A new study, conducted by TechNavio, predicts that the global computer-aided design (CAD) market will experience a compound annual growth rate of approximately 7 percent for the period 2011 to 2015.
According to the report, one of the primary reasons for this anticipated growth is the need for companies to decrease the cost and time spent in the product development stage. By using CAD and computer-aided manufacture (CAM) software, individuals and organizations can significantly streamline the product development process by creating accurate digital simulations of the design. Using CAD and CAM allows developers to discover potential flaws, such as overheating issues or inefficient energy consumption, and make the necessary alterations without the cost and time of creating a physical prototype.
Additionally, a TechNavio analyst commented that the rise of cloud-based CAD solutions is a further factor driving the growth of the global CAD market. Small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in particular are expected to take advantage of this technology. Cloud-based CAD, just like other cloud services, offers a higher degree of flexibility, accessibility and cost effectiveness. Cloud-based CAD solutions require less of an initial investment, which further increases their appeal to SMBs.
The report notes that a growing number of industries are finding uses for CAD technology. In addition to automotive and aeronautic firms, which have long used CAD software, companies in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector have begun to integrate the technology into their operations.
Along with several others, Dassault Systemes is named as one of the key CAD vendors dominating the market. Dassault Systemes' SolidWorks CAD software was recently in the news for contributing to the first successful Hungarian satellite and the nonprofit Copenhagen Orbitals. It was created in 1981 and has been a leading innovator in the field of 3D design ever since.
IPC, the Association Connecting Electronics Industries, recently released its report on printed circuit board (PCB) sales and orders in North America for March 2012. While shipments were down for both flexible circuit and rigid PCBs, orders increased, leading analysts to believe that the electronic computer-aided design (ECAD) and PCB market will do well in the coming months.
Rigid PCB shipments were down 12.6 percent relative to March 2011, and flexible PCB shipments were 7.2 percent lower than the previous year. March's totals were also down in comparison to January and February of this year, 2.2 percent for rigid and 7.2 percent for flexible circuits.
However, while actual were sluggish, orders for PCBs increased for both forms. Compared to February 2012, March saw a rise of 9.1 percent in rigid PCB orders and a 5.3 percent increase in flexible circuit orders.
Most notably, the book-to-bill ratio for both rigid and flexible PCBs was over one - 1.05 for rigid and 1.18 for flexible. The book-to-bill ratio is determined by dividing the value of the past three months' order by the value of sales billed in the same period. A ratio is above one suggests PCB and ECAD software demand is outpacing supply. This means sales will likely increase over the next few months.
Sharon Starr, IPC Director of Market Research, said that these results are standard for the industry, which typically demonstrates seasonal sales patterns. She further indicated that this was the fourth consecutive month in which the book-to-bill ratio increased, which suggests there may be significant sales growth next quarter.
IPC's World PCB Production report noted that rigid PCBs remain the dominant form, representing approximately 89 percent of the North American PCB market.
While he was a student at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, Dirk Vander Kooij acquired an industrial robot from a Chinese manufacturer. He decided to reprogram the robot, transforming it into a 3D printer capable of producing furniture that Kooij designed.
In the years since, Kooij has won numerous awards and demonstrated the potential power of 3D printing technology.
Award winning creations
According to Singularity Hub, Kooij's work has won a number of awards, including the Dutch Design Award and DMY Award Berlin. Additinoally, his work was recently showcased at the Domus Academy in Milan in an exhibit called, "The Future In The Making," featuring Kooij's "Endless" furniture collection.
He named his furniture line "Endless" to reflect the production method. After a design is programmed into the 3D printer, the printer lays a single, thick plastic line on the base. This line coils on top of itself many times, reaching dozens of feet in length as it essentially "builds" the chair. In as little as three hours, the item is fully constructed. According to Kooij, the single printer can produce as many as 4,000 chairs per year.
The 3D printer can be programmed to print virtually any design using this method. In this way, it highlights one of the key benefits of 3D printing. While traditional, injection-molded plastic furniture is cheap to produce on a large scale, it is not cost effective to alter the design for a limited number of units.
With a 3D printer, however, a user can use a computer-aided design program, such as SolidWorks CAD software, to program a new design at no incremental cost, allowing for much greater customization.
Material efficiency
Additionally, Kooij's robot demonstrates the material efficiency of 3D printing. His furniture is produced using discarded refrigerators and other waste products. Singularity Hub notes that he tested 54 prototypes before settling on his Endless rocking chair. However, none of these prototypes were wasted - each was shredded and used to create the subsequent model
In 2008, Kristian von Bengtson and Peter Madsen founded Copenhagen Suborbitals. The organization's purpose: to create a method for launching people into space without the backing of any major governmental departments.
A non-profit endeavor, Copenhagen Suborbitals is entirely dependent on private donors, part time specialists, volunteers and sponsors.
