The History of CADCAM

The first graphic system was in mid 1950 the US Air Force's SAGE (Semi Automatic Ground Environment) air defense system. The system was developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory. The system involved the use of CTR displays to show computer-processed radar data and other information.

Dr. Patrick J. Hanratty known as "the Father of CADD/CAM" for his pioneering contributions to the field of computer-aided design and manufacturing, developed in 1957 PRONTO, the first commercial numerical-control programming system.

In 1959 the CalComp company is founded.

In 1960, Ivan Sutherland used TX-2 computer produced at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory to produce a project called SKETCHPAD, which is considered the first step to CAD industry.

Bill Barnes established in his garage in Denver on 15 January 1962, Auto-trol and manufactureed the first product, a digitizer. Mr. Barnes named the company Auto-trol as a shortened version of automated control, which he had given to a product he developed in the 1950s.

Parallel projects were developed at ITEK and General Motors. The ITEK project was called The Electronic Drafting Machine and used PDP-1 computer from Digital Equipment Corp., a vector -refresh display and a large disk memory device used to refresh the graphic display. Inputs commands were done with an electronic light pen. While at General Motors Research Laboratories in the 1960s, Dr. Hanratty was a co-designer of DAC (Design Automated by Computer), the first production interactive graphics manufacturing system.

In 1960 McDonnell Douglas Automation Company (McAuto) founded. It will play a major role on CAD developments with the introduction of CADD program.

The first Computer-Aided Design programs used simple algorithms to display patterns of lines at first in two dimensions, and then in 3-D. Early work in this direction had been produced by Prof. Charles Eastman at Carnegie-Mellon University, the Building Description System is a library of several hundred thousands architectural elements, which can be assembled and drawn on screen into a complete design concept.

In 1962, SLS Environectics in Chicago began development of the Man-Mac machine, intended to draft plans for interior office space.

In mid 1960 large computers characterized the period, vector display terminals and software development done in assembly language.

The only significant attempt to create a commercially CAD system was Control Data Corporation's Digigraphics division, a successor to the previously mentioned ITEK. The system costs half million dollars and were sold in few units.

In March 1965 Donald Welbourn heard a lecture to the Engineering Society by Strachey of the Mathematical Laboratory (now the Department of Computer Science) on the early work at MIT on Computer Aided Design (CAD). He was so fascinated by this that the following morning he caught the Head of the Cambridge University Engineering Department, Prof. J.F.Baker (later the Lord Baker of Trumpington) in the tea-room, told him about it, and said that we must get started in this field. Baker was enthusiastic, and by the end of the year, the Science Research Council had awarded Baker and Welbourn a grant of £65,000 with which to start work on CAD. Initially work was done on the PDP11 graphics computer and a joint team was formed under the leadership of C.A.Lang. The first research student was A.R.Forrest, who tackled the problem of how to define the blended intersection of two cylinders. The conceptual breakthrough of defining objects in terms of 3D reference lines, analogous to the draughtsman's centre line, together with cross-sections normal to them, was produced by S.Matthews, seconded by the Ford Motor Co.

1967 Dr. Jason R Lemon founds SDRC in Cincinnati.

In 1968 Donald Welbourn, now the Director in Industrial Co-Operation at Cambridge University, had the vision to see the possibility of using computers to assist pattern makers to solve the problems of modelling difficult 3D shapes. Today we take for granted 3D modelling, in 1968 only crude 2D drawing systems were available using terminals linked to large main frame computers. Initial work was sponsored by Ford but finding money to support the development was a constant problem for Donald Welbourn. Only six years later he managed to obtain sponsorship from Control Data in Germany, and Delta Engineering Group. Control Data offered DUCT initially as a bureau services, especially to two of its largest German customers Volkswagen and Daimler Benz.

David Evans and Ivan Sutherland founded in 1968 Evans and Sutherland.

Dr. Hanratty founded United Computing in 1969. In the same year MAGI company is founded and releases Syntha Vision considered by many to be the first commercial solid modeler program.

In 1969 were founding Computervision and Applicon companies. Computervision was created to produce systems for production drafting and in the same year it sold the first commercial CAD system to Xerox.

Year Event

1980 T&W Systems releases Versa CAD

1980 Matra Datavision founded as part of Lagardene Group and starts producing CAD/CAM software.

1981 Dassault Systems is created.

1981 Computer graphics from Cornell University founded 3D/Eye Inc., a pioneered 3D and graphics technology.

1981 Unigraphics introduced the first solid modeling system, UniSolid.It was based on PADL-2, and was sold as a stand-alone product to Unigraphics.

1982 CATIA Version 1 is announced as an add-on product for 3D design, surface modeling and NC programming.

1982 In 1982 mini computers with much more power at less cost started to appear. This was a major step forward and by 1984 the technology began to be competitive with traditional methods. For many years aircraft had of course been designed using computers, but now it was becoming possible to economically design saucepans and other domestic

products with complex 3D shapes using a computer.

1982 Autodesk was founded by sixteen people in April 1982 in California by initiative of John Walker in idea to create a CAD program for a price of $1000 to can run on PC. John Walker has been running Marinchip Systems for two years before. The first version of AutoCAD was based on a CAD program wrote in 1981 by Mike Riddle called MicroCAD, changed later in Interact.

1982 A company called P-CAD released a CAD program called CADplan. Later the product was purchased by CalComp and renamed CADVANCE.

