CAD in industry

U K Institutions to merge in 1988 Members of the UK Institution of Electrical Engineers and the Institu- tion of Electronic and Radio Engineers have recognised the convergence of their respective fields and voted to merge with each other.

The vote was 97% in favour of the creation of a new Institution that will serve all their needs. The new body will retain the title, the Institution of Electrical Engineers and will become the largest of the UK Chartered Engin- eering Institutions with more than 100 000 members. Nearly a quarter of the membership lives outside of the UK.

The new institution will come into being on the 1st October 1988. It will cover the art, science and practise of electrical, electronic and software engineering activities in such fields as power, control, instrumentation, broadcasting, telecommunications, computer and information systems.

The Institutions hope that their merger will lead to a broader range of Learned Society activities and the adoption of common standards for professional qualifications. (The Institution of Electrical Engineers, Savoy Place, London WC2R OBL, UK.) (The Institution of Electronic and Radio Engineers , 99 Gower Street, London WCIE 6AZ, UK.)

PC AT package developed for construction industry A package has been deveioped for structural and civil engineers, archi- tects and others within the construc- tion industry. It is called CAD-Build and it uses a 32-bit processor and a high resolution graphics screen to convert an IBM PC AT compatible computer into a CAD workstation.

The CAD software that forms the core of the system is Diamond from Advanced Sofware Application. GTS has added a different command struc- ture and a library of commonly used building components. Command language files can be added to custo- mize the system for specific user applications.

CAD-Build was launched at the Construction Industry Computing Exhibition held in London in Feb- ruary. It is being marketed as part of a joint venture by GTS and Abcons Computers.

A single workstation system that includes an A1 size plotter, work station and software will cost approxi- mately £25 000. Multi-user systems can be created by networking indivi- dual workstations and using mass storage devices. (CAD-Build, Brooklyn House, Brook Street, Shepshed, Leics LE12 9RG, UK. Tel: (0509) 508060)

Institute encourages study of CIM

A CIM Institute has been founded at the Cranfield Institute of Technology in Bedford, UK. Financial backing for the Institute has been provided by IBM and Ford of Europe. Arthur D Little, a consultancy firm, has released Peter Stokes, its Director for Opera- tions Management and CtM consulting in Europe, to head the CIM Institute.

One of the objectives of the Insti- tute is to become a leading research and postgraduate centre dedicated to the study of computer integrated manufacturing. The Institute hopes to ensure that manufacturing industry is fully conversant with CIM technology, that companies introduce effective CIM systems within their own manu- facturing environments, and that there is a supply of trained engineers to support them. (CIM Institute, Crenfield Institute of Technology, Cranfield, Bedford MK43 OAL, UK)

Company people appointments

Wyse Technology has appointed Jun Sato as its Vice President of Engineer- ing with responsibility for display and low-end systems. Sato joins Wyse from Remanco Systems Corporation, where he was in charge of research and deve- lopment. He replaces Grace Tse, who will now be focusing on new product

areas for Wyse, such as high resolution graphics.

Wolfgang Gollinger has been chosen for the position of Director of Engin- eering at Austria Microsystems Inter- national. Gollinger had previously worked for ITT where he managed circuit designs for several MOS process technologies.

A new applications engineer has been appointed by RWT. lan Beck will specialise in software support for computer integrated manufacturing systems.

John McGrath has joined the Board of Robotechnic as Joint Managing Director, McGrath has joined Robo- technic from Techno Electronics Ltd where he was General Manager. Robo- technic specialises in image creation and processing systems.

Bill Campbell has been promoted to the position of UK and North Euro- pean Business Manager for GenRad's Design Automation Products Group. Before his promotion, he worked for GenRad as its Sales Manager for UK and Eire.

Computervision has appointed Fred Humphreys as its UK Sales Manager. Humphreys joins Computervision from the office automation supplier AES.

Bob O'Neill has become Product Engineering Executive with respon- sibility for product design and deve- lopment for Otter Controls Ltd.

Hi-Tek CAE has recruited Graham Youngs as VLSI Design Support Eng- ineer. His role will be to assist in pro- viding electronic design automation service for potential users of applica- tion specific integrated circuits, digital system developers and analogue circuit designers.

RacaI-Redac establishes branch in Australia Racal-Redac Pty is being established in Australia to market Racal's elec- tronic CAE and CAD products. The company's General Manager, Colin Watson will head a sales and technical team responsible for supporting Redac's Visula electronic design sys- tem and its Redcad suite of software.

Colin Watson said that he hoped to provide Australian industry with efficient local service.

volume 19 number 2 march 1987 107