Connecting Technology, Tools, and Human Experience
With new kinds of automation, design processes can get faster, easier, and more agile
Automation isn’t just a way to save time and offload complex tasks. It’s also a way to enable creativity and explore new design possibilities. As both a designer and a professor, Alex Lobos has been exploring new ways to integrate digital creation into the physical world for years. In this Theater talk, learn how Lobos and his students are pushing boundaries in product design, using digital processes to enhance human imagination. Whether he’s using reality capture of a pinecone to create bespoke champagne flutes or collaborating with generative design systems to achieve performance goals for a chair, Lobos encourages designers to let these tools inspire outcomes that would be impossible with the human mind alone.
About the speaker
Alex Lobos is an industrial designer and educator focused on sustainable design, emotional attachment, and CAD applications. He is graduate director and professor of Industrial Design at the Rochester Institute of Technology, New York. He has been a research fellow emeritus at Autodesk, an Autodesk Expert Elite for Fusion 360, a member of the AU Advisory Council, and recipient of a Fusion 360 Education Award.
Related learning
Learn more about the work of Alex Lobos and how students are discovering generative design with these resources:
Advanced Direct Modeling in T-Splines and Parametric Design
Direct modeling is a powerful tool in Fusion 360, providing users with a fully immersive modeling experience. But direct modeling is not limited to T-Splines via the Sculpt environment—it can also be used in parametric settings. Alex Lobos explores the power of direct modeling in both these environments and shares how to improve your work with a sense of flow.
Advanced Rendering in Fusion 360: Photorealistic Visual Storytelling
Creating compelling renderings of your concepts is a key tool in successful design storytelling. This article from Alex Lobos takes a deep dive into the process for achieving photorealistic renderings—from basic layout and composition to best practices for using materials, lighting, and environment effects.
Generative Design Helps Students Improve Their Career Prospects
Zhang Dong and his students at the South China University of Technology (SCUT) have been dominating the competitive robotics circuit recently with the help of generative design and Fusion 360. In this talk, Professor Dong shares best practices for the generative design process.