3D CAD NEWS

CADCAMNet is reporting today that engineering IT stocks have, as a group, dropped 38% in 2008.

Of 47 stocks in the report, only two are up for the year, (Delcam and Navtec) while 14 are down 50% or more.

The article shows results for each of the 47 companies, and also by categories (AEC/GIS/Plant, MCAD/CAE, CAM/RP, Channel/Services/cPDM, and ECAD). As a category, ECAD is down the most, while MCAD/CAE is down the least.

More information: www.cadcamnet.com.

Stratasys today announced that John McEleney of SolidWorks fame, has been elected to its board of directors. McEleney, who is still a director at SolidWorks after resigning his post as CEO of the company earlier this year, is also on the board of Newforma, a company which develops AEC project management software.

Stratasys is a pretty cool RP company, and has recently moved into the areas of direct digital manufacturing with its latest system, the FDM 900mc. It has seen consistently good revenue growth over the last few years, and is anticipating 2007 revenues to be between $109 - $112 million.

We suspect that John’s influence on the company will be good for them all. He is respected across the industry, not just for his MCAD smarts but his business savvy.

Just today, 3D Systems announced the V-Flash™ Desktop Modeler which will allow “ready-to-use, three-dimensional models within hours’ at the home, school or office. The system will be available in the summer of 07 and measures 25-by-26-by-27 inches. It will weigh about 100 pounds and have a maximum build volume of 7 by 9 inches and 8 inches tall.

As importantly, it will be priced at $9,900 so it is targeted at hobbyists, students and schools. Coupled with Tormach’s $7k milling machine, it won’t be long before we can all have a short-run production line at home.

Again, this hobbyist market is gaining ground and building attention from vendors. It is a market with a lot of potential and something that the bigger (i.e. more costly) vendors need to look at.