Green Ocean Energy relies on Inventor to develop groundbreaking wave energy devices.
After a discussion with Autodesk’s ultra impressive sustainability team (seriously, this team is intimidating with their knowledge on the subject) at AU last week, one thing that came up was the Autodesk Clean Tech Partner Program. Essentially, Autodesk is giving away grants of software to early-stage clean technology companies “who are working to solve some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges“.
The grant gives you five licenses each of Inventor, Revit, Vault, Showcase, NavisWorks and Alias Design worth around $150k. At the moment the program is restricted to North America (US and Canada), but what I found most interesting is that while almost every vendor is making its sustainability play, Autodesk are putting its money where its mouth is and offering some assistance to companies looking to develop new ways to assist the planet. Without spending more on software tools, those companies that they engage with can spend more on developing new technology that can help. That, my friends, is a good thing which ever way you cut it.