1982 In November at COMDEX trade show in Las Vegas was demonstrated the first CAD program in the world that runs on PC. This was the initial release of AutoCAD and deliveries begun in December.

1983 Unigraphics II introduced to market

1983 Applicon introduces BRAVO! first 32-bit VAX based mechanical design/NC system

1983 The first German and French versions of AutoCAD

1983 The work has started for a new reliable and universal system of transferring data called STEP (Standard for the Exchange of Product model data). STEP can transfer CAD data, to include complete details of product modeling including materials and various design parameters.The first generally available STEP translator was released in 1991 by EDS Unigraphics.

1983 Autodesk ships version 1.2 of AutoCAD in April, version 1.3 in August and version 1.4 in October.

1984 CoCreate Software Inc., was established in 1984 as a division of Hewlett-Packard Company with the charter to expand the scope and focus for development of computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software products. In 1996, CoCreate became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard Co. and expanded its product offerings to include collaboration software solutions.

1984 DUCT development continued at Cambridge together with the small team established at Delta in Birmingham. By 1984 the Birmingham team was larger than that at Cambridge and the unique features of DUCT began to be recognised. It was one of the very few systems developed from the beginning to design and machine products.

The equal emphasis on design and machining made it different to its competitors and this was appreciated by the users. Most other systems had developed 2D draughting first, followed by 3D modelling with machining added later.

1984 In 1984, a Hungarian physicist, Gabor Bajor, smuggled two Macs into his country. At the time, ownership of personal computers was illegal under Communist rule. Using Pascal, he and a teenager, Tamas Hajas worked to write a 3D CAD program for the Mac which will be the beginning of Graphsoft Company.

1984 Drafting capabilities are added to CATIA in 1984, enabling it to function independently of CADAM.

1984 The first Autodesk Training Centre

1984 In October AutoCAD version 2 (Release 5) with text improvements, DXFIN and DXFOUT commands, new Inquire commands, Object Snap, named views, Isometric capabilities and new Attribute features.

1985 Keith Bentley founds Bentley Systems, Inc.

MicroStation provides advanced computer-aided design on PC. MicroStation began as a clone of another CAD package. Originally named PseudoStation, the software developed by Bentley Systems allowed users to view IGDS drawings files without needing Intergraph's software.The next version of PseudoStation was renamed MicroStation and added the ability to edit IGDS files. After Intergraph purchased 50% of Bentley Systems, a new version of MicroStation added proprietary extensions to the IGDS and renamed it DNG.

1985 CATIA Version 2 is announced with fully integrated drafting, solid and robotics functions.CATIA becomes the aeronautical applications leader.

1985 The first CAD Camp organized by Autodesk in San Rafael, California.

1985 Autodesk sales were over $27 million this year.

1985 Peter Smith and Livingston Davies found Micro-Control Systems and releases CADKEY, the first 3D PC CAP product

1985 Diehl Graphsoft, Inc. is founded and the first version of MiniCAD is shipped in the same year. MiniCAD will become the best selling CAD program on the Macintosh.

1985 Varimetrix founded.

1985 AutoCAD version 2.1 in May with 3D capabilities and Polylines command.

1986 On January 9, Deneba Software is officially incorporated. The company sets out to address the needs of Mac users with MacLightning - the first interactive spelling checker for Mac. It debuts at MacWorld Expo in San Francisco and is an instant hit. MacLightning 2.0 ships in August as does Voila - an outline processor desk accessory.

1986 Version 2.18 of AutoCAD, launched in January, included the full AutoLISP programming language.

AutoLISP is an ASCII based language of interpreted type, originally derived from a shareware Lisp implementation called Xlisp.AutoLISP extended the variables and expressions feature to let users write and store LISP programs that implement custom commands.

1986 CADENCE magazine is established. Would become the world's largest independent CAD publication.

1986 Richard Sowar founded Spatial Technology which will debut officially one year later.

1986 MCS introduced ANVIL-5000, a 3-D mechanical CADD/CAM/CAE system that, for over a decade, was the most powerful, fully integrated CADD/CAM/CAE software available, running on all classes of engineering computers from high-end workstations to personal computers

1986 Dassault acquires CADAM

1986 American Small Business Company releases DesignCAD

1986 AutoCAD reaches 50,000 copies sold world wide.

1986 Caligari Corporation was founded.

1986 AutoCAD has won since 1986 "The Best CAD Product" award from PC World magazine every year for the next 10 years.

1986 AutoSketch 1.0 entry level CAD program from Autodesk.

1986 In June AutoCAD version 2.5 (Release 7) with more editing and dimensioning commands enhancements.

1987 General Motors selects Unigraphics company as a Strategic Partner

1987 Since 1987 certified national courses of study by City and Guilds of London Institute in AutoCAD has been conducted.

1987 ISICAD purchased CADVANCE and developed it into the first Windows based CAD application on the market.

1987 Deneba begins publishing its products under its own label. A software equivalent to 3M's Post-it notes, it integrates seamlessly with Excel, Word, MacWrite and most other programs. The first release of Canvas sets a new standard in graphic design by bringing together painting and drawing onto the same page for the first time ever.

