Autodesk is the exclusive global software sponsor of the Shell Eco-marathon Europe. The event, to be held from 22-24 May 2008 at the Nogaro Motor Circuit in France, will include 200 teams from schools and universities in 25 countries including France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, UK, Hungary, Turkey and more. As a global sponsor Autodesk also supported the Americas event held from 12-15 April at the California Speedway.
This year's event is shaping up to be the toughest and most innovative to date. After receiving more than 300 entries, 200 teams from schools and universities across Europe have been invited to participate. The marathon challenges competitors to drive as far as possible using the equivalent of one litre of fuel and producing the fewest emissions possible. To beat last year's entries the vehicles will have to average more than 3000km per litre of fuel.
The Shell Eco-marathon aims to inspire young designers and engineers to develop new approaches to the future of modern transport by fostering innovative ideas about fuel efficiency while promoting technical courses to people all over the world. The event is also a great example of the interaction between industry and the academic world with Shell and its sponsors working together with students.
Autodesk also takes a keen interest in encouraging and advancing the next generation of design and engineering professionals. In order to meet this aim Autodesk created the Student Engineering & Design Community (www.autodesk.com/edcommunity). With more than 500,000 free licences downloaded by students and teachers in the world and already 130,000 members in Europe, Middle-East and Africa, the Autodesk Student Community offers students the ability to download free versions of Autodesk software and great learning resources. With more than 160,000 downloads so far, Inventor Professional is proving extremely popular. The community also allows members to search for jobs and internships, learn from educators and experts from around the world, display examples of their best work and take part in online tutorials.
Alistair Brook, education manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Autodesk, comments: "We are proud to be supporting the Shell Eco-marathon, as their aims are very similar to our own - to encourage the next generation of designers, engineers and architects. By providing these students with industry leading solutions and true multi disciplinary learning resources we hope to help them design efficient and sustainable solutions to ease global issues such as the shortage of fuel and rising emissions."
Entries for the Shell Eco-marathon are in two groups, Prototype and UrbanConcept. This year 75 per cent of entries are Prototypes and 25 per cent UrbanConcept vehicles, an increase of 40 per cent on the number of Urban Concept entries in 2007. While the Prototype cars are more experimental, the UrbanConcept cars are more similar in size and design to traditional cars and must have four wheels, a steering wheel, head and tail lights, a driver's seat, a brake pedal and doors. This year 58 teams are expected to compete in the UrbanConcept category, with entries contributing to the development of more sustainable vehicles.
At the Americas leg of the event, the first, second and third placed entries all used Autodesk products in the design of their winning vehicles. Reducing reliance on physical prototypes and allowing rigorous testing to be carried out on a digital prototype software can give teams a competitive advantage in building and testing vehicles that can travel further using less energy.
Products such as Autodesk AliasStudio deliver industry-leading sketching, modelling and visualisation tools, helping students quickly realise ideas by capturing ideas from initial sketches through to 3D concept models. These models can then be shared with the engineering team using a common file format and data can then be incorporated into a digital prototype, saving time and effort.
Students and educators can experience the benefits of the Autodesk Student Engineering and Design Community by registering at www.autodesk.com/edcommunity.