Physical Prototypes: A Necessary Step or Needless Bottleneck? (14291)
Building and testing physical prototypes — an expensive, time-consuming task in traditional product development — is one area that manufacturers are critically examining to reduce overall design costs and speed time to market. Physical prototyping can be a major bottleneck, slowing down the product development process and seriously constraining the number of design alternatives that can be examined.

DSM Desotech Inc. Files Antitrust and Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against 3D Systems Corporation (14230)
In response to recent speculation in the stereolithography (“SL”) industry, DSM Desotech Inc. (“Desotech”) confirms that on March 14, 2008, it filed a lawsuit against 3D Systems (“3DS”) in federal court in Chicago.

3DVision Technologies Sponsors Formula Buckeye SAE Race Team. Rapid Prototypes Helped Team Evaluate Concepts and Optimize Car’s Engine. (14200)
Cincinnati, Ohio – 3DVision Technologies Corp., a value-added reseller (VAR) of mainstream CAD, CAE, and PDM software serving the Great Lakes region, announces its sponsorship of this year’s Ohio State University’s Formula Buckeye Race team, which will compete against 130 other teams from colleges and universities around the world.

Nanotechnology Breakthrough For Rapid Tooling (13913)
NanoToolTM from DSM Somos® gives the high precision physical properties and surface qualities required for a wide range of Rapid Tooling and Rapid Prototyping applications generating significant savings in both lead times and costs. NanoToolTM produces strong, stiff, high temperature resistant composite parts on conventional stereolithography machines

Noran Engineering Shows Award Winning Nastran Virtual Product Test Software at the 2008 Pacific Design Show (13799)
Noran Engineering, Inc. (NEi), a global leader in the development of Nastran engineering analysis and simulation software will demonstrate how pre and post processors FemapR, NEiFusionT, and NEiWorksT powered by new features in NEi NastranT solvers assist both designers and FE analysts perform simulations faster, easier, and with better real world fidelity. Digital prototyping technology developed by NEi enables product developers to determine the response of parts and assemblies to structural and thermal loads early in the design cycle saving time, money, and resources on physical prototypes, test programs, and redesigns

Vaupell Selects EOS for Direct Metal Manufacturing (13796)
EOS of North America Inc., a division of EOS GmbH, the leading manufacturer of laser-sintering systems, announced today that Vaupell Rapid Solutions has selected the EOSINT M 270 Direct Metal Laser-Sintering (DMLS) system for the production of tooling inserts, prototype parts, and end products directly in metal. Vaupell is a division of Vaupell Molding and Tooling, Inc., and a leading American rapid prototyping and manufacturing service bureau

DSM Somos® Introduces WaterClear® Ultra-the Clearest SL Resin Currently Available (13673)
Building on their patented clear resin technology, leading rapid prototyping resin innovator DSM Somos® has announced the commercial availability of WaterClear® Ultra, a highly clear, colorless stereolithography (SL) resin. In color comparison testing, WaterClear Ultra has been shown to be the clearest SL resin available on the market today. In the automotive sector, beta test feedback on WaterClear Ultra includes assessments that the resin's clarity resembles that of milled acrylic in both thin and thick sections

New FDM 900mc Additive Fabrication System Designed for Production of Plastic Parts (13639)
Stratasys announced today that direct digital manufacturing is being used to manufacture 32 components for its new large format production machine - the FDM 900mc, which is being introduced today at the EuroMold show in Frankfurt. Direct digital manufacturing (DDM) is also known as rapid manufacturing. DDM can result in dramatic savings over traditional manufacturing, and ROI can be realized within a handful of projects

FEV, Raser to Jointly Develop Powertrain to be Fitted Into Raser Plug-In Hybrid Vehicle (13552)
FEV will serve as integrator for powertrain targeting 100 miles per gallon fuel economy

Waltham, Mass.' VISTAGY and ESI Group Expand Partnership to Provide Complete Structural Analysis Simulation Process for Composites (12682)
The partnership provides aerospace and automotive manufacturers with the most complete virtual 3D engineering environment for designing and analyzing products made of advanced composite materials. As a result of the agreement, composite product manufacturers will accelerate their development cycles while greatly reducing prototypes and ensuring product accuracy.