Autodesk Receives Humanitarian Award from Microsoft; AutoCAD and 3D Studio Play Vital Role in Oklahoma City Rescue.

SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 15, 1996--Autodesk, Inc. is the recent recipient of the Best Philanthropic Solution Award from Microsoft Corporation. The award acknowledges use of Autodesk's AutoCAD and 3D Studio software in the creation of 2D maps and 3D models to assist in the management of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing incident in Oklahoma City.

"We were very pleased that our products were a valuable technology resource in assisting the search and rescue teams in Oklahoma City," said Carol Bartz, president and CEO at Autodesk. "The role that AutoCAD and 3D Studio played in the rescue is a source of great pride at Autodesk." Autodesk donated AutoCAD and 3D Studio software in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, which let a team of volunteers quickly produce 3D renderings of the building to help identify the whereabouts of the victims.

The Microsoft Award

The Best Philanthropic Solution Award is an award given annually by Microsoft Corporation which recognizes the Microsoft Solution Partner application that provides the most significant benefit to a charitable or non-profit organization.

"It's not often that computer software can be applied to such a noble task," said Pieter Knook, general manager, business customer marketing at Microsoft. "The role that Autodesk products played in Oklahoma City is an excellent example of technology helping people under critical circumstances."

All Microsoft Solution Providers voted on the award, which was recently presented at the 1996 Microsoft Solution Provider Partner Strategy Briefing in Seattle, Washington. In addition to this award from Microsoft, Autodesk has received recognition from Southwestern Bell Telephone-Oklahoma division and the Oklahoma City fire department for Autodesk's quick action and donations.

Mapping Out a Tragedy

In the aftermath of the Oklahoma City federal building bombing, a team consisting of volunteer engineers from Southwestern Bell, a local architect, and a geographic information systems (GIS) team from the California Office of Emergency Services, used the donated Autodesk products to mass-produce floor plans, facilities management drawings, and 3D renderings of the federal building to identify the probable locations of casualties.

The volunteers mapped the building in its collapsed state to better understand where trapped and injured people could be found. This was the first time that a computer-aided design application was used for on-scene urban search and rescue. The team also conducted damage assessment, structural modeling and analysis.

As the search went on and parts of the building's remains were shored up with wedges and beams, details concerning the changing structure were noted on the AutoCAD maps and drawings. The drawings were then communicated to the rescue teams so they could proceed safely through the damaged structure. Techniques used in this rescue effort may help identify structural and construction specification changes that could help assist future buildings withstand disasters better - whether from earthquakes, storms or explosions.

According to the volunteer team, AutoCAD is such a well established industry standard that it would have been impossible to accomplish this effort using any other design and drafting software program.

"By sticking with AutoCAD it gave us (volunteers) a familiar, no surprises approach," said Jim Howard, volunteer and manager of engineering at Southwestern Bell. AutoCAD is the worldwide design and drafting industry standard, with over 1.5 million AutoCAD seats internationally. A majority of today's AutoCAD sales run on 32- bit operating systems, including Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft windows NT, Windows NT on Digital Alpha Systems. In addition, AutoCAD also provides a common language to several other platforms, including Windows 3.1, DOS, and four UNIX platforms, SUN, SGI, IBM and HP.

The most recent version of AutoCAD, Release 13 for Windows 95, combines the world's leading design software, AutoCAD, with a Windows 95-based 32-bit operating system that allows 32-bit AutoCAD to maximize its performance. AutoCAD R13 software contains Windows 95 logo-compliant features, such as OLE 2.0 with drag and drop capability and support for long filenames, uninstall, Universal Naming Convention (UNC) pathnames, email, and the Windows 95 user interface (UI).

Another benefit of the 32-bit environment found in Windows 95 is the ability to run multiple sessions of AutoCAD R13, which is not possible in Windows 3.1 or DOS environments. With AutoCAD R13 running on a 32-bit operating system, users should experience a speed increase of 20 percent or more over most Windows 3.1 configurations. Except for the Windows 95 user interface, all of these features are also supported when running AutoCAD with Windows NT.

Autodesk is the world's leading supplier of PC and UNIX-based design software and PC multimedia tools. The company's 2D and 3D products, geographic information systems, and data management tools are used in many industries for mapping, architectural design, mechanical design, film and video production, video/game development and Web content development.

Its Kinetix division is the leader in PC-based 3D modeling and animation software, providing a full range of products for digital media and design professionals. The fourth largest PC software company in the world, Autodesk has three million customers in nearly 130 countries. Autodesk products are sold through Autodesk Systems Centers, Dealers and Distributors worldwide. For more information on Autodesk, please call 415-507-5000, type GO ADESK on CompuServe, or visit its World Wide Web site at http://www.autodesk.com. Kinetix can be reached by calling 800-879-4233 or through its World Wide Web site at http://www.ktx.com. -0-

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CONTACT: Autodesk Inc.

Jennifer Reidy, 415/507-6536

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