Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


Autodesk Offers Design Software Free to Ed Institutions

Autodesk has released its design software free to students, instructors and educational institutions anywhere in the world.

"The way we make things is changing rapidly, and we need a workforce ready to design for new manufacturing and construction techniques. By providing free professional design tools to students, faculty members and academic institutions around the world, we're helping get industry ready for the next phase," said Carl Bass, Autodesk CEO, in a prepared statement.

Available to secondary and post-secondary schools, the offer follows the company's February release of $250 million in 3D design software and project-based curricula for middle schools and high schools in the United States as part of President Obama's ConnectED initiative.

The company "is also helping schools move to the cloud by providing academic institutions with its full suite of next generation cloud-based design products, cloud services such as the A360 collaboration platform, as well as maintenance subscription for free," according to a news release.

Students at Swanson Middle School have used Autodesk tools to help create a tool designed to help a local man with disabilities use a touchscreen to communicate and college students have used them to design environmentally sustainable homes for an international competition.

In an effort to help educators integrate the tools, the company is also offering free resources and content for project-based learning via its Digital STEAM Workshop and Design Academy initiatives.

"Our students are using Fusion 360 to design an energy scooter which we are bringing to market via Kickstarter, and they're only in 8th grade! If we can help more classroom teachers incorporate learning through design in their curriculum, and technologies that engage students in problem-solving through engineering, students will see how math and science are springboards to careers as future innovators and entrepreneurs," said Karen Kaun, founder of Makeosity, in a prepared statement.

More information is available at autodesk.com.

About the Author

Joshua Bolkan is contributing editor for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • In Data Center Office Male IT Analyst Watches Screens Fill With Virus and Malware Warnings

    Global Ransomware Attacks Rise 23% in Q3

    Global ransomware activity increased 23% in the third quarter of 2026, with organizations in North America and Europe accounting for the largest proportion of attacks, according to cybersecurity firm NCC Group.

  • business person holding paper chain of people in his hands

    Want to Close the Skills Gap? Bring Learning Closer to Work

    If the jobs of the future require different skills, creating those jobs is only half the equation. We also need realistic pathways for people to reach them.

  • cloud infrastructure diagrams and security alerts

    Microsoft Intros New Protections and Controls for Sovereign Cloud

    Microsoft is expanding its sovereign cloud offerings with new tools designed to give organizations tighter control over where their data resides, who can access it, and how critical systems operate, especially in light of AI becoming a bigger part of enterprise infrastructure.

  • Blurred silhouettes of business people in a modern office with a glowing blue network overlay

    Open Secure AI Alliance Moves to Linux Foundation

    The Open Secure AI Alliance has moved under the Linux Foundation, giving the initiative what the organizations describe as a neutral home for developing open source tools, shared standards and defensive practices. The Alliance was launched by NVIDIA in July to develop open security technologies for AI systems and agents.