Tips & Tools Weekly (Vol. 21, No. 6)

This Week's Software Tips

Video Tip: Round 'Em Up with the AutoCAD Lasso If you find yourself using multiple selection sets to get the objects you need, then the Lasso — introduced in AutoCAD 2015 — could be just what you need! Join Autodesk Evangelist Lynn Allen as she shows you how to save valuable drawing time with this easy-to-use, yet powerful object selection tool. Watch the video

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Resources

New CADUTILS Site Indexes Utilities for CAD Users
TECHSOFT, a Slovakian company supplying CAD software, hardware, and networks, has launched CADUTILS. Authors of CAD utilities can submit a description of the utility, publish it to the new website for free, and edit it online after submission. Visitors to the CADUTILS site can review and rate utilities, download trial versions, and learn about pricing and features.

ClearEdge3D Offers On-Demand Piping and Steel Modeling Webinar
An on-demand webinar from ClearEdge3D addresses: challenges facing scan projects at plants, including the quantity and variety of pipe and steel features; ways in which EdgeWise can be used to speed the transition from existing conditions to an intelligent model; and best-practice data processing and modeling tips to speed back-office workflows.

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Deals & Freebies

IronCAD Releases iOS Version of Free Mobile Viewer
IronCAD has announced the latest version of IronCAD COMPOSE Mobile, the iOS version of the IronCAD COMPOSE product. IronCAD COMPOSE Mobile allows designers the ability to share designs securely throughout the organization and with customers. The download is currently free to everyone from designers wishing to share their designs to salespeople presenting their company's products at the point of sale.

CAD Schroer Provides Free Trial of Updated P&ID Software
Engineering software provider CAD Schroer is offering a free 30-day trial of its newly released M4 P&ID FX version 6.1. The piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID) software is designed for standards-driven creation of piping and instrumentation designs. With the new generation of M4 P&ID FX, the P&ID drawings can be completely managed in the cloud.

Free Demo of Updated HeatingDesign Software Available from TiSoft
TiSoft, which develops and sells software for the architectural, engineering, and construction industry, is offering a demo version of HeatingDesign v16 to site visitors who register. The software helps users design heating installation for any building. The new version features 3D visualization of architectural and heating elements and improved output to PDF and DWG.

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Opportunities & Honors

FirstBuild Coffeemaker Challenge Accepting Designs till March 27
GE's FirstBuild — a microfactory on the University of Louisville campus — is announcing the development of its new Pique Coffee Brewer by launching the Cold Brew Challenge, a product design competition drawing upon the power of crowdsourced design and the FirstBuild community. FirstBuild is offering a portion of the proceeds from the Pique Indiegogo campaign to the top three challenge entries.

Additive Manufacturing Users Group Announces Scholarship Recipients
Two recipients of Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) scholarships — Nathan Patterson, an assistant professor at Milwaukee School of Engineering, and Jennifer Bennett, a PhD candidate at Northwestern University — will attend and participate in the AMUG Conference, to be held in St. Louis, Missouri, April 3–7, 2016.

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New Products

CAD and PLM: NEOLANT InterBridge
NEOLANT, a Russian integrator and developer of IT solutions for industrial and civil construction, has launched InterBridge software for the online translation of graphic and semantic 2D/3D data between cross-platform CAD and product lifecycle management (PLM). InterBridge is a standalone product that enables users to develop and view a shared 2D/3D model of large-scale processing facilities.

PLM and Simulation: ESTECO Enterprise Suite
The ESTECO Enterprise Suite combines the capabilities of the modeFRONTIER optimization platform with the SOMO 1.6 distributed execution framework for design process management. ESTECO Enterprise Suite includes SOMO plug-in connectors to integrate with product lifecycle management (PLM) systems, enabling companies to link their simulation data to the enterprise product information backbone.

Graphics: AMD FirePro S-Series Hardware-Based Virtualized GPUs
AMD has announced its FirePro S-Series graphics processing units (GPUs) with Multiuser GPU (MxGPU) technology. The AMD FirePro S7150 and AMD FirePro S7150 x2 server graphics cards provide a hardware-virtualized GPU architecture for use in remote workstation, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), and other applications.

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What’s New at Cadalyst.com

CAD Manager Column: To Become a Better CAD Manager, Hone Your Presentation Skills
You can improve your user trainings, budget negotiations, and customer interactions — all by becoming a better public speaker. Read more

Who Needs a Mobile Workstation?
With today's portable powerhouses, everyone can take their CAD show on the road. But just because you can make that investment, doesn't necessarily mean you should. Read more

Herrera on Hardware: New Computing Solutions for CAD Take Fuller Advantage of the Cloud
New tools are needed for efficient CAD collaboration, and the cloud — from workspaces to hosted workstations — is looking like the best place to find them. Read more

District Court Awards Judgment to ITC in Case Against Suzhou Gstarsoft
The IntelliCAD Technology Consortium (ITC) reported today that it has been awarded a judgment against former ITC member Suzhou Gstarsoft, the developer of GstarCAD, in a dispute over the use of ITC source code. Read more

IMAGINiT Tricks Tutorial: Automatic Wire Sequencing in AutoCAD Electrical
Manually creating a report to designate the exact sequence for connecting wires and pins takes extra time, which is always in short supply. Fortunately, AutoCAD Electrical software can perform these tasks automatically. Read more