to say how they've been doing in their journey.
And they have been incredibly impressed that our students seem to be hitting the ground running. And our students feel they've been in a great position to start their career because we've introduced as much as possible in a relatively short space of time. So that multifunctionality is the one skill that we really try to push in our program.
NATALIE STAINES: Thank you. And Nate, any other skills you're prioritizing?
NATE BAKER: Yeah, so I'll piggyback on what other people have said. So the interdisciplinary skill set. It's awesome to give them a breadth of skills, so that way they have as many opportunities as possible when they go into industry. And then from there, they can decide how they want to specialize, or multiple skill sets.
Also piggybacking off what Carla said, you know, the funny thing about AI and all this new technology is the more advanced it gets, the less interaction with it you'll have. So we're shifting from operating technology to technology assisted human interaction, and more human to human interaction. So those human skills, the collaboration, creativity, all those skills are super important. Yeah.
NATALIE STAINES: Thank you. So I'm going to come back to Andy. You started to hint at this. But the partnerships between education and industry and local community are really important to help with the job readiness, and building those partnerships that allow for projects that have real world application.
We know that there's an important, again, I'll, say partnership there for how we can set everybody up for success. So what have you leveraged and how are those partnerships enriching your classroom and your teaching?
ANDREW HEWITT: Yeah, so my school is referred to as a UTC. So a University Technical College. So our drive is that we need to contextualize as much as possible with our learning. And that's done by making ties with further education or industry specialists.
So at the moment, we've got 30 different companies that we work with. And I'm sure after this AU, there's going to be at least 10 more that I'm going to add when I go back home. So there are companies like Autodesk, Rolls-Royce, Jaguar Land Rover.
And generally speaking, they give our students opportunities like work experience or placement opportunities. But every so often, we do get gems of projects, which I'll mention just two.
So we've got a cadet force at my school. So we've got students that are thinking about enrolling in the armed forces. So the Navy, the cadet force, and so on. So we had an RAF cohort. So the air cadets. And they were working on a flight simulator that we have in our school. So they were learning how to take off and how to land. And some of our teachers are actually ex-army, so they have that background that actually teach that stuff.
But then we wanted to get more hands on. So a few years ago, we contacted the British Micro Aircraft Association, and they put us in contact with a private buyer who was going to buy a kit plane. Essentially, it's about the size of a Cessna, so about half the size of this stage.
But he gave it to our students to build, which is a very brave decision to ask 17-year-olds to build something that you're going to go and fly in. But it was great, because those students were learning a skill that they're definitely going to be using in their career.
And it also gave the students an opportunity, because we talk about the design and make process, and they had the opportunity to actually talk to the clients, because when they were putting the console together, the client had said that he didn't like the configuration of the dials.
So they were in genuine conversations with this client saying, where would you like these dials to go? And then based on that feedback, they went into Fusion. They redesigned the layout. And they actually built a custom component for that customer and they were able to integrate that in the plane.
And the plane works fantastic. It got tested. And last time I heard from the buyer, he is still alive and he's still flying. So the students were really, really impressed.
And the second and final opportunity that I'll talk about is our most recent. So we are now partnered with Goldsmiths, so they are the UK's leading luxury jewelers. And they launched a opportunity for winning schools to be part of a 5 million pound grant.
So our principal took the helm. He went through six months of ordeal through interviews and traveling up and down the country to do these presentations. And out of 3,000 schools in the UK, we are one of three that have been awarded this grant, which as a proud teacher of a school, you like to be able to say those kind of statistics, that we're one of three in the country that have this opportunity.
So we're now in a position where we're looking at buying a new building, retrofitting it with new jewelry equipment. And that's really, really special, because in Birmingham we have an area called the Jewelry Quarter, which has companies going back hundreds of years that have been making bespoke jewelry.
So we're now looking at making new connections with those industry experts, bringing them in, actually teaching some students how do you actually get into jewelry design, which is great for the students because it's a new opportunity for them that they might not have thought of. And for us as teachers, we're now looking at Fusion and how we can use that for jewelry design, which is very different than what I was using Fusion five years ago, and I was learning the basics of how to make an articulated LEGO man.
So I'm now looking at how I can teach students how to do jewelry design, which is great. And my family is very excited, because they are seeing me as a conduit to mates rates and discounted jewelry. So everybody's really excited.
NATALIE STAINES: Yeah. But no, I mean, it's great, because now we have another example that the skill set is creativity in a different way, like we were talking about earlier. And it's very multidisciplinary in terms of what you can design and make. So congratulations, that's amazing and a really cool opportunity for you and your students.
Carla, maybe is there a project that you have in your mind, another one you might be able to share that just is another example of how did you prepare to go into industry? What was the relationship between your university and Mercedes that kind of did that bridge for you?
CARLA HERRERO CORNEJO: So my university had really good connections with industry, not just with Mercedes but with partners it had picked up along the way. And you gave some incredible examples of that sort of tie that you can create with industry.
