WATERLOO, Canada, Sep 29, 2016 – Maplesoft, developer of Maple T.A., today announced that it has entered into an alliance partnership with Instructure, makers of Canvas, a modern learning management system (LMS) that makes teaching and learning easier for educators and students. With this partnership, Instructure will recommend Maple T.A. to its customers.

Maple T.A., an online testing and assessment platform designed especially for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses, can be easily accessed from within the Canvas environment. The integration provides a single platform for students to access assignments, regardless of which system they were created in, and a consolidated gradebook for instructors. Maple T.A’s standard math notation, sophisticated plotting, free-response math questions, and intelligent grading of responses can all be accessed and used while remaining in the Canvas environment. This will reduce overhead while providing a seamless experience for instructors and students.

“We believe that integrating Maple T.A. with Canvas provides tremendous advantages to both students and instructors,” said Tara Gunther, senior director, sales & strategic alliances, Instructure. “Maple T.A.’s automated testing and assessment features can be accessed from within the Canvas environment, allowing instructors to seamlessly manage their course material, keep track of student performance and provide immediate feedback and intervention.”

“Customers of both companies stand to gain from the integration of Maple T.A. with Canvas,” said Darren McIntyre, executive vice president, Business Development, Maplesoft. “Maple T.A. enables true assessment of student learning, especially for STEM-based courses. Being able to access and use Maple T.A. from within the Canvas environment makes it very easy and convenient for Canvas users to benefit from these two powerful online learning tools.”

To learn how the University of Birmingham benefitted from using Maple T.A and Canvas, watch the recorded webinar, “Connecting Maple T.A. to Your Learning Management System.”

About Maplesoft

Maplesoft has provided mathematics-based software solutions to educators and researchers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields for over 25 years.  Maplesoft’s flagship product, Maple, combines the world’s most powerful mathematics engine with an interface that makes it extremely easy to analyze, explore, visualize, and solve mathematical problems. Building on this technology, Maplesoft also provides STEM-focused solutions for online assessment, modeling and simulation, and online courseware, offering modern solutions to meet the particular needs of STEM education and research. Maplesoft products and services are used by more than 8000 educational institutions, research labs, and companies, in over 90 countries.

Maplesoft is a subsidiary of Cybernet Systems Group.

For further details, please visit www.maplesoft.com.

CONCORD, MA, Sep 29, 2016 – aPriori, a provider of product cost management (PCM) software solutions, has been selected by Barco, a global technology company that designs and develops networked visualization products for the entertainment, enterprise and healthcare markets. The company will implement aPriori’s software as part of a company wide value and cost engineering initiative focused on managing new product introductions at target cost and ensuring that parts and materials are being sourced at competitive market prices.

Barco will make the software available to a core team of R&D engineers and procurement officers from each of its product groups including projectors, display solutions, hardware and peripherals. The implementation will involve facilities in Belgium, Germany, Norway and China.

“aPriori’s software will provide our R&D and sourcing teams with new levels of visibility to our product costs and enable us to make more informed decisions earlier in our product lifecycle,” said Marc Callemeyn, procurement director at Barco. “This equips us to increase our level of innovation and product quality while also managing our bottom line.”

aPriori’s product cost management platform will provide Barco’s R&D teams with real-time cost estimates on parts and products in design. The software leverages CAD and intelligent cost models to quickly determine feasible manufacturing methods and product costs while generating detailed manufacturing analysis and cost estimates that quantify the impact of changes to product design, materials, manufacturing processes, volumes and location in real time. aPriori will also provide Barco procurement and sourcing teams with regional cost benchmarks based on the company’s specific product requirements, enabling it to collaborate more effectively with its suppliers.

“With aPriori, Barco takes the guess work out of what a new product design will cost when it gets into production, or what a sourced part should cost from a supplier in a particular region,” said Stephanie Feraday, president and CEO of aPriori. “This will enable Barco to optimize for cost, quality and design and translate that into ROI in the form of reduced cost of goods, faster time to market and higher customer satisfaction.”

