AEC Tech News #175

Autodesk Buys Robobat—But Why?

Also, AIA Billings Index back in black after months of decline

Autodesk yesterday acquired Robobat, a developer of software for structural engineering analysis, for US$33 million in cash from the Grenoble, France-based company. Autodesk and Robobat had previously partnered to integrate Robobat’s ROBOT Millennium application with Autodesk Revit Structure. In addition, Robobat develops steel and concrete detailing software that runs on AutoCAD. More than 10,000 licensed copies of its products are in use worldwide by 8,000 customers. The company reported sales of 11.9 million Euros in 2005.

My initial reaction to this news was that Autodesk felt compelled to acquire a structural analysis developer before Bentley Systems bought them all. That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but Bentley did go on a structural spending spree at the end of 2005. It acquired RAM International in December 2005, a month after completing its purchase of the STAAD product line from REI (Research Engineers, Inc.) for $23.5 million. At the time of purchase, the STAAD user base was reported at 19,000. Details on the RAM purchase were not disclosed.

Clearly, both Autodesk and Bentley see structural engineering as a key element of their BIM (building information modeling) offerings, important enough to bring in-house rather than leave to third-party partners.
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Cadalyst Labs Review: Graphisoft Archicad 10

By Scott MacKenzie

Graphisoft bills its tenth version of Archicad as a virtual building solution. The company doesn't use the more common term BIM (building information modeling), but Archicad 10 can be considered BIM software. Those new to the CAD/BIM world should find Archicad 10 easy to learn and to excel in. Its graphic user interface has undergone significant improvement. The placement of the drawing and configuration tools is more logical, and it takes fewer steps to get from design to the plotted sheet. However, longtime Archicad 9 users may get a little frustrated at first. I bet that once they get familiar with the changes and the new features, they will be very pleased.
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Mark Your Calendar: AEC Events

"Emerging Talents, Emerging Technologies" Exhibition
September 26-October 6, 2006
Beijing , China
Housed in the World Art Museum, this collection of progressive architectural work will comprise exhibits from architectural practices and schools of architecture, in addition to pavilion designs. Read more

IntelliCAD World Meeting
October 11-13, 2006
Kelowna , BC, Canada
This third annual event will include business and development seminars on topics such as creating successful CAD applications for IntelliCAD and marketing, supporting and managing CAD application development ventures. Read more

For Cadalyst's full calendar of events, click here >>

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