As part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, the University of California Berkeley campus once again hosted the A. Richard Newton Global Technology Leaders Conference.

From 3-D printers and flexible electronics to nanotech water filters and high-efficiency solar films, today’s designers and engineers are taking a hands-on approach to invent products that meet real-world needs. Researchers, industry leaders and ‘maker movement’ enthusiasts gathered to discuss the latest in engineering and innovation.

Carl Bass, CEO of Autodesk, got things rolling early by touching on the company's latest focus on 123D Design -- an addition to their family of free 3-D modeling applications intended to enable entrepreneurs and inventors to turn their ideas into reality. 

Following Bass, Bernard Amadei, president of Engineers Without Boarders (and the Mortenson Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Colorado) highlighted the potential for disruptive innovation to drastically reduce development costs. 

S. Shankar Sastry, Dean of the College of Engineering and Carlson Professor at UC Berkeley, and Lesa Mitchell, Vice President of Advancing Innovation at the Kauffman Foundation, welcomed participants and delivered opening remarks.

Bass and Amadei later joined a panel discussion on the perspective on design and innovation before participants explored a showcase of innovative design projects.

The conference is available for viewing on demand. 

tags: gew, GEW 2012, UC Berkeley