Autodesk CEO Carl Bass Wins CAD Society Leadership Award

Corporate Head Emphasizes Sustainable Building Design

Denver, CO. April 01, 2008 -- The CAD Society, the industry association for CAD users, today announced Carl Bass, president and CEO of Autodesk as the winner of its 2008 Leadership Award. The CAD Society recognized Bass for his efforts to promote sustainable product design and eco-friendly construction.

As head of the company that supplies the majority of the world’s design software for architects, engineers, product designers and manufacturers, Bass has used this position to influence the entire industry into higher awareness of the need, and the potential for environmentally friendly design in all aspects of life. Bass not only pushed for progressive policies within Autodesk, but has brought awareness of energy and material consumption into the software tools it sells.

Revit, an Autodesk product that combines 3D visualization with database information to manage large building projects, includes tools to calculate expected energy needs for a proposed structure. Revit allows architects to see how design changes in fenestration, materials, mechanical systems, and technology use affects the building’s operating costs. Autodesk Inventor has recently been expanded to include information on the carbon footprint of a product under design, and to allow better materials choices by the designers. The company is also anticipating more advanced tools to assist in environmentally conscious product decisions across the coming year.

“Only three years ago, environmental decisions as part of the product design process were not even part of the discussion for projects, partly because designers did not have any easy metrics to measure energy usage, material choices, or the carbon footprints,” says CAD Society President Michael McGrath. “Carl has been instrumental in taking a small trend of sustainable design and making it into a mainstream consideration for engineers of all kinds.”

The CAD Society Award for Leadership is awarded to an individual in the CAD industry whose outstanding technical and/or business leadership over the past year has significantly contributed to the benefit of the CAD community.

Formerly Bass was Autodesk's chief operating officer, responsible for worldwide sales, marketing and product development. Earlier roles included chief strategy officer and executive vice president of emerging business.

He also served as chief technology officer (CTO) and vice president of the AECAD group, responsible for the design and development of AutoCAD and AEC products. When Autodesk spun off its Buzzsaw division as a separate start-up, Bass left to be its chairman, CEO and president. He returned to Autodesk when Buzzsaw was reacquired.

Bass co-founded Ithaca Software, the developers of HOOPS, which was acquired by Autodesk in 1993. Bass serves on the Board of Directors of Autodesk and iRise. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Cornell University.

Annual CAD Society Awards are presented at the Congress for the Future of Engineering Software (COFES), a yearly industry conference. The theme of the 2008 conference is sustainable design.

About The CAD Society

The CAD Society (www.cadsociety.org) is a not-for-profit industry association with the goal of fostering community and encouraging open communication among those who make their living within the CAD industry including AEC, mechanical, manufacturing, and GIS. The CAD Society is dedicated to creating an informative community and improving the tools its members employ in order to get their jobs done. This is achieved by providing an open forum of communication, which helps to illuminate the practices of industry vendors. It has been a leader in creating interoperability guidelines that encourage software vendors to develop applications that can openly share data.

About COFES

The ninth annual Congress on the Future of Engineering Software (COFES), meets at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort, Scottsdale, Ariz., April 10-13, 2008. COFES, a mainstay event of the engineering software industry, provides an intensive conference atmosphere where private and public discussions are held. Attendees are executives, end users, CAD and PLM vendors, analysts, and members of the press who work together to define the newest business issues of engineering technologies.

COFES is an invitation-only event. To find out more information and to request an invitation, please visit www.cofes.com.

The CAD Society Contact:

Michael McGrath
President
The CAD Society
president@cadsociety.org

Press Contact:
Lauren Koziel
Strategic Reach PR
(303) 487-7406
lauren@strategicreachpr.com

The CAD Society Contact:

Michael McGrath
President
The CAD Society
president@cadsociety.org

Press Contact:
Lauren Koziel
Strategic Reach PR
(303) 487-7406
lauren@strategicreachpr.com

About The CAD Society

The CAD Society (www.cadsociety.org) is a not-for-profit industry association with the goal of fostering community and encouraging open communication among those who make their living within the CAD industry including AEC, mechanical, manufacturing, and GIS. The CAD Society is dedicated to creating an informative community and improving the tools its members employ in order to get their jobs done. This is achieved by providing an open forum of communication, which helps to illuminate the practices of industry vendors. It has been a leader in creating interoperability guidelines that encourage software vendors to develop applications that can openly share data.

About COFES

The ninth annual Congress on the Future of Engineering Software (COFES), meets at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort, Scottsdale, Ariz., April 10-13, 2008. COFES, a mainstay event of the engineering software industry, provides an intensive conference atmosphere where private and public discussions are held. Attendees are executives, end users, CAD and PLM vendors, analysts, and members of the press who work together to define the newest business issues of engineering technologies.

COFES is an invitation-only event. To find out more information and to request an invitation, please visit www.cofes.com.

This release was published on openPR.