About Barco

Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops visualization products for a variety of selected professional markets. Barco has its own facilities for sales & marketing, customer support, R&D and manufacturing in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Barco is active in more than 90 countries with about 3,300 employees worldwide. Barco posted sales of 1.029 billion euros in 2015.

About aPriori

aPriori software and services generate hard-dollar product cost savings for discrete manufacturing and product innovation companies. Using aPriori’s real-time product cost assessments, employees in engineering, sourcing and manufacturing make more-informed decisions that drive costs out of products pre- and post-production. With aPriori, manufacturers launch products at cost targets, maximize savings in re-work projects and avoid overpaying for sourced parts.

To learn more about aPriori and its product cost management solutions and services, visit www.apriori.com or call 1.978.371.2006.

To see an overview demonstration of aPriori, click here.

BELLEVUE, WA, Sep 29, 2016 – Tecplot, Inc., developer of the leading visualization and analysis software for reservoir engineers, announced the general availability of Tecplot RS 2016 Release 1.

Tecplot RS helps engineers manage and analyze simulation data, uncover knowledge about reservoir model behavior, and gain confidence in making crucial decisions.

With this release, reservoir engineers have the ability to visualize output from the earth model in GRDECL format, which gives them an opportunity to perform a quality control check before running their simulation.

Two main workflows in the reservoir characterization process are building an earth model and running a reservoir simulation. The earth model, which contains the static (or structural) properties serves as an input to the reservoir simulation model. The reservoir simulation model contains the dynamic properties.

“This new capability expands the scope of Tecplot RS,” said Tecplot RS product manager Raja Olimuthu. “It adds more pre-processing capabilities to the existing post-simulation functionality.”

About Tecplot RS

Tecplot RS helps users manage and analyze oil & gas reservoir simulation data, uncover knowledge about reservoir model behavior, and gain confidence in making crucial decisions. The software allows users to evaluate a full range of results, including line graphs, 2D x-sections, and 3D grid plots.

Tecplot RS was first released in 2002 and supports 64-bit Windows and Linux platforms.

Tecplot RS users with current Software Maintenance Service subscriptions can upgrade to Tecplot RS 2016 R1 at no additional cost. Click here for licensed software upgrade.

A Tecplot RS trial software is available for free.

Special pricing is available for qualified academic users upon request.

About Tecplot, Inc.

Tecplot, an operating company of Toronto-based Constellation Software, Inc. (CSI), is the leading developer of visual data analysis (VDA) software for engineers and scientists.

CSI is a public company listed on the Toronto stock exchange that acquires, manages and builds software businesses that provide mission-critical solutions in specific vertical markets.

Tecplot’s products allow customers using desktop computers and laptops to quickly analyze and understand information hidden in complex data, and communicate their results to others via brilliant images and compelling animations. The company’s products are used by more than 47,000 technical professionals around the world.

Since its founding in 1981, Tecplot has consistently delivered category-leading innovation to the engineering and scientific communities. Examples of this never-ending innovation include Tecplot 360 EX for lightning-fast analysis of CFD simulation and test data, Tecplot RS for oil & gas reservoir simulation and Tecplot Chorus for design space exploration, trade (off) studies and aero databases.

For augmented and virtual reality based education

IRVINE, CA, Sep 29, 2016 – EON Reality, Inc., the world leader in virtual reality based knowledge transfer for industry, education, and edutainment, announced a partnership with Oral Roberts University (ORU) to make ORUs global learning center (GLC) a leader in augmented and virtual reality (AVR) based education.

ORU has entered a five year partnership with EON Reality to create an immediate and lasting global education footprint with EON Reality’s award winning AVR software platform. ORU will use the platform in its eight million dollar ‘debt-free’ Global Learning Center. The GLC will include eight classrooms, a recording studio, a 700 seat performance hall, and a state-of the art virtual reality space.

Through this center, Oral Roberts University will reach thousands of students through streaming media as well as through AVR lessons powered by EON Reality’s AVR Platform. The AVR Platform comes with over 8,000 AR/VR learning objects that can be turned into customized lessons for every educational discipline.

“We are thrilled to further the globalization of ORU with this new Global Learning Center,” said Dr. William M. Wilson, president of Oral Roberts University. “It will put ORU on the leading edge and equip the university as we work to expand the availability of ORU’s unique, whole person education to students around the world.”

