Autodesk education community
Make It Real: Your future in construction starts here
Build your tech skills. Challenge yourself. Find funding. Explore careers. #MakeAnything
One team. Imagining a better future.
Autodesk's Make It Real program encourages young people to engage with their communities by applying the design thinking process to real problems related to construction and the built environment. It also offers inspiration, learning, and funding opportunities.
Autodesk is partnering with hockey star Connor Clifton and football champion James Develin, two engineering school graduates teaming up to help the next generation of designers and builders.
Join them for the “Bridging Gaps” web series, where they encounter the people and new technologies that are improving the built environment.
"Bridging Gaps" with James Develin and Connor Clifton
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Winning Together
James and Connor discuss how their backgrounds in engineering have empowered them with a new way of thinking about the future.
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Building Connection
Guided by construction project managers, the duo visits a 520-ton steel deck that will bridge together two Boston neighborhoods.
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Tapping Potential
The team learns from a pipefitter about her career and how the systems she assembles are vital to the building project.
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Co-piloting the Future
James and Connor learn about construction technologies that reduce busy work, so builders can focus on what matters most.
"Make It Modular" with James Develin
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Trading Sweat for Sweets
James sees an opportunity to reimagine a shipping container as a surf shack–inspired cafe that serves smoothies and coffee.
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Making Room to Grow
James tackles the interior and exterior design work—everything from the surfboard seat installation to the living wall.
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Powering Up
The thin metal walls of a container don't safely accommodate electrical components, so James seeks expert advice.
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Scaling Sustainably
James meets with Fope Bademosi, an Autodesk researcher focused on innovation within the construction industry.
Navigate your future in construction
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Technology tutorials
Build tech skills for the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry.
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Career exploration
Learn from industry professionals about how they are making a difference.
"Make It Bridge" Scholarship Award
Autodesk is challenging high school students to rethink a gap that exists in their community by designing a new structure or space that includes a pedestrian bridge to offer something more for the people and places it connects.
Contest entrants must be ages 13-21, currently in high school (or homeschooled) in the U.S. and Canada, and incorporate Autodesk software to create an Instructable for their design.
Scholarship prizes total $50,000 and will support educational expenses such as tuition, books, room and board, transportation, and childcare. Contest deadline: Monday, June 26, 2023 at 11:59 PM ET
Explore the learning resources below to build your skills for the contest.
Explore Autodesk design and construction resources
Watch these brief tutorials from Autodesk experts on how to bring a design idea to life.
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Level up in FormIt
Try advanced tools in FormIt like the Dynamo visual scripting language.
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Tell stories visually with FormIt
Animate scenes in a design and apply visual styles to personalize it.
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Optimize a FormIt design
Analyze a design for its environmental impact and use Dynamo to automate processes.
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Design landscapes in AutoCAD
Get started designing a landscape using AutoCAD.
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Illustrate details in Revit
Use Revit to highlight building elements that inform construction.
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Plan construction site logistics
Generate 3D context from geographic data with an Infraworks-FormIt workflow.
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Communicate about construction
Use Construction Cloud tools to review and flag clashes among building elements.
Building Changemakers Microgrant Application
This $500 grant is intended for students ages 17-22 in the U.S. who are transitioning from high school into an apprenticeship or additional vocational training in the building trades. It may be used to cover expenses to support your training such as tuition, books, safety equipment, uniforms, lab fees, transportation, certification fees, or childcare.
This program will run until September 29, 2023, or until the $50,000 in funds (100 total prizes) allotted for this program run out. Limited to one entry per person.
Explore careers that make a positive impact
Discover the many career paths into the future of construction by learning from industry professionals and university students who are making progress now to address important issues.
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Construction technology
Explore megatrends that are influencing the future of construction and changing the ways we work.
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Sustainable design
Learn from an EcoRise LEED Green Associate how a living wall can advance environmental sustainability.
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Modular design
Architecture students from Wentworth Institute of Technology share their prototype for an outdoor classroom.
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Inclusive design
A Wentworth Institute of Technology student envisions sensory-modified spaces for people with disabilities.
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Affordable housing
How can we design affordable housing with future residents? A Wentworth Institute of Technology student has a plan.
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Ask an architect
Architects answer questions and share how their early interests led to architecture careers.
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Ask an engineer
Panelists discuss their career paths and the variety of roles that engineers play in the construction industry.
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Ask a builder
Meet a diverse panel of construction professionals who are innovating the built environment.