I think it's important not just for the employment opportunities I got, but also for the learning of the students. It's insane what you can get out of other people's practical experience. I think even during COVID for me, we couldn't make-- so we could only design.
And you didn't get that reality aspect that you do get when you're making, and as everybody has mentioned before. So having that practical experience come into your university, to your school, to your college, whatever it is really helps you learn. Because you can have people tell you where the mistakes are if you aren't able to see them yourself.
When I was at university, we had these sort of projects called scenarios spread out throughout the year. Maybe three in my first year of university, five in my second. And these weeks were completely off timetable. We wouldn't have any classes, and we would get a project brief on the Monday morning and present to a panel of industry experts on the Friday.
And you can imagine it was a huge time crunch throughout the week. Every time we had these projects, we would be learning a new skill. So it was incredibly challenging, and we had to collaborate with people that we hadn't met before, maybe even online. So it was incredibly tough. But we learnt so much out of it.
And one of these scenarios, I did this project with my team. We had to figure out how something had broken based on almost like a crime study type evidence with failure analysis and all of this. And I was apparently the only one to figure out how the thing broke.
So when I was presenting, my team was presenting, the head of department from Mercedes, who had come to the panel this time, he was sitting there with his badge. That was super intimidating. And he started asking me so many questions.
And then two weeks later, I got a call from my professor asking me if I wanted to do an internship with them. And when I asked whether I had to do an interview, they said, oh no, you've already done it, because it was live and you were unprepared. And they've seen you in your real state. So it's incredible to see the learning and the opportunity that you get through these industry ties.
NATALIE STAINES: No, and the feedback cycles, we talked a little bit about that. So again-- and congrats to you on this new chapter you're in.
So shifting gears a little bit, there's a topic that's really important to Autodesk as a company and the industries we serve, and definitely within education, and it's the topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
And one of the reasons that we offer our software for free to students is because we want access. We know that that technology has to be a part of a learning journey so that they can have opportunities. So Bryn, let's start with you. How are you experiencing this topic and the increasing importance of inclusion and equity in your classroom?
BRYN JONES: Yeah, I think back to COVID, really, and we were a little bit fortunate that we were using Fusion 360 already. So the transition of having that remote delivery, the fact that they were using Fusion 360 and they were still able to access it in a web browser, you know, that kept the flow of our deliveries at that point.
Since then, our college made the decision then to give Chromebooks on a loan basis throughout the academic year to students that don't necessarily have those facilities at home. So that's certainly helped keep them engaged. I think the decision was made really for them to continue with their academic studies, and the theory. But naturally, it played perfectly into our hands, and we can still progress and they can still progress.
And I think as well, at the beginning of the year, you tend to have a new cohort, a new group of students. They sort of come into the classroom. You tend to see them going to their comfort zones. They sit where are familiar with.
And then, suddenly, you put them in a team or you create a project, and they are a part of something straight away. And some students, they struggle with communication. But being a part of something, it's giving them a bit of responsibility, and naturally, it's helping break those barriers down for them.
So it becomes a little bit more natural then, than you trying to pull out communication skills in them. They're a part of something.
NATALIE STAINES: You're creating that opportunity, just by nature of a project. Everybody gets to contribute and everybody is included. So maybe, Carla, down to you.
Stating the obvious, you're the single female on the stage here with us having this conversation. So what has your journey been like as a female getting into this industry?
CARLA HERRERO CORNEJO: Yeah. Women are definitely underrepresented in engineering disciplines in general, I found from my work and university experience. I think it makes it sometimes really intimidating for girls to approach very technical subjects like engineering.
And with such a mystical term that engineering is, a small girl might not know what that is. And even my 24-year-old sister doesn't know what it is. And she still asks me to this day. I just tell her we're problem solvers, and it really makes it less intimidating.
But the intimidation obviously doesn't stop us. And I visited a girl's school when I was at university. I made sure to go periodically to help them out with little design projects that the school was trying to encourage.
And I helped them perform F1 in Schools Teams, which was incredible. And that school happened to be using Fusion, and it was just insane to see these girls give it a shot. Just aside from the technical capabilities of the software, I just found it incredible how it made it approachable for them to try out engineering concepts.
And they were all of a sudden asking questions and interested. And they might not even know what engineering is, but they were still giving it a shot.
I think from my experience, it's been around 10% of people in an office or in a class being women. But I think there is a real appreciation that diversity is a performance item, and therefore, it's moving in the right direction.
Where I work now, there is that real appreciation. And I think they really care that diversity makes us go further and faster. And I'm all about the fast. So if you don't have diversity, you're missing out.
NATALIE STAINES: Thank you for saying that it's kind of our collective responsibility to make sure that we are opening the conversation, inviting everybody in, recognizing those different perspectives, and how that can impact the future of education in general.
So we will close out here with a very fun lightning round. We've hit on a lot of topics from the technology, the mindset, AI, where things are going. So knowing that with speed as our driving force here, there's a lot of things moving quickly, advancing quickly in industry.