Oral Roberts University has worked with companies like EON Reality and Carousel Industries along with ORU’s own trademarked Geovision™ technology to design the GLC. The Center will have supercomputer access, streaming media, and the latest high tech academic broadcast and lecture solutions that allow every global citizen to receive education where and when they need it.

“AVR is the first digital and mediated-technology that has proven to directly impact the success of students at every level,” said Michael L. Mathews, ORU’s chief information and education strategist. “With EON Reality’s enterprise approach, ORU will be a global leader in offering the most influential enhancements to reaching the world with highly digitized, and mediated whole person education.”

“We like working with universities that have a forward looking approach to education,” said Mats W. Johansson, CEO of EON Reality. “They’re the perfect match for the transformative power of augmented reality and virtual reality education. As the demands of students change, EON Reality’s AVR platform and software will help match their needs by empowering professors and administrators in delivering innovative and relevant interactive Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality content to the classroom.”

The EON AVR Platform is the only solution to bring AVR to every device ranging from smartphones, Google Cardboard, Oculus, HTC Vive, Holographic displays, and fully immersive three-dimensional Icube VR rooms.

The Global Learning Center will open in October with its grand opening to the public on November 9, 2016.

About EON Reality

EON Reality is the world leader in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) based knowledge transfer for industry, education, and edutainment. EON Reality’s success is tied to its belief that knowledge is a human right and should be available, accessible, and affordable for every human on the planet. To carry this out, EON Reality, since 1999, has developed the de-facto standard for augmented reality and virtual reality based knowledge transfer software that supports devices from mobile phones to large immersive domes. EON Reality’s global app development network, with twenty-two locations worldwide, has created the world’s leading AR/VR library for knowledge transfer with over 7,000 applications. Over 36 million people worldwide have downloaded these applications.

For further information, visit www.eonreality.com.

About Oral Roberts University

“ORU offers more than 65 undergraduate majors, as well as 14 master’s-level programs and two doctoral degrees. Faculty members educated at the nation’s top graduate schools serve as academic, professional and spiritual mentors to students.

ORU continues to redefine what it means to be a leading Christian university by embracing a globalized format at home and abroad. The Tulsa campus is home to students from all 50 U.S. states and 86 international countries. ORU and its students also deliver the Whole Person distinctive to all inhabited regions through distance learning, study abroad, educational partnerships, missions and outreach work, all anchored in a Christian worldview.”

For more information, visit www.oru.edu.

Materialise Robot Updated

BIRMINGHAM, UK, Sep 29, 2016 – Materialise NV, the leading provider of additive manufacturing software and sophisticated 3D printing solutions in the medical and industrial markets, announces new product releases in the Materialise Magics 3D Print Suite at TCT. New releases include a brand new flexible product for 3D printer manufacturers to offer data preparation solutions to their customers, solutions for automatic support generation for DLP (digital light processing) and bottom-up printing processes and the automation of common 3D printing file preparation processes.

(picture from Materialise website)

Earlier this year, Materialise combined its industrial software solutions in the Materialise Magics 3D Print Suite. This open software platform allows users and 3D printer manufacturers to unlock the full potential of 3D printing technology and guides them through their entire 3D workflow, from design to printed part.

Materialise Magics Print: the power of Materialise Magics for each machine

One of the new products in the suite that is launched at the TCT Show +Personalize in the UK, is Materialise Magics Print, based on the industry-standard data preparation software Materialise Magics and on Materialise’s extensive knowledge of machine communication for various types of 3D printing technologies. Machine manufacturers that collaborate with Materialise can from now on offer their customers professional data preparation software in combination with their machine. Materialise Magics Print supports Materialise’s mission of connecting a wide variety of printers and technologies to exciting applications and is one of the components of Materialise’s OEM solutions package.

