Predicting the Future of CAD

By Jeff Ray, SolidWorks Corp.

Ever since 1982, when Professor David C. Gossard manipulated ghostly images of geometric models on a black computer screen in an MIT lab, the “future of CAD” has morphed into jaw-dropping reality. Despite all of the spectacular achievements to date, CAD still has far to go in terms of performance,  simplicity, connectivity, and intelligence. I predict:

• We will stop waiting for our CAD systems to catch up to our commands. Despite advances in processing power and software performance, users of any CAD system today still have to wait for large assemblies to open, photorealistic images to render, and simulations to complete. This is improving, but every performance increase invites new, complex, and processing-hungry capabilities. Multi-core processors and new powerful graphics processing units are particularly promising solutions.

• The user experience will simply excel.Parametric 3D CAD software is one of the most powerful applications on earth — and one of the most complex. As a result, there is the occasional hiccup, which is why every savvy CAD user saves early and saves often. CAD software needs to be as reliable as other applications; e.g., database,  browser, and office tools. Getting this done is a high priority. Expect major advances in the near future.

• “CAD overhead” will disappear. Anything that stands between a designer’s vision and executing the design is CAD overhead. I’m referring to the details, workflows, special techniques, and master workarounds particular to CAD software but not to engineering per se;  i.e., feature order, sketch conflicts, and mating issues. 3D CAD software,  through approaches like SolidWorks Intelligent Feature Technology, or SWIFT,  has solved a lot of these issues, enabling the novice to work like an expert. Users can increasingly focus on what they want to accomplish, not on the rules of 3D CAD software. I predict these capabilities will get even better.

• Upgrade? No problem. It’s still too complicated to get a team up and running on new CAD software or upgrades. Look for the Internet to change all this, whether CAD becomes a service from the “cloud” or delivery just improves. Either way, everyone will have the latest and greatest tools in real time.

• The term “data management” will become obsolete. Even a very good data management product requires some attention to use and administer. In the future, data management will be an integral part of every CAD operation. Every operation on every part or assembly will be automatically recorded, saved, and preserved. Save early and often? Forget about it, CAD will do it for you. Search, meanwhile, will be intuitive and automatic and deliver your intended target every time.

• We’ll have anytime-anywhere design access. Superior data management also means you can access a design from any place at any time from any device and do what you need to do with this design. Need to switch out a part while you’re sitting in the airport? Hit a key on your iPhone and you’re in the model. Drag, drop, sign off, and take a nap.

• CAD as engineering tool, not just design tool. Although CAD software is becoming easy enough for anyone to use, in the future it will perform more of the heavy lifting of a world-class engineer automatically. Simulation will become one and the same as design. As you create products, CAD will run FEA, cost analysis, manufacturability testing, motion simulations, and more. Think of the way your word processor checks your spelling and maybe grammar as you type. It will be like that, on steroids.

  However the future of CAD shakes out, it is a bright one for our quality of life, our creativity, and our business performance. As ever, the future of CAD is becoming the state of the art as we speak.

Jeff Ray is CEO of Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. (Concord, MA). Send an e-mail about this commentary to [email protected].