For me, today started like just about any other day. To get up to speed, I check my stream of tweets, LinkedIn updates and Facebook updates from people I’m following as well as the RSS feed from the blogs I follow. That’s when I saw a blog post that caught my eye, titled summarizing PTC’s …
Solution Reviews
Rapidform: Modernizing Reverse Engineering
Does it ever feel to you like there’s a disconnect between the reality in engineering and what’s most capturing the most buzz in the industry? Based on what you hear, you might think that engineering has gone to a completely digital process where nothing is prototyped until the last second in the design phase. But …
Inventor Fusion: Direct Modeling the Autodesk Way
Direct Modeling. Seems like every other day there’s another announcement about it from a software provider. Some time ago, Autodesk joined the fray when they developed something called Fusion in the Autodesk labs. Curious about what exactly it would offer, I hopped on the phone with Rob Cohee, Evangelist for Autodesk Manufacturing (twitter @robcohee) and Garin Gardner, Product Manager for Inventor, to get a little bit better acquainted with it. Here’s what I found and my perspective on it.
Solidworks and Gräbert: The Promise of a New Engineering Tool?
Back in June 2010, Dassault Systèmes launched the beta version of DraftSight, which is actually developed by a german software provider called Gräbert. Then in February 2011, the beta ended and the general release of DraftSight was made available (press release). Of note is that this software is a free download. Also, Dassault Systèmes launched a social networking website based on their SwYm architecture to build up a community around DraftSight. And finally, Gräbert, the developers of DraftSight, announced in January 2011 the launch of a DraftSight app store (press release).
Siemens PLM and Synchronous Technology in Solid Edge
There certainly has been a lot going on in the CAD industry of late. It seems as if just about everyone has been talking about adding or integrating direct modeling into what they offer. Thinking back, direct modeling and feature-history modeling have both been around for some time. But the first software provider to really …
Siemens PLM and Synchronous Technology in Solid Edge Read More »
Breaking Down Autodesk’s Vision for Simulation
Five years ago, if you asked which software providers had the strongest set of design and simulation capabilities, it’s safe to say that Autodesk wouldn’t be the first one out of your mouth. Many would admit they’ve developed and provided a number of design and engineering accelerator type technologies, but analysis and simulation? But lo and behold, fast forward to today and the story has changed a bit. Autodesk still might not be the first software provider mentioned, but they’re not far down the list.
Sustainable Minds: Are Accurate and Early Lifecycle Assessments Truly Feasible?
Seems everyone is talking green products nowadays. But how can you tell if the talk is greenwashing or a product that is actually better for the environment? Up to this point, any effort to honestly make a product greener has been pure brute effort. However, new software applications and systems could enable engineers greater visibility into the eco-impact of their decisions. One such system is called Sustainable Minds (company website).
Planview: A Little More than PPM? Not Quite PLM?
We all know what Product Portfolio Management (PPM) is. Right? Is the system that let’s us assess product ideas, compare them and ultimate fund a few for development. But it also let’s continually assess the health of funded projects to kill those that aren’t as successful as we’d like. Well, a few weeks back, I met with the folks at Planview (company website) to get some insight into their products. And I think there’s a little more to their software than first meets the eye.
Simply Pragmatic: The SPLM Teamcenter and Microsoft Office Integration
Most people that follow this blog might notice a recurring theme in my posts: engineers simply have too many lifecycle responsibilities to be come experts in any software application or system. A few weeks ago, this line of thinking led me to post some thoughts on how mashup applications could bring access to many enterprise systems to the engineer in one place. And I still think that’s one of the more feasible alternatives for engineers.