1987 Varimetrix introduces one of the first PC based B-rep solid modeler.

1987 Version 2.6 of AutoCAD (in April) introduces a compiled LISP but it still required the interpreter to run it.

1987 AutoCAD Release 9 in September is the first version of AutoCAD to require an 80x87 math processor in computers based on Intel 8086 processors. All files produced by this version made compatible among all supported computers.Release 9 includes as well an Advanced User Interface incorporating a menu bar, pull-down menus, icon menus and dialog boxes.ADS (AutoCAD Development System) was introduced with release 9 for OS/2 operating system and allowed C code to be used instead of ASCII based AutoLISP. To enable C code to access AutoCAD internal data, a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) are supplied with AutoCAD.Internally AutoCAD sees an ADS application exactly the same as a LISP routine.

1988 Shape Data Ltd. acquired by Unigraphics for solids modeling capabilities -- Parasolid -- the production-proven kernel modeling toolkit. Shape Data was developer of Romulus, Romulus-D and Parasolid applications. Parasolid is a very powerful B-rep solid modeling kernel that allows the joining of boundaries represented surfaces together as a solid.

1988 MacLightning, from Deneba, is renamed and re-launched as Coach Professional 3.0 - a complete spelling, thesaurus, and definitions reference system. Memorandum from deneba Software, is renamed and re-launched as Comment 2.0. Canvas 2.0 ships and proves to be an potent force in the then nascent digital graphics world. This version introduced a host of innovations including: multi-point Bezier curves, unlimited layers, 32-bit color, drawing precision, color separations, auto-tracing and dozens more.

1988 CATIA Version 3 is announced with AEC functionality. CATIA is ported to IBM's

UNIX-based RISC System/6000 workstations. CATIA becomes the automotive applications leader

1988 Martin Newell founded Ashlar Incorporation and release Ashlar Vellum CAD software.

1988 John Walker retained from the chair to devote to full-time programming.

1988 Surfware Inc., ships the first version of SurfCAM, a CAD/CAM program.

1988 In October Autodesk ships AutoCAD Release 10, with 3D enhancements.

1988 Autodesk ships AutoSolid an add-on application for AutoCAD.

1989 Unigraphics announced commitment to UNIX and open system architecture.

Pratt & Whitney selects Unigraphics as its system of choice.

New, STEP-compatible Parasolid kernel modelers for 3-D modeling introduced.

Parasolid integrated into Unigraphics iMAN PIM system jointly developed with Kodak

1989 Autodesk buy Generic Software and Generic CADD program.

There are over 600 add-on applications for AutoCAD.

1989 Acecad Software (England) ships the first version of Strucad, a high-end structural CAD program.

1989 Canvas 2.1 is released and receives the coveted Editor's Choice Award from MacUser Magazine. The first German and French versions of Canvas are released. Deneba releases UltraPaint - a powerful entry-level painting and drawing application for Macintosh. UltraPaint featured 256-color painting, the world's first vector and raster open plug-in architecture, color gradients, vector masking, image processing filters. Refinements of these technologies would all find their way into Canvas 3 some years later.

1989 Graphisoft US was established to sell and support ArchiCAD products in the US and Canada.

1989 Archway Systems is founded by Mike and Tom Lazear

1989 Parametric ProÔ releases T-FLEX, the first parametric mechanical CAD program for PC. It uses a propietary 3D kernel, the Baranov kernel. Later will migrate to ACIS.

1989 CSC ships MicroCADAM, a CAD/CAM program which will become the best selling CAD product in Japan.

1989 Parametric Technology ships the first version of Pro/ENGINEER.

Year Events

1990 ACIS 1.0 ships

1990 Bentley Systems announces that the installed base of MicroStation reaches 100,000.MicroStation expands to range of products

1990 McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) chooses Unigraphics as the corporate standard for mechanical CAD/CAM/CAE

1990 Autodesk ships Animator Pro, a 2D painting and animation program for DOS.By 1993 over 15,000 copies have been sold worldwide.

1990 Visionary Design Systems Inc. is founded as an industry pioneer in solid modeling technology.

1990 Visio Corporation is founded and start producing graphics and drawings software.

1990 Autodesk ships in October AutoCAD Release 11 with network support features which allow the installation of a single copy of AutoCAD on a network server. Release 11 comes with the largest list of enhancements to date. Paper Space is used for the first time.ADS was added for use on most platforms. ADI (Autodesk Device Interface) version 4.1 was provided primarily to facilitate optimal usage of display drivers when using Paper Space facility.

1990 Auto Shade version 2 from Autodesk is an add-on for AutoCAD 11 that allowed to shade 3D models produced with AME. Autodesk Renderman was an addition for AutoCAD 12.

1990 Intergraph was ranked No. 1 supplier of computer-aided design, manufacturing, and engineering (CAD/CAM/CAE) systems in North America and No. 2 in the world

1990 By the end of this year, Autodesk has sold 500,000 copies of AutoCAD, 300,000 copies of Generic CAD and 200,000 copies of Auto Sketch.At the time the three products were the world's top three best selling CAD

programs.

1990 AutoCAD has won since 1990, "The Best CAD Product" awards from Byte magazine every year for the next 8 years. (Byte magazine started its award in 1990).

1991 Since 1991, Microsoft developed Open GL for use with Windows NT. Open GL is an API procedural software interface for producing 3D graphics and includes approximate 120 commands to draw various primitives such as points, lines, and polygons. Also includes support for shading, texture mapping, anti-aliasing, lighting and animation, atmospheric effects such as fogging and simulation of depth-of-field.Open GL, developed by Silicon Graphics, is a standard for the 3D color graphics programming and rendering.

1991 GE Aircraft Engine and GE Power Generation select Unigraphics as their CAD/CAM system

1991 The Delta company, the developer of DUCT, was renamed Delcam International and changed it's status to plc (Public Limited Company).

