Shape Data

Shape Data Limited was a computer software company in Cambridge, England that specialised in developing programs for engineering and manufacturing professionals.

Shape Data Limited was a computer software company in Cambridge, England that specialised in developing programs for engineering and manufacturing professionals. ==History== ===University of Cambridge=== Shape Data was founded in 1974¹ by Doctors Charles Lang, Ian Braid, Alan Grayer, and Peter Veenman. Veenman became the sole employee of the company at the time of its founding, while Lang, Braid, and Grayer initially continued work at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory. All four founders were doctoral students at the University of Cambridge. In 1965, Professor Maurice Wilkes and his graduate student Lang established the Computer Aided Design Group at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory. The initial purpose of the research group was to develop tools for building mechanical CAD/CAM systems. In particular, the group worked to engineer early forms of computational geometry, computer graphics, and software system components. Early revenue for Shape Data came from business-to-business consultancies. In 1975, the company was contracted by the General Electric Company to develop a solid modeller based on the computational geometric work of Ian Braid's Ph.D thesis. In 1978, after three years of development, Shape Data released Romulus, the world's first commercialised solid geometric modeller software program. By 1980, the company had expanded to about a dozen employees. The company was the target of a takeover bid by Weir Group, followed a year later by another takeover bid by Racal-Redac. In 1979, Shape Data reached an agreement with Evans and Sutherland of Salt Lake City, Utah to distribute Romulus in the United States. Evans and Sutherland President Dave Evans became interested in acquiring Shape Data, as the young company was seen as an entry point into advanced computer aided engineering. Concurrently, the company founders saw Evans and Sutherland as more favourable to the strategic development goals of their company and an opportunity to inject needed capital into Shape Data for further research and development of Romulus. ===McDonnell Douglas=== Shape Data was sold to McDonnell Douglas Information Systems Limited on 31 October 1988. Ron Belcher, a senior software project manager at McDonnell Douglas, was appointed head of Shape Data at the time of the acquisition. In 1989¹, Shape Data released Parasolid, a replacement for Romulus. This was the most advanced solid modelling kernel available on the market at the time. ===EDS=== In 1991, the McDonnell Douglas Systems Integration groups, including Shape Data, were acquired by EDS (then a part of General Motors Corp., now part of HP Enterprise Services). EDS branded the acquired business as EDS Unigraphics. Eventually, in 1997 EDS set up its Unigraphics division as a wholly owned subsidiary called Unigraphics Solutions. The Shape Data name remained with McDonnell Douglas Information Systems in 1991, and was used thereafter by companies marketing the Glovia ERP software. In 1997, the company name was changed to Glova International Limited. ===Siemens=== Unigraphics Solutions, including the former Shape Data, was sold to Siemens AG on 24 January 2007. The Shape Data-descended products and teams now form parts of Siemens Digital Industries Software, a business unit of Siemens AG. ==Products== ===Romulus=== The Romulus program was introduced in 1978 after three years of development. It was the first commercially licensed geometric modelling kernel in the world. ===Parasolid=== Parasolid, alongside ACIS, is the current industry standard for three-dimensional solid modelling kernel software. Shape Data released Parasolid in 1989, after four years of development. ==Key people== Ron Belcher Ian Braid Alan Grayer Charles Lang Peter Veenman Chris Bowd ==See also== McDonnell Douglas Siemens University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory UGS Corp. ==References== ==Bibliography== ==External links== Official website

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