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AECWeekly examines select top news each week, picks out worthwhile reading from around the web, and special interest items you might not find elsewhere. This issue will feature Industry News, Top News of the Week, Alliances, Agreements, Acquisitions, Announcements, New Products, Around the Web and Upcoming Events.

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Industry News
Intergraph Acquisition of COADE
By Susan Smith

In early January of this year, Intergraph acquired COADE Holdings Inc., provider of CAESAR II, PV Elite and TANK products, as well as its popular CADWorx plant design suite. For Intergraph this was their biggest acquisition in the Plant Process Marine (PPM) sector in the past ten years. The acquisition will extend Intergraph's SmartPlant Enterprise engineering suite by adding COADE's software for pipe stress, pressure vessel and storage tank analysis, capabilities that SmartPlant has not had.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Many Intergraph customers are also COADE customers, according to Patrick Holcomb, executive vice president, Power, Process & Marine, Intergraph. COADE has approximately 11,000 customers.

This acquisition positions Intergraph in head-to-head competition with both Autodesk and Bentley. Last year Autodesk announced its Plant 3D design system and Bentley already has Bentley Plant, a 3D design tool, with Bentley named as the #1 provider of plant design software, according to Daratech. Autodesk Plant 3D and CADWorx are easier to use than some weightier plant design products and allow customers who are already well versed in AutoCAD to be able to transition over to a plant design product without a long learning curve.

CAESAR II is COADE's analysis product. 85% of client requests are for improved integration between their 3D products, namely CAESAR II in 3D. Later, Holcomb said they will look at CAESAR II inside approach where people can use the Smart 3D technology and they can start automating at least some of the basic and more mundane stress analysis decisions.

Analysis is also used a lot in capital projects and by owner operators, and in the maintenance process. Code checking applications are used to check vendor drawings, etc.

The company's CADWorx plant design suite is an AutoCAD-based 3D design tool for smaller projects. Intergraph has not focused on the smaller project market segment in any of their divisions so this is really a first for them. “We see this good opportunity from a product perspective as well as a channel perspective,” said Holcomb. “COADE has an indirect channel which typically tends to be better for smaller purchase, shrinkwrapped software and we think we've got a product software portfolio that will fit that channel better as well.”

Most PPM customers are also using multiple products to accomplish plant design and retrofit, plus since plants are in operation for so many years, many legacy systems are still in use, with legacy data in various stages of translation.

“Based on our experience in this space, the switching barriers are very high in this industry due to technical demands and complexity. After we went through our analysis and risk evaluation process, we came out feeling very confident that COADE will continue to compete well, maybe even better, because instead of being a product from little old COADE, it'll be from big Intergraph,” said Holcomb.

Holcomb said that after most owner operator driven projects are completed and the plant is built, most of the subsequent projects tend to be smaller projects. Having CADWorx “gives us a way to better serve the owner operator across the full enterprise lifecycle of those assets.”

It is market changing to pull a smaller PPM company such as COADE into Intergraph. “Branding a product as coming from Intergraph tends to boost awareness and also boost client confidence in that product,” said Holcomb. “The acquisition opens a new door for us into a couple of new market segments we weren't serving before.”

Granted there will be a lot of work to do to get the products of the two companies well integrated. Intergraph will retain all the employees from COADE and the office. The president of COADE, Tom Van Laan, is now a senior vice president at Intergraph and will be running the COADE product division.

“The day to day operations will not change much other than obviously we'll leverage our marketing channels, we'll begin to get our product teams together based on client priorities,” said Holcomb.

Holcomb added that the COADE brand will go away pretty quickly, but the product brands will remain. Both CAESAR II and CADWorx have strong brands, as do TANK and PV Elite. The COADE company brands will be replaced by Intergraph's in the near future.

In the meantime, in terms of purchasing the COADE product, customers buy from the same source. The only difference will be that Intergraph's name will be on products.

Top News of the Week

Autodesk, Inc. has expanded the availability of the Project Cooper Technology Preview, a simple and easy-to-use free* 2D drawing application, on a global basis. Project Cooper is a technology preview of simple, 2D drawing software intended for landscape and interior designers, planners and project managers, specialty contractors and homeowners. It requires no training to quickly create accurate drawings, layouts and plans. Since October 2009, thousands of U.S. users have tried Project Cooper to create drawings that help clearly present their ideas.

