**FIRST EMAIL**/FIRST Announces 2010 Autodesk

[Mark McLeod]

Greetings Teams:


Autodesk is proud to continue its distinctive 18+ years of sponsorship for FIRST, and this season we are putting more software products and resources than ever into your hands so that you can make excellence in design your competitive advantage.


NEW this year we have created a special section of our award-winning Autodesk Education Community web site that will be devoted to FRC teams. Beginning in October you’ll have free* access to over 25 great design, modeling, visualization, and project management products. Every member of your team can download all the software they need!


At Kickoff in January you will be able to download your digital kits of parts modeled in Autodesk Inventor 2010 to drive your design ideas and test your concepts before you begin to bend metal. Throughout the season, you’ll want to keep visiting the Community for easy-to-follow tutorials specific to FRC, blogs with robotics rock stars Ted & Phil, and great tech support. Watch the Community over the next couple of months to learn about the 2010 Autodesk Award for Excellence in Design, which is our way to acknowledge and celebrate the great work students do with some of the most sophisticated design tools in the world.


We’re putting the final touches on the new website, but you can get started today. Just go to www.autodesk.com/first and dive in. You can download 2010 software & take online tutorials to get you going.

We’re expecting a great season, and want to support teams, mentors & students as best we can. Let us know how we can help.


Thank you!
- Autodesk


Go Teams!