MCAD Tech News (#235)

Autodesk Previews 2009 MCAD Lineup

At World Press Days, company shows how newest software features will support its concept of digital prototyping.

By Jeffrey Rowe

Just before Valentine's Day, Autodesk hosted its annual World Press Days event in San Francisco. Drawing media from around the world, the event showcased many software products and the designs created with them for the architecture, mapping, entertainment, and manufacturing disciplines.

The first morning of the event, and before any specific product information was discussed, Autodesk's president and CEO, Carl Bass, discussed the state of the company, offering several interesting facts and figures, including:

• Autodesk has an installed product base exceeding 9 million users.

• Autodesk products are used by 98% of Fortune 500 companies and 100% of the Fortune 100.

• With a 25-year history, Autodesk now markets more than 40 products, many of which have common technical underpinnings (think interoperability).

• The company has no debt and expects net revenue to exceed $2 billion this fiscal year.

• The company has 1,700 channel partners, 2,700 development partners, and 4,500 instructors worldwide.

Those are impressive figures, but what really got my attention was news about the future of MCAD products designed for what Autodesk terms digital prototyping. That process connects industrial design and engineering by integrating mechanical and electrical design with a single, managed digital model that allows engineers to evaluate appearance, performance, and many other factors, all without the need for physical prototypes. The 2009 MCAD product line is scheduled to roll out on March 25 in the United States, Autodesk reports. Availability elsewhere will vary.  Read more »

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Cadalyst contributing editor Jeffrey Rowe is the principal of Cairowest Group, an independent industrial design, mechanical engineering, and technical communication consulting firm with offices in Colorado and Michigan. You can reach him by e-mail at jrowe@cairowest.com or by phone at 719.221.1867.

The Fate of Agile Advantage: Oracle Clarifies Post-Acquisition Plans for Agile

By Kenneth Wong

Oracle, Agile's new owner, has spoken, and the company hopes its words will encourage current Agile Advantage customers to move to the Agile 9 platform.

Previously, Agile pitched its PLM (product lifecycle management) modules to the SMB (small and midsize business) crowd through its Agile Advantage program. Soon after the acquisition by Oracle, however, a note on Agile Advantage's Web site stated, "We have migrated our Agile Advantage product family to Web support as of August 20, 2007," raising concerns among Agile Advantage customers.

Mark Your Calendar: MCAD Events

Model-Based Definition for the Masses CPDA Roundtable
Through March 13, 2008
Various U.S. cities
Right Hemisphere is sponsoring a six-city roundtable series on how Fortune 100 best practitioners are leveraging their investments in Model-Based Definition (MBD) to drive improved efficiency, innovation, and bottom line results for their businesses. Read more»

Ninth RTT Conference
April 10-11, 2008
Vienna, Austria
Designers, virtual reality specialists, marketing experts, developers, and design engineers from the automotive, aerospace, consumer goods, and furniture industries will gather for the 9th RTT Conference, hosted by Realtime Technology (RTT). Read more»

ICCE - Integration and Commercialization of Micro and Nanosystems
June 3-5, 2008
Hong Kong, China
This international conference and exhibition will focus on the state-of-the-art research and development in micro- and nanoscale phenomena, devices, systems, and manufacturing, and the commercialization of micro- and nanotechnologies. Read more»

European PLM Summit
June 23-25, 2008
Toulouse, France
In this fourth-annual conference, sessions and interactive workshops will address the business and technology drivers behind PLM adoption. This year's event includes a tour of the Airbus manufacturing facility to show how the aircraft manufacturer is using PLM to its maximum capability. Read more»

COMS 2008
August 31-September 4, 2008
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
The Commercialization of Micro and Nano Systems Conference will comprise keynote talks, break-out sessions, networking, and workshops, with a supporting exhibition covering all aspects of the technologies related to commercialization. Read more»

For a complete list of CAD meetings, conferences, training sessions, and more, check out our calendar of events on Cadalyst.com.