The CAD Insider

David Heller, Founder of IBSystems, Starts PR Firm

David Heller, 72, founder of IBSystems, Inc., creator of “Café” sites (MCADcafe, AECcafe, others) has started a new PR firm, HTS Creative.

David Heller (gray hair) interviews Thomas Teger at last year's SolidWorks World. Picture courtesy of MCAD Cafe.

HTS (Hi Tech Success) Creative is scheduled to begin operation March, 2014. 

“I stared IB Systems in my garage – literally,” says David. “HTS will at least take off from my dining room.”

IB Systems ownership has been transferred to long time employees Sanjay Gangal and Nitai Fraenkel. Jeff Rowe, frequent contributor for MCAD Café and CAD insider says he expects “business as usual.” 

HTS Creative will emphasize “success stories,” but in a modern format that makes good use of video. “We plan on being a full service creative agency," adds David. He has already created a prototype electronic magazine for the AEC market. “E-mags and custom e-mags are only part of it. Video, plus all forms of writing and production services that support marketing in the high-tech engineering field .... MCAD, AEC, EDA, etc. Examples include product reviews, success stories and case studies, technical articles, marketing writing, etc.”

Joining David will be daughter Ruthie, 22, who is graduating college with a major in marketing and communications. “She’s an expert in social media and how it's applied to industry,” says proud Dad.  

SolidCAM has already enlisted David and HTS Creative to create video featuring one of their star customers.

David can be reached at his new email address [email protected]. 

AMD FirePro Blazes Into the Lead

SAN DIEGO, CA (SolidWorks World 2014 - David vs Goliath. Avis vs Hertz. In CAD graphics, it's AMD graphics vs NVIDIA. NVIDIA claims to have 80% share of graphics cards for CAD users. Of course, this makes AMD to try harder.

I can count on Antoine Reymond, Sr Strategic Alliances Manager at AMD, to provide me the latest advantage AMD has gained. At SolidWorks World 2014 Antoine presses into my hand the latest the latest benchmark. It is the result of SPECviewperf 12. I see why Antoine is eager to spread the news. On a AMD brochure wherein it states "AMD dominates NVDIA across the board, from the entry level and mobile, up through the mid-range and into the high end ," the AMD FirePro cards seem to have beaten their NVIDIA counterparts by as much as 46% (AMD FirePro W5000 vs NVIDIA K2000) when running SolidWorks 2013.

A good journalist would corroborate the story, I remind myself. The official SPECviewperf site show results not quite as good as the AMD document, but AMD FirePro is still significantly better when comparing their two midrange cards, which is probably what most SolidWorks users would buy. I calculate a 41% more frames per second with the AMD FirePro W5000 compared to the NVIDIA K2000.

Chart based on data from  from SPECviewperf 12 SolidWorks test

At the time of this writing, the AMD FirePro W5000 was available in Amazon for $515 but the NVIDIA K2000 seemed to be on "special" at $404. Both had 2GB of memory.

TenLinks Show Judge

Roopinder Tara

For More Information

• AMD FirePro for SolidWorks - product page on AMD site
• SPEC - Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation, independent graphics benchmark organization
• TenLinks Best of Show coverage

Stratasys Blends Colors and Materials with Objet500 Connex3

SAN DIEGO, CA (SolidWorks World 2014) - Stratasys is a major player in the 3D printer market and they have a number of things in play right now. They chose the SolidWorks annual user meeting, the biggest gathering of MCAD users in the world, to announce the only multi-color, multi-material Objet500 Connex3 3D printer. The floor-standing Objet Connex3 has a build volume of 19.3" x 15.4" x 7.9" and costs -- are you sitting down?--about $330,000. At the other end of the spectrum, their MakerBot seems to be small-business friendly with their desktop units, selling for less that $3,000.

With options to have more colors and blending of materials when making prototypes, the Objet Connex3 will make it easier to easier to more closely resemble the actual product.

TenLinks Show Judges

Deepak Gupta

Josh Altergott

TenLinks Judge (name withheld)

For More Information

• www.stratasys.com/
• TenLinks Best of Show coverage

Related articles

The First 3 Color, Multi-material 3D Printer is Just What You Imagined

Stratasys' new 3D printer creates multicolored flexible materials

Stratasys Launches Objet500 Connex3, World's First Multi-Material Color 3D Printer

MakerBot Ideal for 3D Printing in Engineering, Design Firms

SAN DIEGO, CA (SolidWorks World 2014) - 3D printer maker, MakerBot, ambition is no less than putting a 3D printer on the desk of every engineer, architect, industrial designer and  (per the MakerBots's website) just about everyone else. Students, their teachers...hobbyists, the itinerant tinkerer, maybe? Though MakerBot is helping the acceptance of 3D printing, with each new wave of products lowering the price of admission into the world of 3D printing, even the entry level of $1,375 for the soon-to-be-available MakerBot Mini leaves MakerBots in the realm of professional firms. To be affordable to consumers and kids, the price has be be that of a toaster, or at least a microwave oven.

A design firm or engineering consultancy seems to be MakerBot marketing sweet spot. For them, the MakerBot Replicators offers a quality desktop printer at an affordable price ($2,899).

MakerBot was acquired by 3D print giant Stratasys in the Summer of 2013 in a $403M deal (see press release).

TenLinks Show Judge

Edson Gebo

For More Information

• www.makerbot.com
• TenLinks Best of Show coverage

Lenovo W540 Mobile Workstation Aims for Power with Mobility

SAN DIEGO, CA (SolidWorks World 2014) - Lenovo may have opted for the less-is-more approach. Rather than chase Dell and HP mobile counterparts with massive 17" monitors, Lenovo draws the line at the W540 with the 15 inch screen -- and saves over 2 lbs. With its has NVIDIA Kepler graphics hardware, the Lenovo W540 actually packs the same number of pixels (1920x1080) on the smaller 15 screen as the 17 inch Dell M6800 and with external monitors you can go all the way to a screen resolution of 3480 x 2160.

