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Archive for March, 2013

Autodesk Announces New 2014 Software Portfolio

Wednesday, March 27th, 2013

 

Richard Humphrey, senior director, Industry Strategy at Autodesk, spoke about the company’s newly announced 2014 software portfolio in a press conference held Tuesday, March 26th.

Autodesk ReCap

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Autodesk completes Firehole Technologies acquisition

Wednesday, March 20th, 2013

Autodesk has completed the acquisition of Firehole Technologies (DBA Firehole Composites), a privately held software company that specializes in design and analysis software for composite materials. This acquisition will enable Autodesk to expand its expertise and technology to help its customers manage the next generation of lighter, stronger, safer and more energy efficient materials.

Based in Laramie, Wyoming, Firehole Composites answers the need for new simulation technology that can predict and optimize the performance of the new light weight composite materials. With this acquisition, Autodesk can deliver this technology to a broad spectrum of design and engineering industries. According to Buzz Kross, senior vice president for Design, Lifecycle and Simulation products at Autodesk,  the Firehole team will add significant expertise in next generation materials and non-linear analysis, as well as industry-leading technologies that strongly complement the company’s solutions for structural, thermal and plastics analysis.

It is expected that Autodesk will sell and support the existing Firehole Composites product line, which includes Helius:MCT and Helius:CompositePro. Ultimately the technology will be geared up for closer integration with Autodesk products.

Newforma product line spring 2013 release

Friday, March 15th, 2013

Bob Batcheler, co-founder and executive vice president of Strategy for Newforma, talked with AECCafe Voice about the new spring 2013 release of the Newforma product line. The company is well known for its Newforma Project Center, a project information management software (PIM). The product line also includes Newforma Building Information Management, Newforma Contract Management, Newforma Project Analyzer and Newforma Project Cloud. Its new enterprise project resource management software, Newforma Project Analyzer, is a product built expressly for project managers and principals in architecture and engineering firms.

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VIZERRA introduces Revizto next gen 3D software

Tuesday, March 12th, 2013

VIZERRA introduced the next generation of its Revizto cloud-based collaboration software to make it even easier for architects, engineers and contractors (AEC) to communicate their design intent with project owners in a 3-D environment. The new version of the Interactive 3-D platform allows users to view their Revizto interactive 3-D designs via iPad and Android tablets to communicate easily in the field.

Additionally, smoother control and navigation make this new version simpler to use and can be used by those who are not design professionals.  Revizto – Latin for “visual check” – helps AEC professionals avoid project complications by working in real time through 3-D technology, without having to learn a new software program. An Autodesk Revit or Trimble SketchUp project can be turned into an interactive, data-rich 3-D environment in minutes. The result is a Visual Information Model (VIM) that can easily be shared with the entire team via the Revizto Viewer in a cloud environment, including the associated video notes, markers and screenshots.

Bentley cites important market trends for 2013

Monday, March 4th, 2013

Huw Roberts, Bentley Systems vice president, core marketing, shared some predictions on important market trends for 2013:

There is a focus in construction on integrated projects, so my top-level prediction for the year is that the characteristic of projects and project teams will continue to become increasingly integrated. Infrastructure owners have been looking to integrate project delivery types for a number of years. There are many models, including IPD in the U.S., design-build-operate, joint ventures, and project alliancing. It’s really not important which model becomes the frontrunner; what matters is that the trend toward finding ways to integrate project teams and processes, and of eliminating silos of activity that only act sequentially, will continue to become the dominant way of delivering projects.

This is already creating some needs in the market and shaping what happens this year. To begin with, there is growing demand for information modeling for all aspects of infrastructure projects – for building design, site design, utilities, fabrication, construction, and so on – and this is fast becoming the norm. Information modeling deliverables are what owners want to receive and what designers and contractors want to produce. Design firms and construction firms see value in this approach and that perception is going to grow and accelerate demand for it.

This change in attitude is being driven by the realization that the best solution is not a “one size fits all.” What information modeling means to a building design team is different from what it means to the folks working on the roads and developing the land around that building, and also very different from what it means to the construction crews and the teams that will eventually be charged with operating and maintaining that building. So there’s a growing awareness in the market of the need for those different information modeling approaches to work together, and support for an iterative process is taking hold. Many project organizations and enterprises recognize that they have different tools, processes, and skillsets that have to work together in order to achieve an information modeling approach that serves their own purposes.

Here’s a case in point. A few years ago everyone was excited about the fact that architects and engineers were moving to smarter 3D models, and then that constructors were moving to 3D. Today, owners are soliciting projects that require the delivery team to not only design but also build and operate the building. These delivery teams quickly recognize the need to integrate multiple information modeling approaches to serve their various needs across the infrastructure lifecycle. And all of this awareness is driving growth at project and enterprise scales.

Some firms are working to apply various technologies in new areas, and many struggle by trying to “mash” information or processes into a tool or technology that’s not suited for their workflows or purpose. Increasingly, they are beginning to realize that multiple technologies need to be involved on every project. Why? Because some information is best suited to be in a CAD system, while other information can be better processed and managed in a BIM system, database system, operational control system, discipline-specific analysis system, machine control system, and so on. Anyone familiar with real-world projects knows that it makes no sense to put everything into a single system.

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