Capability: A multimedia training company has released a line of bundled training products for SolidWorks 2008, including six new courses for the CAD program. Training is offered in a self-paced multimedia format via the Web. Courses include core concepts, drawings, advanced parts, advanced assemblies, sheet metal design, and update training.

Hardware: PC running Windows 2000 or NT.

Developer: SolidProfessor, 121 Broadway, Suite 557, San Diego, CA 92101; (866) 966-6977; fax (619) 342-4849; www.solidprofessor.com.

Cost: $599.

Click here to obtain information on this product

Physics Modeling

Capability: Comsol Multiphysics 3.4 can model and simulate most physics-based systems. This release includes multicore processor support. Meshing, assembly, and solving are now executed in parallel. This new version also includes fluid dynamic solver methods for simulating large problems in chemical engineering, heat transfer, or micro fluidics applications. The updated application also features enhancements to the discipline-specific modules for specialized simulations, such as chemical engineering, reaction engineering, and structural mechanics.

Hardware: PC running Windows NT, or XP; Macintosh OS X; Linux; or Solaris.

Developer: Comsol, 1 New England Executive Park, Suite 350, Burlington, MA 01803; (781) 273-3322; fax (781) 273-6603; info@comsol.com; www.comsol.com.

Cost: Starts at $7,995.

Click here to obtain information on this product

Capability: The OpenNURBS 4.0 toolkit for .NET is part of the open source initiative that gives engineering and computer graphics software developers the tools to transfer 3-D geometry between applications. The toolkit eliminates the need to rebuild models for separate design, production engineering, analysis, and tooling applications. It makes the industry-standard 3-D modeling file format accessible to any .NET enabled application. The toolkit includes NURBS evaluations routines and supporting libraries and utilities.

Hardware: PC running Windows 2000, XP, or Vista.

Developers: Robert McNeel & Associates, 3670 Woodland Park Ave. North, Seattle, WA 98103; (206) 545-7000; fax (206) 545-7321; www.open NURBS.net.

Cost: Free. Members are encouraged to make contributions of effort and technology.

Click here to obtain information on this product

Share Project Data

Capability: Manufacturers can share drawings and project data via the Internet with ShareCAD for AutoCAD. They can also share requests for proposals and-for productivity and management overview-integrate workflows into the system. The application automatically handles all externally referenced documents attached to the AutoCAD drawings and will accommodate related data files including Excel, Word, and portable-document-format files. The vendor hosts the application; companies subscribe via a monthly payment.

Hardware: PC running Windows 2000, NT, or Vista and AutoCAD.

Developer: Phase2 International, 1136 Union Mall, Suite 712, Honolulu, HI 96813; (866) 750-0999; www.phase2 int.com.

Cost: $79 per month for individual users; $69 per month for 10 users.

Click here to obtain information on this product

Raster to Vector

Capability: The success of Adobe's PDF file format among CAD users has led to an increase in the number of technical drawings and documents stored and distributed in the PDF file format, according to the developer of an application that loads and converts PDF files into CAD-editable ones. Scan2CAD automatically converts scanned drawings into drawing exchange files that can be edited in most CAD or CNC programs. Any size paper drawing may be converted. The professional version offers raster-to-vector conversion of image-only PDF into CAD drawing files. Image cleanup tools can be used manually or automatically to tidy up a batch of raster images. The regular version of the software doesn't include PDF capabilities. It opens monochrome, grayscale, and color raster images, but saves only monochrome drawing exchange files. The professional version converts and saves color files.

Platform: PC running Windows 2000 or NT.

Developer: Softcover International Ltd., 364 Milton Rd., Cambridge CB4 1LW, England; (44-1223) 42-43-42; www.softcover.com.

Cost: $298, regular version; $498, professional version; discounts for multiple licenses.

Click here to obtain information on this product

home | features | breaking news | marketplace | departments | about ME back issues | ASME | site search

© 2008 by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers