The American University in Dubai (AUD) has announced a joint collaboration with 3D design software maker Autodesk to boost its research, curriculum development and community outreach in the Middle East and Africa region.

The School of Architecture, Art and Design at the American Aniversity in Dubai (AUD) has signed an academic co-operation agreement with Autodesk, a leader in 3D design software for use in the architecture, engineering and construction.

Dr Nabyl Chenaf, the dean of the school, said, “This collaboration is definitely one of the strategic goals of the school and will surely help our students keep up with the cutting-edge technology available in the fields of Architecture, Art and Design.

Dr Chenaf was speaking at the inauguration of the Integrated Computational Design Center (ICDC) Glass House on campus, the first academic cooperation in the region and joint collaboration on research, curriculum development and community outreach in the Middle East and Africa.

"This would have never been achieved without the tireless efforts deployed by Prof Alex Albani from AUD and Deepankar Bhattacharyya from Autodesk," he added.

Dr Lance de Masi, the AUD president, Elias Bou Saab, AUD executive vice president, George Abraham, Autodesk Education’s senior manager of Emerging Markets, Dr Jihad Nader, Provost/chief academic officer took part in the opening ceremony.

“Autodesk co-operates with academic leaders worldwide to enable the next generation of architects, engineers and digital artists to succeed, as well as imagine, design and create a better world,” said Abraham of Autodesk Education.

“Through our collaboration with the American University in Dubai, we hope to nurture students’ passion for design, and introduce them to technology that reinforces real-world problem-solving skills,” he stated.

During the ceremony, Laila Ballan, an architecture student, and Erum Kamal, an interior design student, were announced as winners of the 'Autodesk Revit Architecture 2013 Competition' and were awarded iPads, books, and DVDs from Autodesk.

The competition gave the young architects and interior designers a chance to present their best projects created with Autodesk Revit Architecture software, in terms of accurate and compelling 2D representation and 3D photorealistic renderings.-TradeArabia News Service