product designTag Archives

solidThinking Expands its VAR Network by Adding U.K.-Based Cadsoft Solutions

We are pleased to announce that we have recently signed Cadsoft Solutions Limited to our network of worldwide distributors. As the company’s U.K.-based distributor, Cadsoft Solutions will introduce its creative design and architectural customer base to the extensive design capabilities of solidThinking 8.5 and solidThinking 8.5 Inspired™.

Located in Cambridge, Cadsoft Solutions provides 2D and 3D CAD and design software solutions that enable innovative product development and design. The addition of solidThinking to its product portfolio will further enhance Cadsoft Solutions’ ability to provide its customers with the latest in concept design technology.

solidThinking and Cadsoft Solutions will jointly offer hands-on demonstrations of solidThinking 8.5 and solidThinking 8.5 Inspired™ at the ProductDesign + Innovation Conference in London, May 18-19. solidThinking is a major sponsor of the event, where senior product design and innovation professionals from leading brands, OEMs and consultancies will share ideas and explore emerging sources for growth. Come and meet us!

solidthinking
May 5, 2011
Events, News from the ID World, solidThinking News
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U.S. Air Force “Rescue Tool” Wins Bronze IDEA (International Design Excellence Award) at the IDSA National Conference

Design and engineering team members from solidThinking and AltairProductDesign are excited to share that their joint submission of a human-powered “rescue tool” designed for use by the U.S. Air Force, has been recognized by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and Fast Company magazine as one of the 2010 most inventive and creative product and product concept designs.

Announced at the recent IDSA National Conference in Portland, Oregon, held from Aug 3-7, the rescue tool (or U.S. Air Force Extrication Tool) was selected as a winner from the highest number of entrants in the competition’s 30-year history.   The tool is designed to allow U.S. Air Force search and rescue teams to extricate trapped personnel from damaged or disabled ground vehicles and aircraft without the use of auxiliary power sources.  Following extensive user research, the tool is designed to be 30 percent lighter and 15 percent shorter than the tool currently deployed for rescue missions and is meant to be operable by a single rescuer.

When combined, these features not only make rescuers more efficient, but also give them the ability to get to mission locations more quickly and easy because the tool is lighter, smaller and easier to handle.

For additional information, visit the IDSA website at: http://www.idsa.org/content/content1/usaf-extrication-tool

solidthinking
September 17, 2010
Altair, Design Awards, product design, solidThinking News
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A Nod to Innovative Design Solutions and ‘Greener’ Mass Transit: BUSolutions

We wanted to share with you a cool application of product design collaboration for the transportation industry from our parent company, Altair. The company’s ProductDesign division recently announced it has officially kicked-off its BUSolutions program to build an advanced bus design to lower transit authority operating costs and further minimize the environmental impact of public transportation.

The project makes extensive use of virtual prototyping and optimization technologies that drive the entire product design process, taking into consideration the needs of transit authorities, bus drivers, riders and the communities within the transit system.

It will deliver a low-floor, heavy-duty bus design that is substantially lighter than those currently available. This means reduced fuel consumption, reduced wear on city streets, longer tire and component life, and reduced noise and pollution; all highly-desirable benefits for communities that are reliant on public transportation.

BUSolutions is a collaborative effort between a number of public and private entities including local Southeast Michigan-based organizations Automation Alley, SMART and the Detroit Department of Transportation; and globally recognized companies Arvin Meritor and Alcoa Howmet among many others.

Altair ProductDesign is now one step closer to the fruition of the project. Fabrication of the bus body structure is currently underway with partner  Odyssey Industries.

Final assembly is slated to begin this summer at Altair, so we are looking forward to sharing progress on this project and other innovative design applications from Altair with you.

solidthinking
May 6, 2010
Altair, News from the ID World, product design, Transportation
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Altair’s HyperWorks Technology Conference 2010

Last week, solidThinking team members had the pleasure of joining over 450 attendees at the 2010 HyperWorks Technology Conference (HTC) in Novi, Michigan, April 27-29.

