The fifth annual North America Revit Technology Conference was held at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia on July 22nd through July 25th.
As part of the Keynote address on Thursday, July 23rd, Jim Balding brought to the stage the two founders of Revit Technology. (Leonid Raiz and Irwin Jungreis) A lot has changed since Charles River Software was formed in 1997, became Revit Technology in 2000, and was then acquired by Autodesk in 2002. Many "war" stories were told about the early days of Revit, and the early customers who signed up with the infant technology. Jim Balding, the event chairman of RTC North America, sat behind the "interview" desk and asked the two founders some intriguing questions about the early days. (Did you know it was originally going to be called Perspective?) One by one, Jim invited original Revit Technology employees on stage for a short interview and tidbits about the early days. Ideate Software's own Technical Evangelist, Richard Taylor, took his turn on the interview couch.
"It was a huge honor and quite humbling to be onstage with so many people that changed the profession of architecture, engineering, and design in such a dramatic way," said Mr. Taylor. "No one could predict the huge impact that Revit would have on the industry back in 2000 when it was first released. It's quite an honor to have the experience of working on Revit for over 15 years and being able to see the vast changes from the prerelease software to the current version. I'm thrilled to be part of Ideate Software and continue that tradition of innovation, productivity, and efficiency as we work to enhance the BIM experience for our customers."
Some of the Orignal Revit employees with the two founders, Leonid and Irwin seated on the lower left of the group. Ideate Software's Richard Taylor, third from the right on the couch.
Conference Mug with signatures from the Revit founders and early employees.
About the Author
Richard W. Taylor - Associate AIA - Technical Evangelist Ideate Software
Richard Taylor has over 25 years of experience working for companies that develop architectural and engineering software solutions such as Intergraph, Bentley, and Autodesk. He has over 15 years of Revit experience, and was part of the original development of Revit while at Revit Technology Corporation. He worked 12 years at Autodesk where he presented, taught, and worked to improve features in Revit. Richard holds both a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies and Masters of Architecture from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Richard is currently a Technical Evangelist for Ideate Software Solutions and continues to work with AEC clients worldwide, developing, and consulting on BIM solutions. In his spare time, he is active in his local community and is an elected member of the local Planning Board where he evaluates new developments, regional planning, and design criteria. @Rwtaylor_Revit