The Autodesk Technology Impact Program donates software to nonprofits that use design to address epic challenges. The Autodesk Technology Impact Program is managed in partnership with TechSoup.

Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are working on 18-month study in collaboration with Autodesk Research, a 3-D design software company, to design the helmet that can prevent brain injuries suffered in sports. Experimenting on different materials for the Helmet, Silicone seems to be perfect for foam pads while they will continue to patent new discovering during the on-going project.

Autodesk, Enable Community Foundation (ECF) and Voodoo Manufacturing have prepared the biggest hand-drive to date with help from volunteers, including 6,000 volunteer hours just from Autodesk team. The 28 Autodesk offices in different parts of world combined to work on 750 Prosthetic Hands for Children who have lost their body parts and helped them recover into a better life.

Amy Karle, from Artist in Residence at Autodesk has used CAD design and 3D Printing to create scaffolds in support of cell growth into certain forms by which 3D Printed framework for tissue generation can be made. She makes her own 3D Printed material using polyethylene (glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogel and 3D Printing it by Ember 3D Printer.

Researchers from Taiwan performed an ANOVA study to determine the effectiveness of 3D Printing in helping people with Flat Foot. 18 Foot Orthoses (FO) samples were 3D Printed at orientations of 0°, 45°, and 90°, and subjected to human motion analysis, with 12 flatfooted individuals. 3D scans of the participants’ feet were exported as an STL file, which was edited with Autodesk Meshmixer software and 3D Printed out of PLA filament on an Infinity X1 FDM 3D printer. The build parameters of the FOs were defined using Ultimaker Cura 3.3 software. The results indicated that the 45° build orientation produced the strongest FOs. In addition, the maximum ankle evertor and external rotator moments under the Shoe+FO condition were significantly reduced by 35% and 16%, respectively, but the maximum ankle plantar flexor moments increased by 3%, compared with the Shoe condition.