1991 EDS acquires the Unigraphics Division, renames the company Unigraphics Solutions UG/MX for CADAM to UG migration developed in strategic initiative with Fujitsu

1991 The first Japanese version of UltraPaint ships. Canvas 3.0 is released concurrently with Apple's System 7 and takes the industry by storm. The long list of industry firsts include: support for all System 7 technologies including QuickTime, next-generation open architecture, font conversion to Bezier curves, object combinations, text on a curve, advanced typographic features, SmartMouse, SmartLines, vector gradients and much more. This quickly leads to numerous industry awards including Best Drawing program (MacUser) and Best Illustration Program (MacWeek). Canvas 3.0 goes international in a big way with the introduction of Japanese, Swedish, French, German, Italian and Spanish versions.

1991 Varimetrix Corporation ships first version of its Varimetrix CAD/CAM product.

1991 The first move of Autodesk to enter in architectural market with ArcCAD

1991 Computervision acquires Promise. Inc.

1991 Varimetrix develops a true hybrid geometric modeler and CAD system.

1991 The first AutoCAD for SUN platforms.

Year Events

1992 Dassault Systems decides jointly with IBM to transfer the responsibility of CADAM to Dassault Systems of America, a company created in 1992 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Dassault Systems.IBM agrees to acquire a minority interest in Dassault Systems. Since then, CATIA and CADAM are progressively unified by merging the best technological features of both systems.

1992 First version of Visio Technical, an entry-level 2D drawing program from Visio Corporation.

1992 AIA CAD Layering Guidelines, First Edition - The document turned out to be a best seller

1992 Tri-Service CADD/GIS Technology Center Established - Based on a defense review to consolidate diverging DOD efforts

1992 Autodesk ships 3D Studio version 2 for DOS.

1992 GESTEL introduced solidThinking for OpenStep, in 1992. In June 1993, solidThinking was awarded as the best new application in the "CAD and 3D" category at NeXTWORLD EXPO held in San Francisco.

1992 Autodesk ships AutoCAD Release 12 for DOS in June. Includes AutoCAD SQL Extension (ASE)/Autodesk SQL Interface (ASI) that lets you establish links between AutoCAD and an SQL database.Advanced Modeling Extension (AME) release 2.1 is supported by Release 12, with region modeling and new solid primitives. AutoCAD Render is included with AutoCAD.Release 12 uses ADI version 4.2.

1992 By the end of this year over 21,000 seats of Unigraphics worldwide installed.

1992 Inc. Magazine names Deneba Software as one of America's fastest growing companies. Deneba ArtWorks succeeds UltraPaint as entry-level graphics app of choice. Canvas for Windows is introduced at Comdex in Las Vegas. The Japanese version of Deneba ArtWorks ships. Deneba takes advantage of Canvas 3.0's advanced open architecture technology and introduces three add-on products for Canvas 3 in the form of "ToolPaks." Years later, an entire industry would be created around this concept.

1993 CAM specialist mbp UNC Software GmbH (Cologne) acquired by Unigraphics Solutions.

1993 Unigraphics introduces hybrid modeling, featuring both advanced parametric and traditional constructive modeling technologies.

Company becomes founding member of ProSTEP.

Opel chooses Unigraphics as strategic CAD/CAM/CAE system.

1993 CATIA-CADAM Solutions Version 4 is announced. It significantly improves product line, robustness, open architecture, performance and ease of use. A new « solutions » approach repackages individual software products into ready-to-use, user-based configurations of related products.The new CATIA software family enables a company to perform several operations concurrently, such as designing in three dimensions, creating engineering drawings, analyzing a product or assembly, viewing it as a rendered image and speeding up manufacturing processes.

1993 A committee of 16 institutions and companies and SoftSource defined and developed SVF (Simple Vector Format) considered the most efficient method to work with vector based drawing files on the Internet.

1993 EDS Corporation ships Unigraphics vers. 10 with the SpaceBall 3D positioning device.

1993 Autodesk acquires MicroEngineering Solutions

1993 Autodesk ships 3D Studio version 3 for DOS. Can be used to create sophisticated animation of AutoCAD drawings.

1993 Canvas 3.5 for Windows ships. Canvas 3.5 for Macintosh ships. Secret work on a complete rewrite of Canvas begins.

1993 John Hirschtick from Computervision founded a new CAD company called SolidWorks, Inc.

1993 The first AutoCAD (Release 12) for Windows platforms. It required 8 MB RAM and 34 MB Hard Drive space for complete installation.The Windows version of AutoCAD includes 36 icons toolbox, allows multiple AutoCAD sessions, separate Render window, support for Windows GUI, DDE and OLE, as well as Drag-and-Drop and Bird's Eye view capabilities. The AutoCAD main menu has been eliminated; After initial configuration, AutoCAD displays the graphics screen.AutoCAD 12 for Windows was one of the most successful CAD programs ever.

1993 Autodesk delivers Design Expert, an Integrated Package of AutoCAD 12 and

AutoSurf for SUN Sparc Station.

1993 In December CINEMA 4D version 1 is released for Amiga with a resounding success troughout Europe.

1994

Autodesk sales reach $465 million.

Autodesk ships 3D Studio version 4, the last version for DOS platforms. It comes with Inverse Kinematics module which allows to work with linked objects in a realistic mode.

AusCAD/Cam version 10.