Bentley Systems, Incorporated announced that it has acquired Enterprise Informatics, Incorporated and Exor Corporation. The Enterprise Informatics eB Insight software provides configuration and change management capabilities for mission-critical infrastructure asset operations for the energy, nuclear, rail, and government sectors. Exor information modeling software provides for the management and operations of linear networks for infrastructure, including roads and railways.

Tekla Structures BIM (Building Information Modeling) software is developed according to a long-term plan of improved user experience, process, and functionality. This provides the whole building design and construction project team a unique model-based way of collaboration, including possibilities for increased business, productivity, and sustainability.

UC Berkeley Extension announced its new designation as a U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Education Provider. USGBC sets the standards for the green building industry in the United States and abroad through its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System certification program. UC Berkeley Extension is the first continuing education program at the University of California, and one of the few public continuing education programs in the country, to offer USGBC-approved course credits. UC Berkeley Extension's Sustainability Studies program

Alliances, Agreements, Acquisitions

CT Summation, part of CT, a Wolters Kluwer business, and the provider of litigation workflow and eDiscovery solutions, announced that it has partnered with Informative Graphics Corporation, a developer of viewing, collaboration and redaction tools. The partnership will integrate the redaction capabilities of Informative Graphics' Brava solution, into CT Summation's iBlaze application - giving legal professionals the only solution on the market that combines world-class electronic document management with powerful redaction capabilities.

Viewpoint Construction Software is proud to announce a partnership with three of the top construction software resellers in the United States. These new partners add even more momentum to the accelerating demand for Viewpoint's fully-integrated, comprehensive and configurable enterprise construction solution. The new members are:
Bangert Computer Systems, Cornerstone Solutions, and United Solutions, Inc.

Announcements

WHAT: Autodesk, Inc. announced that it will broadcast its fourth quarter fiscal 2010 financial results conference call live via its website Tuesday, February 23, 2010, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time.
HOW: Autodesk will host a live webcast call at www.autodesk.com/investors. An audio replay webcast and podcast will also be available after 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time on our website at www.autodesk.com/investors.
CONTACT: For more information, please call Autodesk Investor Relations at 415-507-6705.

Avatech Solutions, Inc. announced it will release its financial results for the three and six month periods ended December 31, 2009, before the market opens on Tuesday, February 16, 2010. The Company has scheduled a conference call for 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the same day.

The dial-in numbers for the conference call are (866) 356-4279 (domestic) or (617) 597-5394 (international), and enter the passcode (15575988). A replay of the call will also be available through February 23, 2010, and can be accessed by dialing (888) 286-8010 (domestic) or (617) 801-6888 (international), and dialing the passcode (70993622).

A live webcast of the conference call will be available to all investors in the Investor Relations section of the Company's website.

Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) announced it will provide training on its software and building physics design principles within an integrated design process as part of a new BIM course being run by the San José/Evergreen Community College District's (SJECCD) Workforce Institute. Thanks to a nearly $1 million grant, SJECCD will offer professionals in the building industry specialized training that is critical for helping them maintain a competitive edge and develop more sustainable green building practices.

The high-profile launch by Apple last week of its long-rumored iPad tablet computing device highlights the real start of a new market segment for media tablets that according to analysts at ABI Research will see four million units shipped this year. By 2015, shipments are forecast to reach about 57 million annually.

Bricsys, the developer of Bricscad, announced that Bricscad is no longer based on IntelliCAD. The company - owner of the new Bricscad technology - is no longer member of the IntelliCAD Technology Consortium.

The Bricsys team was one of the first members at the start of the ITC. In recent years Bricsys has developed its own CAD platform, under the Bricscad brand. The release of Bricscad V8 was the first CAD platform based on the new DWGdirect libraries of the ODA, and was in fact a rupture with the former technology used in IntelliCAD. It was also the start of a highly improved set of API's.

Autodesk, Inc. has established a research and development center in Tel Aviv, to help drive the development of emerging technologies such as web-based design and collaboration software. With the addition of Israel to Autodesk's global development network, Autodesk now operates development centers in more than 14 countries around the world.

New Products

Paradigm Imaging Group announced the release of imageFLOW 2.0 - an enhanced version of their popular document imaging software.

Paradigm Imaging's exclusive imageFLOW 2.0 is powerful, user-friendly document imaging software that interfaces with all current Graphtec large format scanners, Paradigm's imagePRO large format scanners, imagePRO FLEX and EIS multifunction systems.

