Using Autodesk Software to Create Opportunities for Africa’s Poorest Farmers

This class will explore the computer-aided thinking and design process that the Nairobi-based Engineering Team from a leading social enterprise uses to create new, income-generating products for the poorest segment of Africa’s population: small-scale farmers. Developing irrigation products that are affordable and uniquely tailored to the complex needs of small-scale farmers in Africa is a design challenge with the potential to improve the lives of millions. Examples from the work of KickStart International will illuminate how Inventor software, Simulations Mechanical software, and Autodesk CFD software are used to address this challenge more efficiently. KickStart has been expanding their line of human-powered irrigation pumps for more than 15 years, and the introduction of Autodesk, Inc., software and 3D printing have improved workflow by shortening the concept-to-completion product-development cycle and offset some of the challenges of prototyping and batch producing locally, in Kenya, on the way to mass manufacture. This session features Inventor Professional, CFD, Fusion 360, and Simulation Mechanical.