Overview
Established in 1974 by several doctoral students of the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory, the company was a pioneer in computer graphics with early industry advances in solid modelling design and boundary representation. The company revolutionised theHistory
University of Cambridge
Shape Data was founded in 1974 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.Roberts, John. (1990) "Shape Data Limited: Cambridge University Case Study". Judge Institute of Management Studies, Cambridge University, p. 19. 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.Evans and Sutherland
In 1980, Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation entered into a contract with Shape Data to market the ''Romulus'' geometric modelling program. The company was sold to Evans & Sutherland in 1981. After acquisition, Evans & Sutherland injected a large amount of capital into Shape Data, allowing for rapid expansion of staff and procurement of computing equipment. In 1981, Shape Data had 17 employees. In 1983, the company had 40 and by 1986 staff had grown to 70. In May 1984, the managing director position was created and Peter Veenman was appointed. In 1988, Shape Data was close to fragmenting. In January 1988, Siemens bought Shape Data's ''Parasolid'' product and development group from the parent company. The administrative staff and the ''Romulus-D'' product and development group were left out of the deal. In 1988,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. Belcher created a paradigm shift in the management of the company. Since the founding of Shape Data, the culture focused on technology-led development and managerial decision making. Under Belcher, the central focus of the company shifted into financial and market oriented strategic management decision making. The company pursued a Blue Ocean Strategy by being the first company to create and enter the three dimensional CAD market. In 1988, Shape Data developed Parasolid, an upgrade of Romulus, that allowed the joining of boundary represented surfaces together as a solid. This program was the most advanced solid modelling kernel available on the market at the time of its 1989 release.EDS
In 1991, the McDonnell Douglas Systems Integration groups, including Shape Data, were acquired by EDS (then a part ofSiemens
Shape Data was sold to Siemens AG on 24 January 2007. The company is presently a subsidiary of Siemens PLM Software, aProducts
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 first began developing Parasolid in 1985.Key people
*Ron Belcher *Ian Braid *Alan Grayer *Charles Lang *Peter Veenman *Chris BowdSee also
* List of CAx companies * McDonnell Douglas *References
Bibliography
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