Stay Whole Tuesday - Sharing about Autodesk Internship Program

Emily - I saw that Autodesk is going to be hosting several events at SCAD this fall. Keep an eye out for my friends. Here is something that I found interesting. It is a summary of our internship program. I know you may not think of Autodesk as being in the fashion business, but with the advent of 3D printing, we are working with many companies in that space.

Autodesk is hosting nearly 400 internships globally in FY14!

This year, our Global University Recruiting Program enthusiastically recruited top students at recognized schools to join our emerging talent pipeline. Students participate in a variety of project-based assignments focusing on Software Development, Graphics, Product Design, User Research, Mobile & Cloud Technologies, Product Marketing, Strategy, Finance, Business Management, Sustainability, Social Media and more!

In most locations, we host an enrichment program consisting of talks and activities to introduce them to Autodesk and to enhance their development which includes starting with a structured orientation to welcome and on board students.

Global Program Highlights
 
Bay Area – Program elements included a welcome session with Carl Bass and Jeff Kowalski as well as Tech Talks featuring Brian Mathews discussing the 7 Design Technology Trends and Ben Thompson and Brian Young discussing our initiatives Beyond Sustainable Design. Additionally, Alissa Sykes hosted an Education brown bag to inform interns how they are helping students pursue careers in design, engineering or the digital arts.

Lake Oswego - Students participated in a Town Hall with Buzz Kross where they discussed the importance of being bold, curious and inquisitive during their internship. Interns from Novi, Charlottesville, Pittsburgh and Toronto were also included.

Novi - Interns went off-site to pursue their interest in invention, inspiration and innovation by visiting the Henry Ford museum and Tech Shop.

Waltham and Manchester -  Jim Lynch hosted a lively roundtable discussing all things BCG and answered questions about his own career path. Paul McRoberts held an interactive session highlighting InfraWorks.  Interns also joined a facilitated BIM in Real Life tour of the Waltham office, including a trip to the rooftop, to understand how Integrated Product Delivery was used in the build out of the Waltham sustainable office.

APAC - Students in ACRD participated in a Meet ‘n Greet session with Larry Peck where they received an overview of the Global Engineering structure.  Future plans include a tech talk series where each division will conduct a 1-hour informational session.   This August, the ACAD team will cover an overview of CPG, AutoCAD Family, Cloud Platform, Reality Capture and Research. In Singapore and India, there was strong “virtual” participation by the leadership members located in the United States to support the intern project showcase presentations.

Canada - Events for interns have included The Road to the Clouds, where they learned how Autodesk is applying the fundamentals of computer science to applications built on the public cloud. Additionally, students learned about Autodesk's Life Sciences and Molecular Visualization initiatives and the achievements our customers have made from nanobots to DNA origami. We also facilitated an Agile 101 session, where students gained an understanding of the Agile development process and everyone’s role and responsibilities.

For the grand finale, each intern participates in a Project Showcase where they share their internship results and reflections with the executive in their division.

Interns also organize their own after-hours gatherings including happy hours, movies, baseball games and outdoor activities.  They are also invited to attend special events hosted at their location or within their division including cultural events, division-specific tech talks and Design Night.

We often hear comments from our employees about how exciting and rewarding it is to show students the meaning and value associated with having a career designing cool software that changes our world.   We continue to hear great testimonials from the students themselves about the value the program provides them in choosing their career path.

Thank you to all of our interns, hosting managers and mentors that are working every day to imagine, design and create a better world!