Software companies migrate to Chicago

This year's National Design Engineering Show, to be held February 23-26 at McCormick Place in Chicago, promises to draw a crowd to see the latest new products, hear the latest conferences, and participate in company events.

For software companies, the biggest crowd appeal will be new products that cannot even be mentioned before the start of the show. In these instances, attendees may have to seek out the unveilings. But for the other draws, Design News has compiled a brief overview of what seekers of some software companies' booths may expect.

Autodesk (Booth #4011) will feature a theme of "Create It-Manage It-Share It-Build It." Among the products on display and for demo:

CADALYST magazine's Lynn Allen will discuss the transition from AutoCAD to Autodesk Inventor at the Autodesk booth Tuesday through Thursday in both morning and afternoon sessions called "Making the leap from 2D to 3D." Also on the schedule, Robert Kross, vice president of Autodesk's Manufacturing Solutions Division, is slated to be a panelist on "The Future of 3D Mechanical Design: Lifting the Software Barrier to Creative Product Design" conference on February 24 at 10 a.m.

COSMOS (Booth #4118) plans to draw a crowd with its COSMOSXpress challenge (www.cosmosm.com/cosmosexpress.html), which features over $5,000 in prizes, including a new computer from HP. The challenge works by having engineers solve four "simple" analysis problems with COSMOSXpress (takes less than five minutes). According to COSMOS, the challenge is designed to show engineers not only how easy it is to do analysis, but also how important analysis can be in determining potential design flaws and correcting them early in the design process.

SolidWorks customers and potential users may plan to hear about a new add-on product at the SolidWorks booth (#2411), where the company intends to also highlight eDrawings and 3D PartStream.NET enhancements. Bob McGill, Director of SolidWorks Business Alliance, will also be the featured speaker for the ASME-sponsored conference entitled "Moving Design Collaboration to the Internet," which will explore time-to-market factors that can make or break revenue, and how the Internet can help. The conference is designed to show attendees how to use the Internet to collaborate on designs in real time; speed the design review process; reduce the rate of errors; and connect suppliers and manufacturers. John McEleney, CEO of SolidWorks, is also scheduled to be a panelist on "The Future of 3D Mechanical Design: Lifting the Software Barrier to Creative Product Design" conference along with Autodesk's Robert Kross. The conference will feature panelists discussing the future of CAD, the challenges it faces, and how the technology can simultaneously improve creativity and time-to-market.

At the UGS PLM Solutions booth (#3411), attendees will hear about a new product--the only hint at this time is that it is related to Solid Edge v15. Available demos include the NX product suite, to cover CAE software, and the TeamCenter PLM suite. The company also plans to feature a live demonstration of "JACK" human interface software-picture someone wearing a bodysuit with sensors hooked up to the computer. And if "JACK" is not incentive enough, UGS PLM Solutions will be giving away an Arctic Cat DVX 400 ATV, which attendees may register for free.

These are just a handful of demos, conferences, new product announcements, and give-aways that attendees may expect to find from the exhibiting software companies. Stay tuned for more.

To view the conference program or list of exhibitors, go to www.designengineeringshow.com.