The most creative engineers in the world are in the U.S., and all the breakthroughs in new technology come from here.
Right?
Wrong, of course.
Certainly, U. S. engineers are among the first to take a chance with new technology. Just ask software developers. They’ll tell you that most often it’s Americans who will try the latest CAD innovation first. 3D solid modeling software, for example, has taken off faster here than in Europe and Asia. Still, a closer look reveals some interesting insights:
CATIA, long one of the major CAD programs in the world and among the leaders in adding new functionality, is developed in France by Dassault Systemes, a subsidiary of IBM.
Open CASCADE, the recently commercialized software architecture of Matra Datavision, is also a product of French origin.
Frammasoft, another innovative software package, is based in France.
OneSpace, one of the pioneering web-enabled engineering collaboration tools, originated in CoCreate’s German offices.
SYSNOISE, among the leading finite element analysis programs for predicting vibroacoustics, is developed in Belgium for LMS.
FALANCS, another LMS software product for predicting durability and fatigue, is developed in Germany.
MICROCADAM, another important CAD package is developed in part in Japan.
And we haven’t even touched on some of the other important engineering technologies that originate outside the U.S. For example, such leading and innovative companies as Schneeberger, NTN Bearing, NSK, NMB, and SKF, among others, all have major product-line-development arms on other continents. And each one, like the software companies, is noted for the quality of its technology and technical support.
You’ll find many other examples of innovative engineering work in this special International Issue of Design News. It all points to one of the prime realities of design and manufacturing today:
Engineering genius is truly a global phenomenon—more now than ever before.
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The Nest is a sleek-looking digital thermostat which can actually "learn" its owners' schedule and then continue to regulate temperature to suit the user's preferences and patterns.
Thanks to embedded electronics, medical devices are getting smaller and smarter than ever. Pacemakers and implantable defibrillators are now able to call physicians. MRIs, CT scanners, and ultrasound machines are gaining mobility. And the venerable Band-Aid may soon be able to detect illnesses ranging from fevers to heart arrhythmias. On February 21, join Design News senior editor Charles Murray for a wide-ranging discussion, "Embedded Angles for Medical Products," which will explore the latest developments in medical electronics. The discussion will examine advances in medical device technology and offer an inside look at the embedded electronics behind it.
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