Solid modeling (Panel Session): A user perspective

In the past few years there has been a lot of interest and excitement generated by solid modeling. Numerous papers have been presented on the value and benefits of this technology. Many talented individuals have contributed to the state of the art. Solid modeling has played a larger role at SIGGRAPH in the past three years, with tutorials, panel discussions and technical papers. All this material has been presented for the most part by academics, researchers and developers of solid modeling systems.

The users of solid modeling systems have yet to be heard from. The reason is that there have been very few of them out there in the past. However, that situation is slowly changing. Now that several CAD/CAM vendors are marketing solid modeling systems, a small cadre of users does exist.

This panel will be composed primarily of users of solid modeling systems. They will discuss topics of interest to potential users (and also developers) of solid modelers. Questions to be addressed include:

What is the status of solid modeling systems from a user standpoint?

Can the present solid modelers be used in a production environment today?

Should a solid modeling system replace the present wire frame and surface systems or be integrated with them?

What are the problems associated with using a solid modeling system?

How good is the user interface?

Does the necessary application software exist?

The primary intent of this Panel discussion is to give the potential user some idea as to whether the available solid modeling systems are useful for his applications.

It is beginning to look like the next generation CAD/CAM system for mechanical design will be a solid modeler. The big question is “when will this occur?”