Visual CADD from Numerica Software. One year later the product is bought by Corel Corporation.

Design CAD 3D for DOS. One year later the Windows version hits the market.

DrafixCAD version 3 from Foresight Resources Co.

Micrografx Designer ver. 4.1 for Windows.

CADD Council Established - NIBS Board of Directors voted to start the council

MicroStation version 5.

MiniCAD version 5.

Hewlett Packard ships version 3.5 of PE/Solid Designer, its high end Solid Modeling.50,000 seats installed to date.

Archigraph ships PowerDraw version 6 for Mac platforms.

Site Designer version 1 from Land CADD Int., a landscape CAD program.

CINEMA 4D version 2.0 for Amiga in November.

In November Autodesk ships AutoCAD Release 13.

The Windows interface consists of standard Windows user-interface components, similar to those used in other Windows programs.

Auto Surf 2.0 from Autodesk is an add-on for AutoCAD 12 which adds almost 50 commands to AutoCAD for creating primitive surfaces. It supports DOS, HP-UNIX and SUN platforms.AutoSurf was originally a program called Solution 3000 developed by Micro Engineering Solution.Autodesk bought the company and renamed the program as Auto Surf version 1.

Canvas 3.5 for Windows receives the Win100 Award from Windows Magazine.

By the end of this year AutoCAD alone topped one million mark worldwide.The next two CAD systems (outside Autodesk) were Cadkey (with 180,000 copies sold) and MicroStation (with 155,000 copies).

1995

Bentley's MicroStation Advanced solid modeling for mechanical design ships.Installed base reaches 200,000

3M selects Unigraphics Solutions for major software, services and consulting engagement

CINEMA 4D version 3.0 for Amiga

Delphi Interior & Lighting Systems chooses Unigraphics' iMAN product for enterprise-wide PIM integration worldwide

Motor Coach Industries selects both Unigraphics and iMAN to fulfill the company's goal of producing full managed virtual prototypes of its tour buses, including a 10,000-part plus virtual coach

Unigraphics on Microsoft Windows NT debuted

Unigraphics Solutions named Most Promising Company of the Future at Autofact Asia '95

CATIA-CADAM AEC Plant Solutions are announced.This next generation object-oriented plant modeling system enables powerful knowledge-based engineering capabilities that can dramatically streamline the process of plant design, construction and operation. It brings the power of "smart" applications to the desktop with next generation object-oriented modeling.

Autodesk develops the WHIP driver.

Autodesk acquires Automated Methods Ltd., a GIS developer.

First Autodesk Web site www.autodesk.com

By end of 1995, Autodesk has sold 3 million software copies worldwide from which 1.3 million are AutoCAD (200,000 AutoCAD Rel.13), and 300,000 AutoCAD LT.

EDS Corporation announced that has an installed base of 35,000 seats of Unigraphics worldwide, including General Motors, McDonnell-Douglas, US Navy, Fujitsu, Apple Computers and Cannon.

Autodesk ships the first version of 3D Studio for NT platform, called 3D Studio MAX.

AutoCAD View from Autodesk is a CAD tool for viewing and redlining drawings. It can access more than 150 file formats.

FIT, Inc., purchased ISICAD and their product CADVANCE.

CADKEY version 7.

DrafixCAD version 4 from Foresight Resources Co., followed by Drafix Quick CAD.

Design Post version 1 from Computervision, based on PELOROS object oriented

1996

Spatial Technology goes public.

Bentley's MicroStation Architectural modeling & plant engineering products ship

Bentley launches Geoengineering initiative and products

After a longer than expected development cycle, Canvas 5 ships simultaneously for Windows and Macintosh platforms in late 1996. Polaroid Japan is named as an exclusive distributor of Canvas to the Japanese market.

EDS splits off from GM, becoming an independent, publicly owned company, with stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange

Unigraphics introduces advanced assembly capabilities featuring interference checking, state-of-the-art CAM and industrial design capabilities for Class A surface modeling

General Motors signs largest CAD/CAM contract in history selecting Unigraphics as its single vehicle development software platform.

Parasolid rapidly gains widespread penetration into market as defacto standard for high-end, mid-range and commercial CAD/CAM/CAE development

CATIA-CADAM Solutions Version 4 are made available on Silicon Graphics, Hewlett Packard and Sun platforms.

In April Intergraph ships the first version of its 2D CAD program Imagineer Technical.

Bentley SELECT technology and service subscription program debuts

Solid Edge version 3 from Intergraph hits the market at the price of around USD 6000.

SolidWorks Co. ships Solid Works, an ambitious 3D package based on Parasolids modeling Kernel. It comes with a good complex surface modeling and a good graphical user interface.

3D/EYE Inc., ships Tri Spectives Technical version 2, a modeling, illustration and animation program for Windows platforms, at a very low price.

IMSI ships TurboCAD 2D/3D version 3 for DOS, Windows and Mac. The 3D capabilities were available only for Mac platforms.

EDS Unigraphics version 11 with 4 new CAM modules.

EDS Corporation delivers Unigraphics/Creator, a cut-down version of Unigraphics for Windows NT platforms, full inter-useability with the full version.

Vasimetrix ships version 5 of its high-end CAD/CAM program. Varimetrix is based on the property Unified Parametric Geometry architecture. Used by companies such AT & T and

1997

AutoCAD LT 97

Autodesk provides World Creation Toolkit which is a collection of 500 MB of prebuilt objects, meshes, fonts and animation.