The recently redesigned W540 mobile workstation promises rock-solid operation expected of the ThinkPad line.

TenLinks Show Judge

Roopinder Tara

Disclosure: Roopinder has owned a series of Lenovo ThinkPads, which are standard issue at TenLinks.

For More Information

• Lenovo W540 - product page on Lenovo site
• TenLinks Best of Show coverage

Related articles

Lenovo a Lesson in Overseas Success

Lenovo - Learning to Love the Tablet

Dell Precision M6800 Mobile Workstation Recommended for SolidWorks

SAN DIEGO, CA (SolidWorks World 2014) - Of the 3 big hardware providers (Dell, HP, and Lenovo), Dell and HP are the only ones who offer a mobile  workstation with a 17" screen. The most recent in Dell's mobile workstation line, the Precision M6800 bills itself as the most powerful of its kind with the latest Intel i7 processor and high end graphics from either NVIDIA or AMD. And if you would like to show your Dell is different from the other somber black mobile workstations without even opening the lid, you can opt for the "Covet" edition in "Phoenix Red." Perhaps flames on candy apple red would have been more appropriate.     

TenLinks Show Judge

Jason Pancoast

Disclosure: Jason owns a Dell Precision M6600 mobile workstation, his computer of choice for CAD. His company, CAPINC, is a customer of Dell, HP, Lenovo, and other computer vendors.

For More Information

• www.dell.com 
• TenLinks Best of Show coverage

Related articles

Dell Announces Precision M4800 and M6800 Mobile Workstations

Dell Whispers of the Biggest Monitor and the Highest Resolution for Laptop

 

CAM-TOOL Shows Amazing Accuracy at SolidWorks World

SAN DIEGO, CA (SolidWorks World 2014) - C&G Systems, a Japanese with its North America office in Ontario, was showing CAM-TOOL for molds and dies. Though the booth emphasized speed (a cheetah motif was popular at the show) what caught our eye was the incredible precision of a machined part. An array of 0.004" diameter needles had been cut. It was accuracy unmatched on the show floor -- maybe anywhere. You have to see it to believe it. Video here http://youtu.be/nxfWj6n5DKs. CGS says it get this precision because it follows the exact shape of the part, not a triangulated mesh like other CAM programs, yet it can cut a part with similar speed.

 

TenLinks Show Judge

Alin Vargatu

For More Information

• CAM-TOOL - product information
• TenLinks Best of Show coverage

Boxx Revs Up Processor for 2X Performance with SolidWorks

SAN DIEGO, CA (SolidWorks World 2014 - The exhibit hall at the annual SolidWorks user conference provided an opportunity to do a quick test with several computer vendors: open a large SolidWorks part on your biggest, baddest workstation. 

Boxx was able to load this SolidWorks part more than twice as fast as rival workstations.

BOXX outperformed them all. Significantly. It was more than 2X faster than the next fastest computer! BOXX may well be the best performing tool for the SolidWorks user.

BOXX uses an over-clocked processer but offers the same warranty as a "standard" workstation. BOXX workstations do cost more but power users are finding the performance gains justify the extra cost.

TenLinks Show Judges

Josh Altergott

TenLinks Judge (name withheld)

For More Information

• www.boxxtech.com
• TenLinks Best of Show coverage

Amada Americas Sheet Metal App for SolidWorks

SAN DIEGO, CA (SolidWorks World 2014 - Amada builds the most respected sheet metal machines in the business. Big ones - turrets, brakes, laser cutters, more.. the kind that hulk in noisy, surprisingly clean factories, accepting sheets wider than you can spread your arms, producing parts more precise than you'd expect from bent metal, costing more than your house. But a small part of their business seems to be software. Their SheetWorks program works on top of SolidWorks. You can use it to unfold a SolidWorks (or any Parasolid part) to get your flat pattern. Material properties are supplied. It claims to also be able to construct 3D parts from 2D views.

SheetWorks got a nod from a TenLinks judge, who suggested it as a prototype creator. "While 3D printers are suggesting that they can be used for manufacturing, Amada can actually do so. Why bother with a prototype when you can go to an actual manufactured sheet-metal part? "

For More Information

• SheetWorks - product information on Amada website
• TenLinks Best of Show coverage

3Dconnexion SpaceMouse Goes Wireless

SAN DIEGO, CA (SolidWorks World 2014 - 3Dconnexion, makers of market leading 3D input devices, is a mainstay at CAD shows. Their latest offering was a wireless version of the SpaceMouse, and it was a big hit with our judges, many of whom already owned a SpaceMouse.

"I hate wires," says Edson Gebo. "3Dconnexions took the best motion control and made it wireless."

"This could be the one product in the entire exhibit that every SolidWorks user could benefit from," says Jason Pancoast, who works for CAPINC, a 3Dconnexion reseller. "Operating SolidWorks with a 3DConnexion device makes the task fun, fast, and fulfilling."

"3D input devices (AKA 3D mice) have made amazing strides over the past decade since 3Dconnexion first introduced the Space Ball  mouse, adds Jason. "Driver improvements make 'flying' around the model more intuitive than ever."

The SpaceMouse Wireless retails at $129. It has a short wireless, USB dongle. Charge time is 2 hours and it boasts a 30 day battery life (usage with 8 hours/day, 5 days/wk).

TenLinks Show Judges

Edson Gebo

Jason Pancoast

Bryan McElyea

For More Information

• www.3dconnexion.com
• TenLinks Best of Show coverage