Evan Yares

I tend towards writing posts here that include mostly my own words.  Yet, here is a post, highly relevant to the CAD industry, that I'd have a hard time improving on.  Written by David Pescovitz, and cribbed from www.boingboing.net:

I'm a research director at Institute for the Future, a 40-year-old non-profit thinktank that helps companies, governments, and foundations think about long-term future trends to make better decisions today. For the last six months, we've been researching the "future of making," exploring how the stuff of our world may be researched, invented, designed, manufactured, and distributed in the next ten years. We held an expert workshop where we brought in a terrific group of makers, conducted interviews, and did a ton of reading on the history of DIY culture. At last weekend's Maker Faire, we released the results of our research in the form of a visual knowledge map, summarizing drivers, trends, and implications. Almost all of our research at IFTF becomes free and public after a year, but this map was made public right away and is Creative Commons-licensed. We hope you enjoy it! From the introduction to the Future of Making Map:

THE FUTURE OF MAKING IS BEING REMADE

Two future forces, one mostly social, one mostly technological, are intersecting to transform how goods, services, and experiences—the “stuff” of our world—will be designed, manufactured, and distributed over the next decade. An emerging do-it-yourself culture of “makers” is boldly voiding warranties to tweak, hack, and customize the products they buy. And what they can’t purchase, they build from scratch. Meanwhile, flexible manufacturing technologies on the horizon will change fabrication from massive and centralized to lightweight and ad hoc. These trends sit atop a platform of grassroots economics—new market structures developing online that embody a shift from stores and sales to communities and connections.

Inspired by the hackers, crafters, artisans, and tinkerers who embody this “maker mindset,” we set out to reverse engineer the future forces behind this transformation. Many of us were already immersed in the DIY culture, hacking code, soldering circuits, creating media, and even tending farms. So to learn more, we reached out to our own communities, brought together innovators at an expert workshop, scoured blogs and magazines, and attended numerous informal gatherings where makers talk shop. It turns out that “do it yourself” may be a misnomer for this decidedly social movement; “do it ourselves” is a more apt phrase. Individual makers are amplified by social technologies that connect ideas, designs, techniques, and, of course, people, to revolutionize the process of innovation and production. 

There is much to be learned from the maker mindset of collaboration, creativity, and open access. Yet the maker culture will not replace traditional industry. In the future, traditional manufacturers and maverick makers will be closely linked— sometimes cooperating, sometimes competing, but frequently blurring the boundaries that separate them. Success will occur when the two cultures are woven together in new and interesting ways. We hope that our map will help guide you in those experiments as you engage with the Future of Making.

Innovation and invention are two separate things, but they're related.

Innovation is about actually solving problems.  Figuring out how to do it, then actually doing it. Of, course, that's easier said than done.

InnoCentive has found an interesting way of doing it.  They post challenges -- problems that people are looking to solve -- on their web site, and offer cash prizes for solutions.

So far, Innocentive has over 140,000 registrered "solvers," people who have domain knowledge in nearly every realm of science and engineering. 

Many of the challenges posted on Innocentive are focused on solving problems faced by the developing world.  For problem solvers, Innocentive offers a chance to do well by doing good.

InnoCentive just announced their 2007 Top Solver Awards, honoring  11 individuals who, in 2007, solved more than two challenges or earned $50,000 or higher for their winning solutions. These solvers come from seven countries and their ideas have contributed to innovations in engineering, chemistry, life sciences, and more.

Here's a video by the CEO of SunNight Solar, a company that provides lighting products for the developing world.  InnoCentive helped him connect with the best and the brightest minds in the world, and solve problems in totally unexpected ways.

Here are my questions:  Are there challenges in the CAD industry that InnoCentive solvers could tackle?  Are there Innocentive challenges that those of us in the CAD industry could help solve?

Ronen Kadushin is a Designer. That's with a big "D", as in Industrial Design (his degrees), or Furniture Design (his passion.)

The first time I saw Ronen's designs, I was reminded of a couple of quotations from Mies van der Rohe:

"A chair is a very difficult object. A skyscraper is almost easier."   

"Each material has its specific characteristics which we must understand if we want to use it... We must remember that everything depends on how we use a material, not on the material itself."

Ronen's designs also raised a question in my mind.  A rather simple question, I think:  What CAD program would be capable of handling this sort of thing?

People that know me might be shocked to hear that I really don't know the answer to this question. (I have a reputation as a know-it-all.  I have no idea where it comes from.)

If Ronen's designs were like Mies' designs, I could think of a half dozen suitable CAD programs.  But Mies bent metal;  Ronen ties it in knots.  His work relies entirely upon the properties of the material for the final form of the piece.

So, consider this a request for help.  Among the readers of this blog are people at dozens of CAD companies.  If you're one of those people, imagine that Ronen  showed you a picture like one of the ones here, and asked "How can your CAD program help me do this?" 

What would your answer be? 

Don't play the video below before you've read the text.

Deke Smith is the executive director of the buildingSMART Alliance, an  outgrowth of the  NIBS (National Institute of Building Sciences) National Building Information Modeling Standard initiative.

Yesterday, on the buildingSMART listserv,  Judd Peterson (an architect now working in the facilities management software business) pointed out an article from Engineering News Record: Lack of Interoperability Is Biggest of Many Gripes

Deke wrote back today, saying:

I did find this interesting and actually, I think it should be very helpful to our cause. It clearly identifies that we have a problem in the industry.  In fact, we believe it to be a $300B problem.