Autodesk ships 3D Studio MAX release 2 and a cut-down version called 3D Studio Viz.

Autodesk Walk Through 1.1, an animation program for AutoCAD modules.

Autodesk ships AEC Professional Suite 2, an integrated package of AutoCAD 14, AEC AutoCAD utilities, Autodesk Walk Through, Design Blocks, Autodesk View and 2000 architectural symbols.

Autodesk ships AutoCAD 13 Internet Publishing Kit, a program used for view, access and sharing drawings on the Internet. It compress the drawings in DWF (Drawing Web Format) a new compressed file format designed specifically for the Internet.

Bentley ships MicroStation Modeler version 5.5 (based on ACIS 2.1 modeling Kernel)

Bentley starts engineering back office and ModelServer product line. Daratech lists Bentley as fastest-growing in CAD/CAM/CAE

CAS.CADE is a new modeling Kernel developed in 1997 by Matra Datavision.

The Canvas 5 USA Tour kicks off. This coast-to-coast seminar series offers Canvas enthusiasts a chance to get up close and personal with their favorite graphics application and Deneba's in-house artists. Deneba introduces Colada, a Java-based web sharing technology for Canvas 5. Canvas is used to design many of the computer screen shots in Steven Spielberg's Hollywood blockbuster The Lost World. NASA uses Canvas to illustrate the Mars Pathfinder. DenebaCAD for Macintosh is introduced. Focusing on the needs of professional architects and engineers, the program integrates 2D drafting, 3D modeling, and photo-realistic rendering in one application.

Dassault Systems S.A. acquires Deneb, the recognized provider of leading digital manufacturing solutions.Deneb and its subsidiaries, become a wholly owned subsidiary of Dassault Systems and operates as a separate entity under the brand name "Deneb", the digital manufacturing company of Dassault Systems.

Dassault Systems S.A. and SolidWorks Corporation announce in June the signing of a definitive agreement whereby the privately-held SolidWorks, a leading provider of mechanical design software products for Windows, is acquired by Dassault Systems in a stock transaction.

1998

Spatial Technology acquires InterData Access, Inc.

Dassault Systems creates ENOVIA Corp., a wholly-owned company in charge of developing ENOVIA’s PDM II solutions. IBM creates two new worldwide organizations to sell and support ENOVIA products.

In February, Dassault Systems and IBM announce a new Strategic Alliance to address the Product Development Management II (PDM II) market.

Dassault Systems acquires Matra Datavision key software products in the fields of surface and free-form modeling, numerical control machining (NC) as well as complementary products dedicated to plastic injection simulation. The products concerned (EUCLID Styler, EUCLID Machinist, Strim and Strimflow) correspond approximately to the portfolio acquired by Matra Datavision at the time of the Cisigraph acquisition in 1994. The team in charge of those products (90 people) will join the Dassault Systems Group.

- Matra Datavision will become a service company providing support for the CATIA, CATweb, ENOVIA and Deneb products lines of Dassault Systems and the migration of EUCLID 3 to CATIA.

- Matra Datavision will be appointed an IBM International Business Partner to market, sell and support CATIA, CATweb, and ENOVIA as well as IBM's e-business Solutions.

Autodesk acquire Genius Software GmbH.

Unigraphics Solutions becomes a subsidiary of EDS, takes the name Unigraphics Solutions EDS

Unigraphics Solutions finalizes acquisition of Intergraph's Mechanical CAD/CAM Business - Solid Edge and EMS software

Maxon, the producer of CINEMA 4D animation and rendering program announced it will no longer support the Amiga platform.

CADD Council changes name to Facility Information Council - To represent a larger base of involvement, NCS Committee operates under this group

Unigraphics Solutions Becomes First CAD/CAM/CAE/PDM Organization to be Awarded ISO 9001/TickIT Certification

AutoCAD Mechanical is an integrated mechanical tool in AutoCAD 14.

Autodesk Architectural Desktop - integrated architectural solution based on AutoCAD 14.

First version of IronCAD for VDS market.

IntelliCAD 98 from Visio with support for Visual Basic for Application, AutoLisp and

1999

Spatial Technology acquires Sven Technologies

Unigraphics Solutions Acquires German high-tech Company, dCADE.

Dassault Systems establishes Dassault Systems AG in Germany in March, as its reference site for development and consulting of new generation styling solutions.

March - Dassault Systems introduces CATIA Version 5 for native Windows NT and UNIX. CATIA V5 is based on:- Next generation technologies (Native Windows implementation, powerful interface, Plug & Play extensibility, consistency with standards such as OLE)- Windows Web metaphor to ensure a natural, productive and fun to use environment,- Scalability to address all user profiles- Capture and reuse of the company know-how- Smooth transition to protect V4 investment.

In April 1999, Dassault Systems signs definitive agreement to acquire a majority interest in Smart Solutions Ltd. Smart Solutions has become the leading provider for the "TeamPDM" market, developing Web based Windows™ centric Product Data Management (PDM) and Workflow solutions for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). These solutions complement ENOVIA Solutions, which address the needs of large enterprises and their supplier chain, the PDM II market space. Together, Smart Solutions Ltd. and ENOVIA Corp. will offer dedicated solutions for both market segments, thus meeting the needs of customers at all levels of product and process complexity.