Recently, Bengston announced via his Wired blog that Dassault Systemes had become the latest organization to sponsor the project by agreeing to allow Copenhagen Suborbitals to use SolidWorks CAD Software.
According to Bengston, SolidWorks will enable him and his colleagues to "create detailed CAD buildup, production files for e.g. laser cutting, finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics software."
Copenhagen Suborbitals has already experienced significant success in the field of private aeronautics. According to Fox News, in 2011, the company launched a space capsule called Tyco Brahe from a floating platform in the Baltic Sea. The rocket, which was carrying a life-sized human model, reached an altitude of two miles before deploying a parachute and falling back into the sea, where it was subsequently recovered.
While signs suggest that the global economy may be improving, there is no question that the world's financial markets are, on the whole, still in poor shape. Unemployment remains high, and many businesses struggle to survive. However, there is a positive element to this situation. As Dan D'Ambrosio and Adam Silverman of USA Today note, industry experts largely agree that difficult economies lead to increasing innovation. According to one expert, when people lose jobs, they also lose their complacency, and that may be the push they need to finally pursue a long-held idea.
Companies may also increase innovation during times of economic stress as they fight to distinguish themselves in competitive markets. Yet there is a major, inherent obstacle to some industries' innovative efforts: the difficulties of small scale production. Bill Schweber, writing for EE Times, highlights the fact that while high-volume manufacturing can justify tooling and test fixtures and low-volume production makes hand-crafting affordable, low to moderate-scale manufacturing places organizations in an awkward, in-between place.
However, in addition to pointing out this problem, Schweber also presents a possible solution: computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided manufacturing (CAM).
By using this technology, such as Solidworks CAM software and Solidworks CAD software, a company can design and produce sample prototypes of new designs or modifications without bearing the high costs traditionally associated with prototyping. As an example, Schweber writes that a business can use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools to explore the thermal aspects of a new product while it is still in the design phase. The software can allow the creator to determine whether a fan or heatsink is required, and if so, the best means of implementing it.
Once the product is developed, the designer can produce the prototype by machine, rather than hand, which will almost certainly be faster and less expensive, while still producing the same level of quality.
The University of Manchester's School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering incorporates Altium design software into its undergraduate study programs to better prepare students for future careers as engineers, New Electronics reports.
David Foster, Senior Lecturer at University of Manchester, said that the school aims to provide students with "practical experience, rather than simulation," which should imbue them with a clearer sense of "engineering in the real world."
Altium and University of Manchester
To this end, the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering developed a teaching program that exposes engineering undergraduates to Altium's electronic circuit design software in their first semester at the University.
According to Foster, as a part of the course, students build Input/Output boards and are provided with a working microcontroller board, both of which they are allowed to keep following completion of the project.
In addition to being used by first year undergraduates to learn about schematic capture and printed circuit board (PCB) layout design, postgraduate students use Altium to design customized PCBs.
Altium and higher education around the world
University of Manchester is not the first institute of higher learning to employ Altium software in its courses. Colleges and universities across the globe use the technology to prepare their students for careers in engineering and design.
Recently, Altium announced a partnership with Alecop to improve distribution of their products to French schools. Additionally, schools from Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Sweden and the United States have implemented Altium-based courses in the past few years. As a result, hundreds of thousands of students have learned how to work with CAD software.
By using 3D printers and computer aided design (CAD) technology, researchers from Glasgow University announced they have developed a means of essentially "printing" pharmaceutical drugs.
The project leader, Lee Cronin, told the BBC that while it is common for large enterprise chemical engineering firms to create customized vessels for chemical mixing, this is the first example of that same technology available on a laboratory scale.
Additionally, while the process has traditionally been time-consuming and expensive, Cronin's method is fast and accessible.
How it works
Working with a CAD program, the researchers modified commercially available 3D printers, such as Objet 3D printers, to accommodate their project. According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, the printer created vessels by using an "ink" fashioned from a type of silicone polymer commonly used as a bathroom sealant. Once the vessel was printed, the chemical solutions were introduced into the reaction chambers at a steady rate.
The BBC reports that this method has already created numerous chemical compounds, including anti-cancer drugs.
Long term implications
Cronin believes that this technology has the potential to drastically change the way people acquire pharmaceuticals in the future. Citing the trend of 3D printers becoming more common and less expensive, Cronin claims it is possible that in the future{,} laboratories and small organizations will be able to use chemical engineering technology that is currently too expensive for any but the most large-scale enterprises.
However, according to Cronin, the real benefits might be much more significant. He indicated that by making the diagnosis and treatment of diseases more affordable and accessible, 3D printing may have the potential to "revolutionize access to health care in the developing world."
Additionally, a day may come when individuals can easily print out their pharmaceuticals from their homes with their own 3D printers.
