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Most recent blog entries
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MCAD and EDA Oligopolies |
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Russ Henke
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By Russ Henke on
3/31/2007 10:04 AM
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In my first Cyon blog entry on March 2, 2007, I mentioned that I would
occasionally offer comments on engineering software, particularly for Mechanical
CAD (MCAD) and Electronic Design Automation (EDA). On March 9, the blog entry
related to the recent passing of pioneers in MCAD and EDA. Today it might be
useful to take a moment to compare these two software industries in general,
especially the oligopolies that seem to dominate each.
In MCAD, one usually identifies four vendor companies whose worldwide revenues now
make up a huge percentage of the entire MCAD software industry: Autodesk, Dassault
Systemes, UGS and PTC. Each enjoys reported annual sales near or well-above one
billion U.S. dollars.
In EDA, observers usually refer to the “Big 3” vendors: Cadence, Synopsys and
Mentor Graphics. Both Cadence and Synopsys revenues are well over a billion
dollars per year each, ...
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Climate Change -- Danger and Opportunity |
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Russ Henke
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By Russ Henke on
3/22/2007 3:26 AM
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On the heels of my March 9, 2007 blog entry, lamenting the passing of two pioneers in MCAD/CAE and EDA, respectively, comes the news of the passing of John Backus at age 82, the creator of FORTRAN. As the early engineers and programmers of my generation recall, FORTRAN was among the first "high level computer programming languages" that allowed us to avoid machine coding. Many’s the late night of university thesis research and related software development, when we gave thanks to Mr. Backus of IBM.
But today I want to depart from MCAD and EDA briefly, to comment on the advent of Spring, the rising awareness of climate change, and finally doing something about it!
For example, while Applied Materials here in Silicon Valley sports over a thousand seats of commercial MCAD/CAE software, employing “virtual prototyping” to help design semiconductor manufacturing equipment, the company made other news on March 17, 2007, by announcing at its annual shareholde ...
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Pioneers in MCAD/MCAE and EDA |
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Russ Henke
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By Russ Henke on
3/9/2007 12:00 PM
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In my first blog item on March 2, 2007, I indicated that topics related to both MCAD/MCAE and EDA would occasionally be mentioned in future blog entries. In reflecting on the current state of these two related industries, I realized that two authentic pioneers who helped advance the state-of-the-art were lost to us in recent months. Indeed, Dr. Jason R. Lemon and Dr. A. Richard Newton both passed away within a week of each other as 2006 ended and 2007 began.
Dr. Jason R. Lemon was a bona fide pioneer in Mechanical Computer Aided Engineering (MCAE). Still serving as CEO of International TechneGroup Incorporated (ITI), Milford, OH, Dr. Lemon passed away on December 27, 2006 after a decades-long battle with cancer. He was 71 years old. In addition to starting ITI in 1983, Dr. Lemon earlier founded Structural Dynamics Research Corporation (SDRC) in 1967, as an outgrowth of his work at the University of Cincinnati. SDRC was ultimately merg ...
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First blog entry for Russ - a brief introduction |
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Russ Henke
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By Russ Henke on
3/2/2007 6:15 AM
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It's a pleasure to have become part of the Cyon Research team, as of the end of February 2007. For those who may have missed the press release, you may go to:
http://cyonresearch.com/News/tabid/58/newsid382/99/mid/382/Cyon-Research-Adds-Distinguished-Analyst/Default.aspx
In the weeks and months ahead, I will try to share some thoughts that relate to COFES and COFES attendees. While issues surrounding MCAD and MCAE will naturally arise, I may also introduce topics from the world of Electronic Design Automation (EDA), since both mechanical and electronics are parts of my corporate and consulting backgrounds. I must confess that most of my experience these days focuses on business, management and marketing issues related to these disciplines, rather than technical details surrounding software and hardware feat ...
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Is there a future for the Engineering Profession |
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Brian Seitz
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By Brian Seitz on
1/27/2007 9:43 AM
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The signs that the engineering profession, like medicine, is in flux are all around. As Engineering S/W becomes more "intelligent" design democratization become more possible and probable. Does this spell the end of engineering as a profession, a transition to a new model of work, or potentially a redefinition of engineering?
A long time ago Engineering was considered a highly qualified and respected profession. The profession and the disciplines under that profession (civil, mechanical, Electrical, ...
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Siemens to buy UGS for $3.5b |
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Brad Holtz
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By Brad Holtz on
1/24/2007
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The London Financial Times announced this afternoon that UGS is about to be acquired by Siemens. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/af89b41c-aba4-11db-a0ed-0000779e2340.html
The deal, which is out of Siemens' automation group, is likely to be designed to leverage the factory automation tools from UGS, not unlike the relationship that Dassault Systemes has with Schneider Electric.
The price clearly reflects that this deal is strategic to Siemens -- the dollar value of their factory automation group dwarfs that of UGS and if the new relationship can bump that number up even a small percentage, the cost of Siemens purchase will seem quite reasonable.
This is one of those deals where everyone wins.
Siemens gets a strategic asset at a discounted price. UGS' financials have not been a strong as its competitors ...
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