We also have a plan on how to fix it! Hopefully this will help gather the resources we need to change things. We have done VERY well to this point with virtually no resources. I would hope that no one really expects us solve a $300B problem with $300k!

Certainly an incredible ROI, but not very realistic...

Stop and think for a moment:  Interoperability, just in the building sector, is estimated to be a $300 Billion problem?  That's such an astronomical number that it's not even worth arguing about.  Who cares if it's high by even $100 billion dollars?  It's the kind of problem that demands attention.

Over time, I've thought about this problem a lot... And I think I know who could actually solve it.

Consider this potential scenario:

It's April 2009, at the Congress On the Future of Engineering Software, in Scottsdale Arizona.  At an executive conference room, away from the crowd, a handful of powerful industry executives are gathering.  Carl Bass, from Autodesk.  Bernard Charles, from Dassault.  Greg Bentley, from Bentley Systems.  Tony Affuso, from Siemens PLM.  Dick Harrison, from PTC.  Halsey Wise, from Intergraph.  Georg Nemetschek, from Nemetschek AG.  Richard Longdon, from Aveva. Shantanu Narayen, from Adobe. Sam Palmisano, from IBM.  Larry Ellison, from Oracle.  Henning Kagermann, from SAP.  Steve Ballmer, from Microsoft.

As each of the executives tries to find a seat where they're not sitting next to someone they don't like, Al Gore wanders in. 

All of a sudden, there's silence, as everyone realizes who it is.  Gore smiles, and says "Don't mind me.  I just came because I was curious who managed to convince you all to sit down in the same room together.  Maybe I could get them to help me with the global warming issue."

After a few chuckles, everyone manages to find a seat.  It's strangely quiet, considering the egos in the room.

Almost as if on cue, Dr. Joel Orr, the gentleman visionary of the CAD industry, walks in, pulling the door closed behind him.  Looking relaxed, and wearing a festive shirt, he smiles genuinely, and starts to addresses the group.

"Ever since the second computer program was written, there has been an interoperability problem.  Great minds have tried to solve the problem, but to no avail," Orr says.  "The only true solution is for software vendors to openly document the structure, syntax, and semantics of the APIs and file formats used by their products.  Yet, despite the hundreds of billions of dollars in costs to your customers every year, and despite some of you facing FTC and EC investigations and hundreds of millions of dollars in fines..."

Orr is suddently interrupted.  From the back of the room. Ellison shouts out "Hey, Ballmer, better you than me!"

"Play nice, Larry," cautions Joel, ever the diplomat. "Everyone here has some blame in this."

Orr continues. "It took tremendous work to get all of you here today.  But, it will be worth it.  We have found the one person we believe is capable of convincing each of you that it is in your best interests to fully embrace open interoperability. This person will be facilitating this meeting."

There is confusion in the room, with everyone looking around, trying to figure out who the facilitator is.  Gore sits in the back of the room, trying to keep a straight face, as if he knows something no one else does.

Walking towards the door, Orr continues speaking. "I'll be leaving now, so you can get started.  I'm quite confident that, within the hour, you will have a definitive agreement on interoperability, and the problem will be solved, for good."

Pausing just for a moment, and taking in the incredulous faces around the room, Orr opens the door, and says "I take great pleasure in introducing your facilitator...  Please welcome the man who will solve the interoperability problem...

(Play the video now.)

Autodesk has this job opening on the career section of their website:

64344-Technical Assistant to CEO

The role of Technical Assistant to the CEO is a newly created role. In this role, you will serve as an indispensible and trusted advisor, attending meetings with the CEO, providing responses to technical inquiries regarding Autodesk’s family of products, and interacting with Autodesk’s key customers.

 Now, I might joke about applying for this job myself... but they want someone who is a wizard with Maya, 3DS Max, Inventor, Revit and AutoCAD.  I'm pretty smart, but I'm a stumbling amateur when it comes to day-to-day use of most of these products.

Actually, this could be a really interesting position, for the right person.  Here are some of the job responsibilities:

• You will attend meetings with the CEO, responding to technical inquiries as appropriate; present technical knowledge and information on Autodesk products, providing answers and translating the technical capabilities of all products. After meetings, will follow up as needed
• As the Technical Assistant you will have strong communication and analytical skills. In this role, you will interpret and understand customer inquiries, and provide the appropriate level of detail in responding to questions
• Customer issues may require research, investigation and clarification after meetings. The Technical Assistant will assess and identify appropriate resources, delivering results in a prompt manner
• The Technical Assistant will evaluate, explore, and review Autodesk customers’ objectives and goals. You may research and recommend an Autodesk product and/or solution to address customers’ issues
• You will have your finger on the pulse of Autodesk’s market industry and competitors, and communicate new system implementations, enhancements, technical updates, and features geared towards ensuring Autodesk products remain in a competitive position
• Judiciously monitor technical issues raised by customers, by collecting, analyzing, and summarizing all relevant data

This is a serious job, with serious requirements. They're not going to find the right person for this at the local junior college.  If you're a major-league CAD hotshot, and you'd like to have a job where you could really make a difference (as in representing the voice of the customer to Autodesk's CEO), you ought to consider applying for this position.  But maybe you shouldn't tell them Evan sent you.  Wouldn't want them to think I was pulling a prank.