- At the same time Dassault Systems creates Dassault Systems Provence for the development of advanced applications in the field of surface reconstruction, tooling design and 3-axis machining, as well as powerful surface algorithm components for CATIA Version 5

Dassault Systems acquired SAFEWORK. With this agreement, SAFEWORK becomes the Dassault Systems company in charge of providing an advanced human modeling infrastructure within the V5 architecture. It will also become the leading Dassault Systems human modeling Competency Center for Dassault Systems' brands, CATIA, DENEB and ENOVIA. SAFEWORK can also provide turn-key solutions by complementing their software solution with consulting services for ergonomic processes in various industries.

Unigraphics Solutions signs five-year, $43 million contract with Boeing for CAD/CAM

Software

Varimetrix ships VXVision version 1.74, a high-end CAD/CAM program based on VPG 2 modeling Kernel.

National CAD Standard (NCS) 1.0 released - First compendium and coordination of efforts

Lightwave 3D version 6 from New Tek.

Unigraphics ships Solid Edge version 6 with over 200 changes.

Think3 entry in the CAD market with thinkdesign, the first mechanical design software product to offer the power of parametric solids, advanced surfacing, wireframe and 2-D drafting on the desktop, all in one environment.

VectorWorks is released as a replace of MiniCAD.

Diehl Graphsoft, Inc. ships RenderWorks, a photorealistic rendering plug-in for VectorWorks.

The next generation of Sprite technology is unveiled in Canvas 7's SpriteEffects. For the first time, designers can apply any imaging filters - blurs, distortions, textures, plus third-party plug-ins - to any object, whether it's vector, bitmap, text, or even a group. Combined with SpriteLayer effects, SpriteEffects in Canvas yields unequaled power for graphic design. Like previous versions of Canvas, version 7 goes on to receive worldwide user and critical acclaim. Deneba makes it effortless to share graphics information online with the Deneba Internet Graphics Server (DIGS). By using a web browser, DIGS enables instant deployment of graphic files on the Internet. DenebaCAD 2 is released for Macintosh and Windows platforms.

Introduced at SIGGRAPH 99, solidThinking 3.5 (from GESTEL) brought unprecedented level to NURBS modeling with hundreds of new features and enhancements.

Archway Systems was founded by Mike and Tom Lazear

In June Pro/E 2000i

Parametric Technology acquired Computervision and their product CADDS 5.

Autodesk announces 1 million users of LT and 100,000 users of 3D Studio MAX.

3D Studio MAX cumulus 29% of the entire 3D-animation market and 38% of the 3D PC markets.

2000

Spatial ships ACIS v.6.0

CoCreate Software Inc., a subsidary of Hewlett Packard Company, announces release of Solid Designer 2000 with five new modules.

Nemetschek North America introduced in January the VectorWorks Industry Series with the launch of its first product, VectorWorks ARCHITECT. SPOTLIGHT and ARCHITECT will be joined shortly by VectorWorks LANDMARK, a landscape and site design package.

Eagle Point, the leading supplier of AEC applications software, announced the release of Eagle Point 2000

26 Ian - Parametric Technology Corp. announced that InPart Mechanical, the world's largest 3D CAD library, now exceeds 1 million parts.

On end of February, Autodesk will be selling AutoCAD 2000 over the Internet. On-line price is $3,195 for AutoCAD 2000--that's 10%- 15% above the estimated street price. Upgrades from Release 14 are $545, and upgrades from Release 13 are $745. Price includes 60 days of direct support from Autodesk. Sales available US and Canada only.

16 Feb - CoCreate Software Inc., a subsidary of Hewleet Packard announced ME10 2000 the latest version of its popular 2D CAD software, ME10

Design Futures announced the release of IDRAW 2000 for Windows 95/98/NT, a design, drafting and illustration for all 2D design and illustration requirements.

18 Feb. - Diehl Graphsoft announced that Nemetschek AG of Germany had acquired it

REALVIZ S.A., a leader in image processing technology, announced the availability of its ImageModeler® photo-modeling software application for easy and realistic 3D model creation. Designed specifically for computer graphics professionals and animators, ImageModeler is the first high-end ``Image-Based Modeler'' that produces 3-D models from photo, video or cinematic still images. Eliminate the complications of building complex models from scratch, and let ImageModeler do the hard work. By selecting points on as few as four still photographs of an object, the revolutionary software application builds models that are amazingly photo-real.

7 March - IntelliCAD 2000

March 15, 2000--SensAble Technologies today made the revolution in digital modeling with the release of FreeForm(TM) Version 2. The FreeForm system allows users to model on the

computer using their sense of touch, blending the intuitiveness and expressiveness of physical modeling with the power and productivity of digital modeling.

LightWork Design announced on 14 March that there are more than 500,000 active users of its flagship LightWorks renderer.

SDRC, a global supplier of e-business collaboration solutions for the product lifecycle, announced on March I-DEAS 8, a major software release to enable e-design automation

Alibre, Inc. announced the availability of its feature-based mechanical CAD software, Alibre Design which allows users to employ the internet as a collaborative platform for product design and development.

Dassault Systemes and announced the readiness of CATIA Solutions Version 5 Release 3(b) (V5R3) for Microsoft Windows 2000 operating platform.

Graphisoft paid around $2 million to acquire Drawbase Software, a facilities management software and services provider.

CoCreate Software Inc., a subsidiary of Hewlett Packard Co., announced on 12 April the release of OneSpace 5.0, a design-chain-integration solution that provides global teams a virtual conference room to interact in real time on mechanical designs.

Autodesk also launched Point A, a new portal serving designers and engineers, which can be found at http://pointA.autodesk.com. The goal of the site is to provide designers, engineers, and architects with a centralized online community and resource.

