CollabCAD: A Free Beta Download for Collaborative CAD and Development

The CollabCAD application is a free download for beta testing at http://www.collabcad.com/download.html. It is a Web-enabled, distributed software designed to provide one or more designers with secure, simultaneous access to a CAD model. The software can be thought of as a geometry workbench that allows accessing geometry in the STEP, IGES, STL and VRML formats for interfacing with third-party solutions. CollabCAD was built using the Open CASCADE modeling kernel, an open-source software that can be downloaded free of charge at http://www.opencascade.com/getoc/index.html. The software is platform-independent thanks to its use of JAVA code and offers audio output for guidance. It will be implemented on ISO 10303 [STEP] standards for product data exchange. After beta testing, the NIC plans to release a commercial version of the software with enriched features for industrial partners and educational and research institutes.