The annual three-day conference is part of the HyperWorks Technology Conference Global Series put on by our parent company, Altair, and offers sessions on advancements in simulation-driven design practices, design optimization, data management, process automation, cloud computing and decision support systems.

Attendees have access to an extensive PLM technology exhibition, including solidThinking. I had the opportunity to speak during day one of the conference among leaders including Altair founder and CEO Jim Scapa; HyperWorks CTO Dr. Uwe Schramm; Ford Motor Company Vice President of Engineering for Global Product Development Paul Mascarenas; and Porsche General Manager – Virtual Vehicle Christoph Guembel. I was joined onstage by solidThinking Industrial Designer and Product Specialist Darren Chilton, who also later provided a product demo to Jeff Rowe of MCADCafe at the solidThinking exhibition booth.

There was positive dialogue and enthusiasm expressed throughout the conference from attendees, Altair representatives, partners and exhibitors, and we were impressed to present to a standing-room only audience as we shared the benefits of conceptual design technology on product development. We discussed “Getting the Right Design, Getting the Design Right,” focusing on ways industrial designers can leverage advancements in modeling and rendering technologies to enhance the entire product development cycle, including:

1. Exploring more design alternatives and identifying winning designs sooner

2. Considering efficient forms early in the concept phase

3. Managing modifications and improving collaboration with engineering

4. Using rendering for interactive design review and validation


Overall, the HTC provided us with a setting where we could contribute our knowledge and user feedback to a wide audience and share it across many industries. Congratulations to Altair on a successful conference. The HTC Global Series moves now to Japan (June), India (August) and Europe (October).

solidthinking
April 30, 2010
Events, product design, solidThinking News
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solidThinking Presentations at CimWorks, Spain March 9, 10, and 11

CimWorks, solidThinking Spain reseller, is hosting three solidThinking presentations for Spanish industrial designers. The two-hour presentations will be given by CimWorks and solidThinking Product Specialist, Adel Matar.

MADRID
Date/Time: March 9,  11:00 am
Location: CimWorks
Avda. America 32, desp 251, pta1
28922 Alcorcón

VALENCIA
Date/Time: March 10,  11:00 am
Location: AIMME
Parque Tecnológico de Paterna, Avda. Leonardo Da Vinci 38
46980 PATERNA (Valencia)
Directions

BARCELONA
Date/Time: March 11,  11:00 am
Location: ELISAVA Escola Superior de Disseny
La Rambla 30-32 (entrada por Plaza de Joaquim Xirau)
08002 Barcelona
Directions

Contact: Yolanda Garijo
ygarijo@cimworks.es
Tel. 93 544 14 60

solidthinking
March 4, 2010
Events
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User Story: Automotive Lighting Rear Lamps, Design in Light

Automotive Lighting is a leader in the research, development, and production of a complete range of technologies for front and rear lighting, fog lights, head-lamp, and other electronic components.

Automotive Lighting Rear Lamps Italia, a division of Automotive Lighting, has used solidThinking since 2001 in three phases of the product development cycle: ideation, development, and visualization.

Click here to download the PDF and read the story.
solidthinking
February 23, 2010
Transportation, User Stories
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solidThinking exhibitions in China

To sustain expansion into Asian market, solidThinking is present in two important design events held in China.

The 4th ICCIE (International Cultural & Creative Industry Expo) will consist of 6 main components, i.e., Key Activities, Exhibitions, Forums/Summits, Promotions and Trade Fairs, Creative Activities and Art Performances.

The China National Convention Center will be the main venue for conferences and the China International Exhibition Center the main venue for exhibitions. 18 exhibition areas under different themes will be organized during November 26-29, 2009 covering a total exhibition area of 65,000m2, in parallel to which, the 4th ICCIE will arrange 9 subsessions, 9 quality-oriented forums/summits, 9 promotions/trade fairs, 10 creative activities and 5 performances.