In recent years, computer aided design (CAD) has proven itself to be a valuable component of the design and manufacturing process across many different industries. Consequently, the demand for jobs requiring CAD skills is increasing, as Wanted Analytics recently demonstrated.
Wanted Analytics, a firm dedicated to tracking hiring practices and demand in the United States, collected data on the number of engineering job postings citing CAD skills as a requirement since 2009. In March of 2012, they found that more than 6,900 online job postings mentioned computer aided design or CAD as requirements. This is an increase of 28 percent from the same period in 2011, and more than twice the number listed in March of 2010.
Notably, CAD skills were a more common requirement than Six Sigma certification among all engineering listings in March 2012.
Among job postings that specified particular CAD programs that candidates needed to be familiar with, the most common were Solidworks CAD software and Autodesk Auto CAD.
Because of its expansive applications, CAD skills are in demand in a wide range of industries. According to sciencebuddies.org, a website that aims to improve science literacy and provide guidance to students and teachers interested in technology, CAD technicians can choose from many different areas to specialize in, including aeronautics, construction, electrical or electronic systems and architecture. They identify NASA, Northrup Grumman and Lockheed Martin as some of the biggest employers of CAD technicians, and note that the median salary for CAD technicians is nearly 15 percent higher than the U.S. mean annual wage.
As a consequence of all these factors, it is likely that the coming years will see an increase in students studying CAD in colleges, universities and technical institutes.
Altium, one of the world's leading developers of electronics design automation software, recently announced a partnership with Alecop to help deliver soft system design software to technical schools, colleges and universities in France.
Alecop is a company dedicated to providing training solutions to allow students to develop professional skills. They serve as a bridge between educational institutions and firms offering technological or other learning opportunities. This partnership is intended to facilitate electronic design software training for teachers and instructors, who may then incorporate this information into their lessons.
Alecop's efforts will center on two of Altium's products: Altium Designer and the NanoBoard. The latest version of Altium Designer, Altium Designer 10, was released earlier this year. It allows users to integrate electronic computer aided design (ECAD) software with mechanical computer aided design (MCAD), unifying two of the most important aspects of the design process. The NanoBoard is intended to work in conjunction with Altium Designer, providing users with an intuitive, easy-to-learn means of exploring the world of electronics design through the use of a single tool.
According to Altium, this will allow students in France to master a variety of design possibilities, such as simulation and integration of embedded software components, in a much shorter time than would be possible using multiple tools and applications.
Considering the increasingly important role that computer aided design (CAD) is playing in a variety of industries, exposing students to CAD may help make France's next generation of engineers competitive on the global job market. College Surfing, a website dedicated to helping students choose the right school and course of study, emphasizes that because of its expanding applications, CAD-related job prospects are wide-ranging, and that CAD engineers will have "the best outlook for a lucrative career."
Dassault Systemes recently announced it will soon release new software for the plastic parts and injection mold industries. Aimed at improving users' ability to foresee potential manufacturing problems in the early stages of development, SolidWorks Plastics may be able to significantly improve the efficiency of the production process.
As the company notes, it is better to make necessary design alterations as early as possible. Without effective tools for predicting flaws in the initial design stages, engineers must often make alterations to their parts after they have been produced, a process that can be costly and time consuming.
The SolidWorks Plastics software can achieve this service by using advanced 3D computer aided design (CAD) technology that simulates the flow of liquefied plastic, predicting how it will behave during the injection molding process. This, according to executive vice president of marketing Monica Menghini, allows for simulation-driven design.
According to Anthony Clark of European Plastics News, one version of the software, SolidWorks Plastics Professional, is primarily aimed at part designers. It is completely rooted within the pre-existing SolidWorks CAD software environment, which, he writes, will allow users to improve the fit, form and function of their designs while simultaneously analyzing and modifying their plans.
The other version of the product, SolidWorks Plastics Premium, will be more useful for mold designers and mold makers. According to Clark, it is geared toward providing an easy means of optimization for anyone who creates and designs injection molds, regardless of industry.
Dassault Systemes said that SolidWorks Plastics will initially appear in North American markets in April, with availability increasing to other regions over the course of 2012.
Scientists have successfully launched the first satellite completely conceptualized and constructed in Hungary, thanks in large part to the use of Altium Designer's advanced software, according to EMS Now.
The Hungarian Academy of Sciences reports that the satellite, named MASAT-1, is a space probe that will record data relating to its environment as well as its own condition, transferring the information to a designated receiving station on Earth. The satellite's creators believe it will remain in operation for a minimum of three weeks and possibly for as long as several years.
In order to manage the complexity of the project, EMS Now states that engineers relied heavily on Altium Designer development tools, which ensured the successful development of all necessary software and hardware throughout the design process.
