From USA Today

"Stoked on a wooden surfboard"

For me -- an old school soul surfer who writes about technology -- it doesn't get any cooler than this.

Portland, Ore.-based surfboard maker Lars Bergstrom, of 42 surfboards, has used Autodesk Inventor software to create a line of seven high-performance surfboards shaped entirely from local woods. Bergstrom's boards could help "reverse the disposable board culture brought about by decades of inexpensive but fragile foam and balsa wood boards,” says Autodesk Senior Vice President Buzz Kross.

(Confession: I'm guilty of discarding a few pintailed guns in my time. Wish I had those back.)
Autodesk's prototype designing program enabled Bergstrom to digitally pre-shape a piece of wood exactly as thick or thin as needed. No trees killed wastefully. "Without this technology, we would not be able to get anywhere near the tolerance levels we require," Bergstom told me. "We would not have been able to use locally grown, sustainably-harvested wood that not only give soul to our boards, but give soul back to the earth.” Righteous!

By Byron

Posted at 05:30 AM/ET, July 21, 2008