Autodesk University in Las Vegas is certainly the most inspiring Autodesk event - I've been lucky enough to attend several times and have always come back with lots of new ideas and interesting contacts.
I am particularly pleased that more and more visitors from Germany, Austria and Switzerland can be found there, so I would like to summarize a few personal recommendations in this blog post for all those interested.
A small note in advance: many interesting lectures are often fully booked months in advance - go anyway and get in line, usually not all those registered show up, and shortly after the start of the lecture, the "spontaneous visitors" are also let in. The queues are often quite long - but the waiting time is worth it for good lectures. And now to my personal selection:
Revit in general
- AS322141 - Creating Intelligent Details in Revit
Brian Mackey aka The Revit Geek is a veteran of the "Revit scene" and regularly gives lectures on various Revit topics, including detailing. Highly recommended for all Revit users and AutoCAD fans who think you can't detail properly in Revit! - AS322822 - Discovering History with BIM - Project Notre Dame
You may have seen the blog posts on LinkedIn by Andrew Milburn following the Notre Dame fire - he and a few other Revit professionals have taken it upon themselves to remodel Notre Dame in Revit - the presentation on this will certainly be impressive not only from an architectural but also a technical point of view! - AS323516-L - Parametric Modeling of Vaults for Notre Checkers in Revit
Alfredo Medina also took part in Andrew Milburn's project and modeled the complex vault in particular. In this lecture, he reveals more about his approach.
Virtual Reality
- BES323917 - Making Game Engines Work for Engineers
Marcello Sgambelluri is a Revit enthusiast and you can tell - his presentations are legendary and bursting with inspiration. This year he will be talking about the opportunities that gaming engines offer engineers. You probably won't be able to get in here - but it's worth a try!
- Research study at AU on "Generative Design in VR for Structural Engineering" - not a lecture, but a great opportunity to participate in the study on Generative Design and VR - be sure to check out the Idea Exchange Station if you are interested in these topics!
Dynamo / Generative Design
- AS323843 - 8 Years Worth of Dynamo and Revit Classes from 1 Speaker in 60 Minutes
Another lecture by Marcello on the subject of dynamo, certainly inspiring for beginners and professionals! - AS323523 - How to Document a Tower with More Than Forty Different Floor Plates
I often hear the question of best practice recommendations for high-rise buildings and similar large projects in Revit - if you had to answer this question with one word, then that word would certainly be "Dynamo"! - AS322469 - Hands-on with Project Rediscover: generatively designing Autodesk Toronto's office
Our colleague Kean Walmsley is a generative design expert and was also involved in the design for the Autodesk office in Toronoto, where the generative design approach at Autodesk was tested productively for the first time. He has now revisited the project using the latest Dynamo and Refinery versions. - AS317938 - From Design Automation to Generative Design in AEC
Certainly a nice introduction to the topic of generative design by our colleague Dieter Vermeulen for all newcomers and interested parties! - CS322533 - Getting into the Flow of Generative Design for MEP
If you think that you can only benefit from generative design in the design sector, you should definitely take a look at what is possible in other areas such as TGA - I don't know the speaker, but the subject matter is promising!
Forge / Cloud
- SD322461 - Advanced Data Visualization Using the Forge Viewer
The second special area + presentation by Kean Walmsley is at least as exciting - he will be reporting on the visualization and analysis of sensor data in the cloud. - AS321232 - Custom Computational and Cloud-Enabled Workflows for BIM Design Implementation
Very interesting presentation by Eckart Schwerdtfeger, architect and programmer at Zaha Hadid Architects. Do I really need to say more about this session? I don't think so!
Supporting program
Monday - November 18
If you are already there on Monday, you should definitely stop by one of the pre-conferences, which are at least as interesting as Autodesk University itself:
- Connect & Construct Summit focuses on construction and offers many presentations on topics such as construction, construction supervision and production. It is also highly recommended for BIM 360 users or interested parties.
- Forge DevCon is all about Forge, the Autodesk Cloud API - but it's not just of interest to developers, as many ready-made solutions are also presented here that make certain workflows much easier. Or did you know, for example, that you can also place luminaires in your Revit model in a browser?
- Dynamo Workshops have been taking place for several years now and are definitely a great opportunity for all those interested in Dynamo and experts - unfortunately they are always booked out quite quickly, but I would still drop by if you're interested - there may still be places available.
Tuesday - November 19
- AU 5K and Fun Run (6:00 - 7:00) is the best way to start the AU and has already become a tradition! It is organized by our colleague Shaan Hurley. You can usually drop by spontaneously - the start is at 6:00 am in front of the Venetian Hotel (no problem for us Europeans thanks to jet lag)
- AU General Session (10:30 - 11:45) is the "keynote" and always very impressive - so you shouldn't miss it. It's a crazy feeling to sit in a hall with 10,000 other people and listen to the visionary presentations! It probably won't be as cool as my first AU in 2015, but who knows... ; )
AU 2015 with Lynn Allen and Storm Troopers!
- AU Community Reception / Women at AU Reception (from 17:30) are a nice end to the first day at the AU and offer a wonderful opportunity for networking!
Wednesday - November 20
- Architecture, Engineering & Construction Keynote (10:30 - 11:30) is also a must-attend event for anyone from the construction sector and no less impressive than the General Keynote
Thursday - November 21
- The AU Block Party (from 7 pm) - The famous AU party takes place on the last day again this year - so you don't have to make sure you're in bed early! 😉 The party is in the LINQ Promenade with lots of different bars and the opportunity to ride the Ferris wheel.
By the way, this year, for once, I won't be there, for the first time since 2015 - it almost feels a bit strange, a November without Las Vegas! ; ) However, I do get to trade two talks at AU Middle East in Dubai in mid-December - so not such a bad swap.
I wish everyone lots of fun and look forward to your impressions and make sure you take your scarf and chapstick with you wherever you go! ; )
And for all those who, like me, are staying at home, the good news is that most of the presentations are recorded on video and will be available a few weeks after the event on au.autodesk.com or you can already download the handouts for many of this year's lectures.
What else you should definitely do in Vegas:
- Visit Downtown
- Go shopping at the North Outlet and enjoy a snack at the Cheesecake Factory
- Eat a mac 'n cheese burger at Guy Fieri's
What to do in Vegas never never never should do:
- Buy medication in the style of Wick MediNait, no matter how bad the cold is... also applies to melatonin against jet lag (otherwise it's best to quintuple the dose)... ^^
Finally, a few impressions from the last few years - be sure to take some time to explore the Venetian and Vegas - it's an unreal and extreme, yet impressive place!







