CAD News for Govies is a weekly feature on Acronym that scans thousands of industry articles to present you with a regular source of CAD and GIS news, information and ideas that impact the public sector.

Here’s the latest round-up:

How to Create a Killer CAD Team: Get Them Certified

Can you believe it? It's that time again. Registration for this year's Autodesk University opens on September 12, 2013.

While the event isn't until December 3-5 at the Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas, you might want to take advantage of early bird rates as soon as they come online.

Can't make it to AU this year?  You can still access past courses online, just sign-up for free to become an AU member.

AU 2012 is finally over and it ended as one of the best AU Conferences to date. Missed the Event? Don’t fret; I’m here to fill you in. The first day of events started off with the keynote at the Mandalay Bay Hotel. The keynotes speakers included Jeff Kowalski, CTO of Autodesk, who spoke on “Beyond Form: The Whole Design Process. Then there was Dezso Molnar, CTO of Molnari, Inc., who explained his innovative Gyrocycle. Christine Furstoss, Technical Director of Manufacturing & Materials Technologies at GE spoke about the Third Industrial Revolution. The audience was then treated with a surprise guest, Schuyler St. Leger who is a 12 year old boy that specializes in energy. Autodesk CEO, Carl Bass, hoped on stage to join Schuyler in a very entertaining presentation. Lynn Allen, Autodesk Technical Evangelist ended with tips for AU and upcoming events.

Hosted in Las Vegas in November, 2011, this year’s Autodesk University was a great time to discover and explore what’s new in the CAD world. There were so many classes and forums that highlighted how everyday people are doing extraordinary things with this software. The opening ceremony gave us a glimpse into how Autodesk is reaching into untapped resources such as America’s youth to explore the mysteries of outer space. There was this really neat forum that introduced three amazing individuals who were creating unique medical breakthroughs using Autodesk software. To sum it all up, their presentation brought back feelings of nostalgia for my freshmen biology class. Highlights from Sin City There’s so much to talk about in relation to Autodesk University in Sin City but, I will highlight the ones that stuck out to me the most.

Autodesk recently announced the environmental impacts of Autodesk University (AU) 2010 – its popular annual user conference that attracts up to 30,000 participants each year. The results revealed that, even as the in-person attendance at the 2010 event in Las Vegas grew 16 percent from 2009, the carbon footprint was reduced by four percent over 2009.

The Beatles. The Washington Capitals’ 2010 14 game win streak. Autodesk University (AU) 2010. What do they have in common? Like all good things, they eventually came to an end. Luckily, the Beatles legacy continues to thrive through old recordings, the successful solo careers of band members and the entire catalog now available on iTunes. And fear not digital design fans. Much like the Beatles, Autodesk University 2010 will continue to thrive in the blogosphere, and through archived webcasts, audio interviews, videos, and more.

This is Daniel Clark’s second entry in a blog series from on Autodesk University 2010. For Daniel’s first entry, visit: http://blogs.dlt.com/autodesk-university-2010-melting-pot-diversity-innovation/ After a mediocre breakfast of yogurt and stale muffins it was off to a full day of classes here at Autodesk University 2010. I won’t bore you with a play-by-play account of the day, but I do want to share some insights about the two most powerful classes that I attended. The first class was hosted by a government customer who recently made the decision to switch from their current GIS platform to Map 3D. The class was interesting because it was not an endorsement of Map 3D, but a glimpse into the decisions and testing that led the government agency to conclude that Map 3D was the correct choice for them. As with most new software adoption, some of the biggest concerns expressed about Map 3D, was the level of training it would take to ensure they got the most from their software investment. However, this concern was outweighed by the substantial cost savings they would receive by consolidating to one software package for mapping and only having to train each person on one program.

The second day of Autodesk University flew by and today’s sessions were as enlightening as they were yesterday. The field of digital design is extremely diverse and the partners that work with the different disciplines are as varied as the fields that Autodesk supports. On the AEC side, there are partners that do advanced survey and CAD integration. The manufacturing industry is also well represented with a variety of companies offering 3D printing and enhanced scan and manipulation tools. Autodesk’s media and entertainment partners are also out in force demo’ing the creation of live caricatures on iPads by an on-site graphic artist.

Autodesk University 2010 kicked off Tuesday morning with its Welcome Address. Autodesk CEO Carl Bass began with a challenge to all users. He wanted to get the message across to not just design, but design to make an “impact”. Bass proceeded to bring several users to the stage to show how their design work is already fulfilling the challenge of making an impact.

Autodesk University is already well under-way at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. And, I have to tell you, as a first-time visitor to Vegas, it took me quite some time to get past the overwhelming visuals that this city has to offer. That being said, I also found myself blown away by the sheer volume of people that are here for this event. Walking to the opening ceremony the escalators and hallways are literally packed with people from all over the world, all of whom are here for one reason - because they use, sell or are somehow associated with Autodesk software. Reading the name tags of people in class with me, I have seen people from Finland, Germany, Sweden, England, Japan and all over the United States.