It’s that time again. Autodesk University (AU) is fast approaching. This year’s in Las Vegas takes place November 14-16^th. There’s still time to get savings off AU passes, if you haven’t locked down your spot yet, our sneak peek into what’s happening at AU 2017 may just tempt you!

700+ Sessions

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:

Bridge-in-a-Backpack Gains Popularity in the U.S.

Government manufacturing spans the entire spectrum of the product development value chain – from research and technology invention to deployment and acquisition. However, innovation and production on such a scale brings with it inevitable challenges. Agencies face constant pressure to improve tactical and technological advantage, while saving costs and reducing manufacturing lead times. They are also seeking ways to leverage next generation manufacturing processes to address the key challenges inherent in the design and manufacturing process.

Writing in the National Defense Industrial Association’s President’s Perspective, Lawrence P. Farrell Jr wrote that, “Defense manufacturing is like the weather. Everyone talks about it, but no one does anything.” This was two years ago, yet many of Farrell’s concerns about defense manufacturing issues coupled with manufacturing concerns at large – still stand true today. The issues that affect overall manufacturing in the U.S. also impact the defense industrial base – to the point that manufacturing concerns have become national security issues.

More and more government agencies are using Autodesk software to improve communication and collaboration between agencies, gain cost effectiveness and improve the productivity of design and manufacturing projects. Here’s our lowdown of the top five ways AutoCAD is being or can be deployed by agencies to improve workflow processes and reduce cost without sacrificing the quality of work.

Assembling, operating, and maintaining critical pieces of machinery are a daily responsibility of maintenance mechanics in the military. Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAVs), in particular, are a perfect example of military land/water machinery that must be constantly maintained in to avoid potentially serious or fatal incidents. The military technical documents, used for assembly, operations, and maintenance of these multi-ton beasts, are typically static paper drawings. Normally kept in a three-ring binder, the documents are prone to get crumpled, dirty or even lost making life difficult on the mechanics. Needless to say, navigating away from clumsy, static, paper documents towards an electronic system of managing and accessing their technical documents is a welcome change.

To many people, the phrase “Some assembly required” is the kiss of death when purchasing something. If you have bought anything from IKEA you understand how frustrating it can be to put together a dresser or a coffee table using little more than a wrench and a set of visual instructions. In most cases there is not a ton of pressure riding on the person who is assembling IKEA furniture, but what if you had to assemble, or operate, or maintain a critical piece of machinery that was responsible not only for the success of your job, but for the lives of your coworkers. This is the case for operations and maintenance mechanics in the military.