We are entering an era in which the consumer is both the designer and the manufacturer: DIY creations on Kickstarter; 3D printers in your home; increasingly affordable computing and components; membership-based workshops filled with digital fabrication tools; and open-source electronics, combined with design techniques that create new, unique—and often highly creative—inventions and applications. The democratization of technology and the rise of the maker subculture are changing who does the work of design, and how they conceive, explore, and fabricate things. Are we all designers now? Or is this more hype, similar to the promise of the Jetsons™ and the paperless office? Join us to hear more from speakers—from an array of disciplines—who will share their stories, talk about how the “make-it-yourself” mindset is driving innovation, and discuss where this DIY movement is really heading. This session features Eric Wilhelm, founder of Instructables; David Lang, co-founder, OpenROV; Schuyler St. Leger, enthusiastic amateur maker; Jason Chua and team, SparkTruck, Stanford d.School; Ben Kaufmann, CEO, Quirky.com; and Anne Filson and Gary Rorhbacher, partners at Filson and Rohrbacher and co-founders of AtFAB.

Instead of sending your model plans out to a shop, why not make them yourself? This hands-on lab gives attendees of all levels familiarity with a suite of Autodesk® software designed to empower the DIY revolution and greatly simplify personal fabrication. Attendees are guided through 3 projects to prepare for 3D printing, computer numerical control (CNC) routing, and laser cutting. Whether you are an architect or an artist, you will leave with a keen understanding of why you would choose 1 fabrication method over another and how to use machines to make your designs real. Machine tools will be present in the lab.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has adopted a just-in-time laser-scanning protocol for the Newark Liberty International Airport Terminal One (EWR T1) Redevelopment project—a 33-gate, innovative terminal that is part of the largest design-build project of New Jersey’s history. The construction team of Tutor Perini / Parsons, JV is continually scanning all of the construction as it happens, from the foundations through to the finished product, ensuring that nothing is missed as the building progresses. EWR T1 is a fantastic case study to show how we’re scanning on such an aggressive schedule, combined with working on a site of more than 1 million square feet. This class will cover our laser-scanning execution plan, including: laser-scanner technical specifications, PC hardware specs, scan data and deliverable management, advanced registration techniques, location of scan setups and targets, DIY target fabrication, survey control application, and much more.

The last two years have seen a vast sea change in workstation computing, which makes specifying the right hardware for BIM (Building Information Modeling) a daunting task. The high demands of the Revit BIM platform, reality capture, virtual reality, and 3D applications such as 3ds Max software and Maya software require a thorough understanding of today’s computing platforms so that you can make sound investments in your next workstation. This class will take a deep dive into the latest advancements in computing platforms and the important options to consider when purchasing new workstations. We’ll cover the best in today’s PC components—processors, motherboards, memory, graphics cards, and storage—and optimize each based on advanced BIM and 3D tasks. New to this year is a review of reality capture and the specific computing demands of laser scanning and photogrammetry workloads. We’ll discuss the pros and cons of building out a DIY system versus purchasing a preconfigured system from a large vendor, and provide tips for buying parts online.

In this class, we'll use the case study of designing a lab power supply. This is a common tool in electronics and by working through its design, we'll highlight how the electronics workspace, e-cooling simulation, and mechanical modeling can all be capitalized on to simplify and expedite the production of this product. As we go through the case study, we'll clearly demonstrate the benefits of having all of these tools in one application—namely, faster product development with fewer rework cycles.

How cool to watch or drive a drone! Well, there is a cooler way to think drones: You’ll be able to create a drone chassis after attending this hands-on lab! Fusion 360 software is an amazing product, with lots of environments to master. Generative Design in Fusion 360 is also available. Using the power of Generative Design, you can discover lots of details on how to use Fusion 360 to create a specific product. No matter if you’re a beginner or a seasoned veteran, this will be a detailed course that everyone can understand. Come along for an action-packed 90 minutes of learning, and find out how to create a design using Generative Design in Fusion 360!

Take a look at how any designer with basic tools can create basic scripts. These scripts can help you to move through repetitive tasks more quickly than a manual operation. Generate thousands of drawings in a matter of minutes, get all your Xrefs done in only seconds, insert detail blocks onto isometric drawings, and many other possibilities. Basic scripts are quick and easy to create. You don't need to be a programmer or skilled in the art of LISP routines. When you need a job done quickly, do it yourself with a quick script. No more waiting for a programmer to generate an application for you when it’s too late.

3D models help us to create better-quality products, but also help us to visualize our designs in various ways: 3D images, videos, games, 360 panoramas, virtual tours, augmented reality, virtual reality, and so on. All these are digital and are able to reach a big audience. Sometimes we need to step out of this digital world and go back to the basics! Brick Reality is a partly 3D printed and partly Lego build of a 3D road design. This class will show you how an InfraWorks model was made and turned into visualizations and a 3D-printed/Lego model.