So I'll give you each a moment to just think top-- excuse me-- top challenge or top opportunity you see coming for students in education. And we will start, Andy, with you. What comes to mind?
ANDREW HEWITT: Yeah. So I think because Fusion can do so much, the list of opportunities is kind of endless. You can spend a whole day thinking about things that they could do.
For me, personally, I think Fusion needs to continue making the user interface and the ease of navigation for all their tools more streamlined and more accessible. So at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if I can use Fusion. It matters if the 30 students in front of me can.
Fusion looks very different than when it first got launched. And despite how we feel about the regular updates from Fusion, at the end of the day, it is for the benefit of them.
So I think we're all interested on the topic of AI at the moment. So I'd be very interested to see how that can get integrated into how our students actually interact with all the different tools and functions, because I feel if that ease of transition can be worked on, then students won't find all the different tools and functions intimidating, which then will build their confidence, and then actually encourage them to take on more challenging opportunities.
NATALIE STAINES: OK, so technology and AI. Nate?
NATE BAKER: Yeah, I'd say a top opportunity for me would be, you know, for both education and industry, adapting and exemplifying a sustainability mindset. And not just environmental sustainability, but three pillars sustainability. People, planet, profit.
And balancing those pillars and understanding how every decision you do, everything you design or make affects all those three pillars, whether you're account for it or not. And then all these tools that Fusion has, and all this AI and things, and how it can make it easier to make more sustainable products and processes.
NATALIE STAINES: Thank you for hitting on sustainability. That's a big one. Bryn, what comes to mind for you?
BRYN JONES: I think it's important from an education point of view that we instill mindsets from students to embrace changes. Things are changing constantly. So if you give them a mindset of, like Andy said, these changes are going to be of benefit to you, you can embrace them and use them and be more productive as you move forward.
You know, naturally we want our students to not have to upskill when they go into industry. We want them to start and hit the ground running.
NATALIE STAINES: Love it. Thank you for bringing mindset back in. It's definitely important. Iwan, top opportunity or challenge?
IWAN ROBERTS: Yeah, so really I've mentioned it earlier with AI, and seconding what Andrew just said there, really. And I've mentioned CAM Assist from the company CloudNC. And also, just met a company called Fabrio in this Autodesk University this year that have the CAD version of that, so CAD Assist.
And I guess, convenience and assisting is really what the aim is there. And ultimately, I guess, we're getting to a process in a stage now where we're thinking about making everything quicker. So the design of make is becoming more efficient and easier. The lead time is getting smaller.
And using AI is a key tool for that. So it's really interesting. It'd be cool to see if Fusion 360 can maybe-- how far can they be able to push it in terms of can we give them the basic requirements for generative design? And every other environment that Fusion has, will they be automatically generated for our specific 3D printers, specific CNC machines?
Can it just do everything for us, just from a design? Because ultimately, that's what every product needs, is a drawing, a toolpath, manufacturing. So be interesting to see how less clicks we can do in the future.
And just one more quickly, if you don't mind, is VR and AR as well, something that we're actually at the moment trialing in the college. And really, the purpose there is in terms of product analysis, the stage. So we're really keen to see how our Fusion models are able to be in VR and AR, and how we can really eliminate the need to waste materials in prototyping stage, like 3D printing and CNC.
We really have to ask the question, do you need to? What are you gaining from that? Or can we just actually skip a few processes and analyze them in VR and AR?
NATALIE STAINES: Now, that's a good add. That's a good one. Matt, what about you?
MATT ERBACH: Top opportunity hands down is simply the collaborative aspects of Fusion 360. Being able to team students or groups up to accomplish something that one single person would not be able to accomplish on their own is fantastic.
I'm hoping to-- well, I will be launching an international, or an internationally centered design and manufacturing project, hopefully with some of the schools here, and other schools as well, using this collaborative tool as the secret sauce to make sure that we can have people throughout the country making parts and all coming together, and all the parts working and fitting together, even though the individuals who made them are on opposite sides of the planet.
Top opportunity as an educator is probably just some of the file permissions and automated grading and folder commands that you can use that allow you to optimize the grading process assessment, and just handing out and recollecting digital assignments.
NATALIE STAINES: Well, we started out talking about how time is limited. So doing everything we can to make sure that your life is a little bit easier and you can focus on the students. That's a good one to watch for. And so, Carla, maybe just bring us home. What do you see coming?
CARLA HERRERO CORNEJO: I think taking advantage of the availability of the software is really a big one, and to create that exposure at a young age, embed this software into your curriculum as early on in your student's lives as possible, because that will help demystify what engineering is and hopefully create a more diverse talent base.
NATALIE STAINES: There you have it. We are so grateful to have you here with us. Thank you for touching on what the next generation of learning and teaching and talent will look like. And thank you for helping all of the students design and make a better world. Thanks for being here.
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