Bluebeam Software announced Bluebeam PDF Revu 8, the newest version of the leading PDF editor for the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. Revu 8 is a turnkey solution for integrating best-in-class PDF creation, markup and editing into digital workflows with amazing new features for customization and improved access to files. Among the new features are integration into Microsoft SharePoint and Bentley ProjectWise, a file management tab and a revamped, customizable interface.

BOXX Technologies together with Autodesk, Inc. announced the introduction of RenderFarm on Wheels (ROW), the world's first turn-key dedicated rendering system. In developing ROW, BOXX engineers worked closely with Autodesk Consulting, an embedded services division helping customers address business problems and optimize operations.

The updated Vallox plugin for MagiCAD is now available for download. The update includes 64-bit version and support for AutoCAD 2010. Both 32- and 64-bit versions of the plugin are compatible with the latest MagiCAD edition.

Graebert GmbH (Berlin) announced ARES, the industry's first native cross-platform CAD solution. ARES provides both industry compatibility and the highest-performance features and capabilities for mission-critical design workflow. Details may be found at the Company's website.

Cadac Organice BV, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner developing Cadac Organice, a SharePoint based engineering document management solution, announces the upcoming introduction of the Cadac Organice 2010 Product Suite.

Cadac Organice 2010 will bring exiting new features and functionalities of which some will be unveiled in the upcoming weeks prior to the official release on March 8, 2010. The new version of the Product Suite is again 100% based on Microsoft SharePoint and provides a smart client to SharePoint that is developed in Microsoft .NET 3.5 technology.

Quantapoint, provider of Digital Facilities that improve safety and decision-making for building, managing and upgrading facility assets -- announced the latest integration of Quantapoint 3D laser scan data into AVEVA NET using AccessPoint. Quantapoint is the world's most experienced 3D laser scanning company, having completed nearly 1,400 projects / 200,000 man-hours of incident-free laser scanning worldwide for the architectural, process, power and offshore industries.

Demonstrating its continued technology leadership and position as the premier graphics solution of choice for design professionals, NVIDIA Corp. announced the availability of its entire new line of Quadro professional graphics solutions for mobile workstations.

Trimble introduced the Trimble TS835 Mechanical Total Station, a premium mechanical total station for building construction professionals. The unique instrument features an onboard Windows CE device running Trimble LM80 Layout Manager software. Building construction professionals can now experience the convenience of this powerful software designed specifically for their applications directly at their fingertips without an external controller. The Trimble TS835 Total Station enables contractors to increase point layout productivity and accuracy while reducing rework and project expenses.

Trimble introduced the Trimble CX 3D Scanner for building construction applications. This advanced, high-accuracy sensor captures more than 50,000 position points per second - enough data to record the details of a target's shape, size and position with very high precision. It is ideal for building construction applications requiring the accurate measurement of as-built structures, in particular, by mechanical, engineering, and plumbing contractors involved in HVAC and pipe installations.

Trimble introduced the Trimble AllTrak Asset Management System running on the advanced Trimble Tablet Rugged PC. Trimble AllTrak on the Trimble Tablet supplies building construction contractors with quantitative information about assets, which they can use to analyze and improve the utilization of equipment, tools, and consumables. With accurate asset information at their fingertips, contractors can make informed decisions about asset acquisition and maintenance. In addition, the system increases return on investment by improving asset utilization and monitoring equipment to avoid losses.

Maxwell Systems, Inc. introduced Maxwell Systems ProContractorMX 2.0, a comprehensive, all-in-one construction business management solution that includes key capabilities for takeoff estimating; bids and proposals; management of projects, procurement, financials, employees and payroll, and equipment; and intelligent dashboards and critical reports for timely analysis of projects or the business overall.

StrucSoft Solutions launched MWF Professional, a significant new upgrade of its metal and wood framing solution for Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010 and Revit Structure 2010. MWF is a template-driven extension to Revit that streamlines design, shop floor drawing production, and manufacture of light gauge metal and wood framing.

“MWF Professional pushes the limit of framing automation in the Revit environment and provides framing designers, engineers, builders, contractors and fabricators with the tools required take on serious metal or wood framing projects,” commented Amir Masood, VP of marketing and business development at Strucsoft Solutions.

Around the Web

Olympics and tech: 'No room to fail' (Q&A), by Ina Fried, Feb. 8, 2010, CNET News.com

A New Space Program February 8, 2010, The New York Times (Opinion) (registration required)

7 green building trends for 2010 by Mirkin3, January 10, 2010, Off-grid

Events