4th Beijing International Cultural & Creative Industry Expo
November 25-26, 2009 (Exhibition)
International Exhibition Center, Beijing, China
Hall 4, Booth 4113-4114

Part of Guangzhou Design Week, the International Design Expo (Dec. 4 – 8, 2009) is one of the most influential comprehensive design exhibition in China. Since 2006, exhibition area has added up to 70.000 sq meters, boasting more than 100,000 professional visitors from design institutions as well as brands at home and aboard.

Int’l Design Expo 2009 covers a wide range of fields including architecture and landscape design, interior design, industrial design and graphic design. It plays the roles as an information center for sharing worldwide cutting-edge design trends and biz platform for designers and branding enterprises, leads trends life style, improving brands images to win the market opportunity.

The Guangzhou Design Week is endorsed & promoted worldwide by three of the top design organizations, such as International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID), International Council of Graphic Design Associations (ICOGRADA), and International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI).

Guangzhou Design Week
International Design Expo
December 4-8, 2009
Guangzhou Jinhan Exhibition Center
Hall 2, Booth 518

 

solidthinking
November 18, 2009
Events, News from the ID World, solidThinking News
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solidThinking 8.0 and solidThinking 8.0 Inspired have finally arrived!

With the help of our users’ feedback and support, we are proud to release today solidThinking 8.0 and solidThinking 8.0 Inspired.

Check out our multimedia news release at
www.prnewswire.com/mnr/solidthinking/39369 for the complete announcement, stunning visuals and more.

Designers are constantly seeking new sources of inspiration and for technologies that most naturally translate that inspiration into a viable design. We’ve listened intently to your feedback and have integrated new enhancements and capabilities to these latest releases in order to meet designers’ and architects’ key needs and software-use nuances. All updates have been made to further stimulate your creativity and continue to offer as much design flexibility as possible.

Both solidThinking 8.0 and solidThinking 8.0 Inspired will feature major user-centric design and productivity enhancements, such as a restyled and more streamlined user interface, powerful 3D manipulators for transformations, real-time and progressive rendering, new materials and models libraries, High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDRI) capabilities, and much more. Additionally, as part of solidThinking 8.0 Inspired we’re introducing new sources of computational inspiration, including morphogenesis™ – a new technology that allows designers to leverage efficiencies in nature when creating and developing their designs.

Drawing on the principles of biomimicry, the morphogenesis feature in the premiere release of solidThinking 8.0 Inspired mimics processes and physical laws in nature to help designers and architects generate forms and structures in response to environmental conditions, using the results as inspiration to further stimulate their designs.

The advancements within solidThinking 8.0 and 8.0 Inspired are dedicated to providing our users with the capability to explore virtually countless design options.

For more information, cool visuals, demos, webinars and download opportunities, visit us at www.solidthinking.com.

solidthinking
September 14, 2009
solidThinking News
0 comments
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A new source of inspiration for product designers and architects is on the way

Get ready to evaluate the new morphogenesis form-generation technology. Click here for more.

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solidthinking
August 27, 2009
Architecture, product design, solidThinking News
0 comments
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solidThinking User Emilio Cassani interviewed by Architosh

Architosh, the internet magazine dedicated to Mac CAD and 3D professionals, recently interviewed Emilio Cassani, a long time solidThinking User who works exclusively on the Mac, developing creative and attractive solutions to various design problems in industry.

Talking of the Handle, an award winning electric guitar, he says: “The Handle is a perfect example of what can be done with solidThinking: look at the fluidity of its contours and surfaces. This 3D model is completely history-based and can be modified at any time by implementing new components. That is the strength in solidThinking.” 

Click here to read the complete interview.

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solidthinking
July 13, 2009
Mac, Musical Instruments, News from the ID World, User Stories
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