PTC announced on 24 April two major updates to its PTC i-Series of flexible engineering solutions: Pro/MECHANICA 2000i² and Pro/DESKTOP 2000i².

SDRC announced SDRC Imageware Version 10 (V10), a major software release enabling customers to design, build, and fully inspect high-quality, free-form shaped products in less time. Imageware is advanced 3D surface modeling and verification technology solution that allows users to realize and maintain the design intent from concept through manufacturing.

Unigraphics Solutions Inc. announces in may that its industry-leading kernel solid modeling product, Parasolid, exceeded 500,000 active end-users

Graphisoft offers a set of Web-based tool to help encourage the AEC CAD community to adopt its GDL (Geometric Description Language) as a file format. The GDL Object Web plug-in, for ArchiCAD users, delivers GDL objects via the Internet.

TurboCAD Professonal 6.5

Matra Datavision reports in June that more than 5,000 downloads of the latest version of its

Open CASCADE open source library of 3D modeling components.

MicroStation/J v7.1

6 June Bentley Systems, Incorporated, announced a new visualization technology that provides photorealistic lighting solutions for large models created by architects, interior designers and plant designers. "Particle tracing" is a new, easy-to-use technology which requires relatively little memory and provides stunningly realistic lighting effects.

Spatial Inc. announced Release 6.2 of the ACIS 3D Toolkit and Husks, featuring performance enhancements and added functionality. Will be the latest release of ACIS under Spatial name because the product will be aquired by Dassault Systems in a surprising deal which took the CAD world by surprise.

Mechanical Desktop Release 5 incorporates AutoCAD® 2000i software, with its more than 400 new or enhanced features and 24-percent gain in productivity over the previous release. The Power Pack adds 1.2 million predawn standard 2D and 3D parts, holes, features, and structural steel profiles, complete AutoCAD Mechanical 2000 functionality, and intelligent part placement and engineering calculations.

The Deneba Internet Graphics Server 2 (DIGS) is released and updated to take advantage of key new features and technologies available in Canvas 7.

On 14 July 2000 the new version of CATIA version 5 release 4, become available for Windows and Unix.

solidThinking 4 began shipping also on the Mac platform

The new version of Parasolid (Version 12.0) incorporates improved Direct Modeling technology, which provides the function to enable CAD users to perform feature level edits to a model that has not been defined using a history based feature approach.

To date, July 2000, TurboCAD has shipped more than one million units.

Inventor Release 3. Most of the enhancements center around assemblies, as evidenced by the addition of motion constraints as well as predefined section cuts.

PTC has just announced a new version of CADDS 5i, called Release 11. According to the company, this new release offers increased integration with PTC solutions, such as Pro/ENGINEER, by using what the company calls the Associative Topology Bus (ATB).

DataCAD 9, 2D and 3D architectural package, the new version offers support for AutoCAD 2000 DXF and DWG files, can export in WMF and Adobe Acrobat PDF formats.

Unigraphics Solutions Inc. announced on 20th September Solid Edge Version 9, the latest

release of the company's award-winning mechanical design software.

Caligari has released a new version of True Space, its 3D modeling and animation program.

ME10 2000+, the latest version of its CoCreate's 2-D CAD software, introduces new capabilities, such as a 2-D to 3-D accelerator kit, design management with Microsoft Windows-compatible user interface, a Windows user interface customization toolkit, and the ME10 macro suite, a free library of ME10 extensions.

Chief Architect 7.0 ($895) is a Windows-based architectural design program designed for builders, designers, and developers to create full working drawings and accurate 3D models.

Unigraphics Solutions Inc. (NYSE: UGS) announced in October Unigraphics Version 17, the latest release of its industry leading, high-end CAD/CAM/CAE software. With this release, UGS becomes the industry's first major vendor to ship a world-class MCAD software product containing a deeply imbedded knowledge based engineering (KBE) language. KDA consists of capturing and recycling knowledge that exists in many forms at every stage of the product life cycle, then re-using that knowledge to dramatically enhance the design, engineering and manufacturing process.

Dassault Systemes announced that it plans to integrate Microsoft's Visual BASIC for Applications into its products, including SolidWorks, CATIA, SmarTeam, ENOVIA, and DELMIA..

IBM and Dassault Systemes launched Version 5 Release 5 of CATIA, to be available for Windows and UNIX on November 17, 2000.

Autodesk released Inventor Release 4, on first week of December. Inventor costs $4,995, and upgrade pricing will be available. Release 4 contains more than 150 new features and enhancements, with particular attention paid to support for enterprise-wide collaboration.

CADKEY 19, a new version of its flagship product line available for Windows 95/98/00 and NT 4.x. CADKEY 19 assembles new customer-driven features for hybrid modeling and blending, 2D drawing and detailing, data translation, display and graphics. The software also includes six new CDE (CADKEY Dynamic Extensions)

AutoCAD Architectural Desktop passed the 100,000 mark worldwide.

Unigraphics Solutions Inc. announced on 21 December the release and immediate availability of Parasolid Version 12.1, its industry-leading kernel solid modeling product.UGS was the vendor with the most rapidly growing computer aided manufacturing (CAM) software revenue in 2000.

31,290 CATIA seats were licensed in 2000

SolidWorks licensed 22,053 seats for the full year.

Delcam has been the world's leading specialist supplier of NC machining software and services during 2000 untill 2010.