Expansion of Autodesk Design the Future Program to Help Prepare Students for Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics

SAN FRANCISCO & WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 4, 2014-- Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) is joining with President Barack Obama and other leading technology and telecom companies to help prepare American high school students for science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) careers. The company will expand its Design the Future program, and make available $250 million of 3D design software, project-based curricula, training and certification to every middle and high school in the United States in 2014.

"Our customers have unfilled, high-paying positions due to the lack of qualified U.S. high school and university graduates," said Carl Bass, Autodesk president and chief executive officer. "As part of our ongoing commitment to training and equipping the next generation of designers, engineers, architects and digital artists, we are proud to respond to the call from President Obama. Today we are committing to making our Design the Future program available to every secondary school in the United States over the next year."

The Design the Future program provides secondary school teachers everything they need to teach students critical problem-solving skills and to prepare them for careers in STEAM fields such as engineering and architecture. First launched as a pilot in California in 2013 and expanded to Texas in 2014, the program empowers educators to help students develop a lifelong love for STEAM subjects by providing free access to current versions of Autodesk 3D design software (including more than 14 key products for architecture, engineering and entertainment), project-based curricula assigned to Common Core and ISTE standards, training and certification. In the first six months of the program, more than 350 California schools have enrolled. With today's commitment, Autodesk will make its software available for free to educators at more than 27,000 U.S. secondary schools. If all schools take advantage of the offer, the total value of Autodesk's offering will exceed $250 million. For more information on Design the Future, visit http://www.autodesk.com/campaigns/design-the-future-us/home. For more information on Autodesk's free offerings for students and educators, visit http://students.autodesk.com.

About Autodesk

Autodesk helps people imagine, design and create a better world. Everyone-from design professionals, engineers and architects to digital artists, students and hobbyists-uses Autodesk software to unlock their creativity and solve important challenges. For more information visit autodesk.com or follow @autodesk.

Autodesk is a registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.

© 2014 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

Source: Autodesk, Inc.

Autodesk, Inc.
Noah Cole, +1 415-580-3535
noah.cole@autodesk.com


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