Cadalyst - November/December 2008 - (Page 14)

cadcentral Student’s Facebook Efforts Earn AU Scholarship Tippu Sashi, an architecture major set to graduate from the University of Cincinnati in 2009, will attend Autodesk University 2008 (AU) — for free — courtesy of Autodesk. In part, it’s the company’s way of thanking Sashi for what he does on the popular social networking site Facebook. “In my sophomore year, Facebook really began to take off,” Sashi recalled. “So my friend Jeremy Stroebel and I created a page for the Autodesk Student Engineering & Design Community. It was just a way to share knowledge.” Soon, his endeavors caught the notice of Autodesk Education. Every year, the division recognizes about four or five students at a ceremony during the AU Education keynote. They are singled out for, among other things, helping achieve the highest increases in student community membership on their campuses, teaching and hosting Inventor and Revit workshops for students, and managing the Autodesk brand page in Facebook. According to Autodesk, Sashi was selected to attend AU 2008 because of his Revit workshops in the spring, his internship in an architecture firm, and his involvement in the student community’s online discussions and exchanges. “The only program taught here at our school’s architecture program is AutoCAD,” he explained. “So we sought out one of our professors to discuss where architecture is going. Then we offered to run a voluntary Revit session. Now, once or twice a week, about 20–30 students get together in the computer lab. We walk them through the interface and how to start making some basic buildings.” Autodesk student community page can be found at http://students6. autodesk.com. Autodesk Announces 64-Bit Revit In October, Autodesk unveiled what it believes to be the first building information modeling (BIM) software for 64-bit operating systems. The company’s Autodesk Revit 2009 product line — available for architecture, MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing), and Structure — received the 64bit treatment. The new version is available as a download via Autodesk’s subscription center. Customer reaction has been enthusiastic. On the BIMman’s Blog (thebimman. wordpress.com), architect Jason Howden from Wellington, New Zealand, exclaimed, “Finally — I’ve been using a 64-bit OS (XP) for over a year now and with each release of Revit Architecture, I’ve been hoping that it will ship with full support for a 64-bit system. . . . ” On Rod Dot Net (roddotnet. blogspot.com), a blog described as “bits and pieces, including Windows problems, ASP.Net, C#, and the Revit API,” the author cautioned, “For API [application programming interface] developers, [64-bit Revit] brings a couple of kinks to work around. Now the framework runs in 64-bit mode, so there is the chance that some of your existing external commands will break. There are a couple of things that you can do if your external command, which was working fine in 32-bit Revit, does not work in 64-bit.” Cadalyst executive editor Kenneth Wong explores the innovative use of technology and its implications. Read his blog at www.cadalyst.com/kw. Dell Debuts Mobile Workstation to Covet In September, Dell released a 17” mobile workstation that provides computing horsepower rivaling that of desktop workhorses. The M6400 ($2,599) runs on Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme quad-core chips and NVIDIA Quadro FX 2700M or FX 3700M graphics cards with 512 MB or 1 GB of dedicated graphics memory. Weighing in at 8.54 lb with its magnesium-alloy chassis, the unit is part of Dell’s E-Family product line, making it compatible with other E-Family accessories, such as port replicators, notebook stands, and external storage modules. It supports one or two hard drives with optional RAID0 or RAID1 configuration: an encrypted hard drive with 160-GB capacThe new Dell Precision M6400 Covet mobile workstation. ity; a 7,200-rpm Free Fall Sensor hard drive with 320-GB capacity; a 5,400-rpm HDD with 500-GB capacity; or a solid-state hard drive with 128-GB capacity. It runs Windows Vista (32- or 64-bit), XP Professional (32- or 64-bit), and Rat Hat Linux 5.1 (64-bit). A fingerprint reader, a 2-megapixel camera, dual-array microphones, and solid-state drives are optional. For connectivity, users can choose from a selection of Dell wireless mini-cards, Dell wireless Bluetooth mini-cards, and Intel wireless mini-cards. The M6400 is also available in the Covet edition ($3,899, shown here), distinguished by a vibrant orange chassis, an edge-to-edge glass RGB LED display, and 16 GB of RAM. More News Find breaking and current news at www.cadalyst.com/news. 14 www.cadalyst.com cadalyst November/December 2008 http://thebimman.wordpress.com http://thebimman.wordpress.com http://students6.autodesk.com http://students6.autodesk.com http://roddotnet.blogspot.com http://roddotnet.blogspot.com http://www.cadalyst.com/kw http://www.cadalyst.com/news http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - November 2008

Cadalyst - November 2008 Contents Editor's Window CAD Central Tech Trends: Designed after Our Own Image Budget-Conscious Workstations — 64-Bit CAD Power for Less than $2,500 Cadalyst All-Star Awards 2008 SolidWorks 2009 — 3D MCAD Software IES Virtual Environment 5.9 — Building Performance Analysis Software View Point: A Design with Teeth CAD Manager: CAD Manager’s Survey 2008 MCAD Modeling: Ask for What You Want AEC Insight: AEC Software by the Clock CAD Cartoon Issue Indexes Hot Tip Harry: Hot Tips for Cold Days

Cadalyst - November 2008

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