Additionally, mechanical engineers worked closely with Dassault Systemes' Computer Aided Three-Dimensional Interactive Application (CATIA). CATIA allows creators to develop virtual versions of 3D product designs. Like other computer aided design (CAD) programs, such as solidworks CAD software, this technology can significantly enhance the realism and accuracy of simulations, which play a key role in determining the success of an engineering project.
MASAT-1 was launched on February 13 from the European Space Agency's base in Kourou, French Guiana. Many different groups participated in its successful development and launch, including scientists from the Institute of Particle and Nuclear Physics at HAS' Wigner Research Centre for Physics and students, PhD candidates and professors from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Understanding} the value of expanding the study and teaching of CAD-based technology, Budapest University has decided to integrate CAD toolkits into its curriculum.
The electronics design automation (EDA) market grew 16 percent in 2011, according to the EDA Consortium (EDAC). EDA and IP sales reached more than $6.1 billion for the year, compared to $5.28 billion in 2010.
The last quarter of 2011 saw a significant rise in revenue for computer aided engineering (CAE) firms. CAE, the largest category within EDA, generated almost $650 million in revenue in the fourth quarter, a nearly 12 percent increase from the same period in 2010.
The printed circuit board and multi-chip module market accounted for approximately 8 percent of total revenue for the final quarter of 2011.
The EDA market grew in every region across the globe, but nowhere more so than in the Americas, where the fourth-quarter's moving average rose nearly 20 percent.
Walden Rhines, chair of EDAC, stated that while these are positive results, industry watchdogs should note that they come off of fairly weak figures for 2009 and 2010. He further indicated that the EDA industry typically lags behind the semiconducter industry by about a year, and in 2010, that industry experienced growth of more than 30 percent.
Computer aided design (CAD) and electronics design tools have found their way into the core product processes of several sectors, such as automotive, aerospace, defense and consumer electronics. With software continuously becoming more advanced, innovative organizations are able to develop state-of-the-art products with greater efficiency and for a fraction of traditional costs.
Altium, a leader in electronics design solutions, recently announced that the Budapest University of Technology and Economics used Altium Designer to help build the first Hungarian satellite successfully launched into space. The university used the company's software to improve collaboration among mechanical engineers, easily manage the bill of materials and rapidly generate critical documents. The engineers also used SolidWorks 3D design software CATIA to complete the satellite, named MASAT-1.
"Few design systems provide all the necessary functions and capabilities for such a comprehensive project. Thanks to Altium Designer version control it was possible to ensure the development of hardware and software throughout the entire design process on the basis of current data," Altium said in a press release.
The software enabled the university to efficiently make design modifications and uniformly manage the schematic and PCB libraries.
Altium continues to help enterprises build innovative products via its electronic computer aided design (ECAD) software. The company recently announced the release of Altium Designer 12, the latest version of its award-winning, cloud-based program.
For all manufacturing companies, having the ability to quickly and accurately detect product defects early in the design process can be the difference between developing a successful product or making a costly error.
Dassault Systemes, a leader in 3D design and product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions, recently launched a new SolidWorks Plastics software to help production teams predict and avoid manufacturing defects as early as possible. The software is designed specifically for plastics part and injection mold design.
"For a lot of industries, such as consumer package goods, using plastic molds provides added value in quality, time and cost savings. We believe a significant percentage of our installed user base is involved in plastic part or injection mold design and will benefit from the robust features in SolidWorks Plastics," said Monica Menghini of Dassault Systemes.
According to Dassault, SolidWorks Plastics software will enable manufacturers with a program that easily integrates with other SolidWorks environments and helps them reduce costs and increase productivity.
Dassault and SolidWorks offer a wide range of products for several different industries. In the consumer products sector, many companies use SolidWorks' state-of-the-art programs for 3D modeling, simulation and product data management (PDM).
Dassault Systemes, a global leader in 3D design software and product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions, is constantly looking for new partnerships that drive innovation and expand knowledge regarding advanced design tools. In its latest alliance, the company announced, it will join forces with the U.K. National Composites Centre (NCC) to develop an integrated environment where the NCC and its partners can use Dassault's Version 6 3D Experience platform to build advanced composite products.
"The NCC is critical to global composite industry development, and is an ideal partner for us," said Philippe Laufer, VP of research and development, CATIA, Dassault Systemes. "Building strong partnerships with leading composites academic institutions, research centers, and industry clusters worldwide is a key focus for Dassault Systemes to remain at the leading edge of technological innovation."
Dassault is the NCC's official Associate Member, combining with other companies and academic institutions as the facility moves forward in its quest to become the UK's central location for design and rapid manufacture of composite products. The V6 3D experience platform is expected to help the NCC enhance innovation and improve the design-to-manufacturing user experience through collaboration and state-of-the-art design software.
Many design and manufacturing companies deploy V6 products throughout their business-critical processes. The company reported record revenues last year, largely the result of increased demand in the automotive and aerospace sectors.