Materialise Robot: have a maximum of files ready for 3D Printing without effort

Materialise’s role towards 3D printing professionals is to support the entire 3D printing process to help them become competitive players in the industry. In that perspective, Materialise has optimized Materialise Robot, a user-configurable, automated solution that helps to run operations 24/7, decreasing lead times and reducing manual efforts. The new version of Materialise Robot has a stronger repair functionality, can be customized better and improves your production quality by automatically rejecting files with walls that are too thin or thick. Thanks to Materialise Robot, companies can control their data processing workflow and focus on their core business.

Materialise e-Stage: automated support generation for all resin-based technologies

Manual support generation consumes much time, and determining the optimal placement and amount of support structures requires expertise. Materialise e-Stage supports the user in generating optimal support structures and significantly helps to save time. Materialise e-Stage has been an established solution for many years in the Stereolithography market. With this suite update, Materialise’s patented automatic support generation software is available to all resin-based technologies, including Digital Light Processing and bottom-up printing technologies. Visit the Materialise booth G16 at TCT to discuss their new product launches, or attend their presentation about control and inspection technology given by Dieter Ghysbrecht.

For more information on the Materialise Magics 3D Print Suite, please visit http://software.materialise.com/3d-printing-software.

About Materialise

Materialise incorporates more than 25 years of 3D printing experience into a range of software solutions and 3D printing services, which together form the backbone of the 3D printing industry. Materialise’s open and flexible solutions enable players in a wide variety of industries, including healthcare, automotive, aerospace, art and design, and consumer goods, to build innovative 3D printing applications that aim to make the world a better and healthier place. Headquartered in Belgium, with branches worldwide, Materialise combines the largest group of software developers in the industry with one of the largest 3D printing facilities in the world.

For additional information, please visit www.materialise.com.

About Materialise’s Software Division

Materialise Software provides companies with a platform of software tools that manage and control the 3D printing process more efficiently, allowing them to meet the highest standards of the most demanding industries. Materialise Software’s suite of solutions, Materialise Magics, includes industry-leading data preparation and design optimization tools, programs to integrate 3D printing into production environments, and software and control systems used by machine manufacturers to better bridge the gap between applications and 3D printers. These solutions are open by nature, empowering co-creation and collaboration between different players in the 3D printing and manufacturing eco-system and providing the industry a solid foundation on which to expand and grow.

For additional information, please visit http://software.materialise.com/.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN and REHOVOT, Israel, Sep 29, 2016 –  Stratasys Ltd., the 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions company, has announced that French multi-national corporation, Schneider Electric, has worked with Stratasys to include 3D printing into its manufacturing processes for both short and longer term efficiency goals.

Schneider Electric leverages Stratasys 3D printers for prototyping and manufacturing applications to improve production efficiencies and gain cost and time improvements.

Specializing in electricity distribution, automation management and the production of installation components for energy management, Schneider Electric is using a combination of Stratasys PolyJet and FDM based 3D Printing solutions for product development, prototypes and industrialization. This comprises multiple applications, including injection molding and assembly-line tooling, the design and production of which is managed via the company’s internal model shop, Openlab.

Click here to learn how Schneider Electric has transformed its manufacturing efficiencies with Stratasys 3D printing and is looking to build its Factory of the Future.

The immediate savings sum up to 90 percent in both time and money since deploying Stratasys 3D printing solutions across its production operations in Grenoble, France.

“This year, Schneider will launch around 400 new solutions, which is more than one a day,” says Sylvain Gire, Vice-President GSC Transformation-Industrialization at Schneider Electric. “Therefore, it is critical that we adopt technologies that help us reduce time-to-market.”

The combination of dramatic financial savings and a greatly enhanced workflow achievable from incorporating Stratasys 3D printing into the process has contributed to the plant’s overall manufacturing efficiencies and reduced the time-to-market in key areas.

3D printed injection molds for prototyping designs in their final materials instead of aluminum

According to Sylvain Gire, the company has slashed the cost of producing injection mold inserts used for prototyping designs to just 100 euros with Stratasys 3D printing, compared to 1000 euros when manufacturing the same item in aluminum.

“As well as the astronomical cost-saving enjoyed from 3D printing injection molds, we’ve also drastically cut the time taken to produce them, so we’re looking at a win-win every time,” he adds. “Manufacturing the prototype molds in aluminum necessitates – in some cases – a lead time of as much as two months, but with Stratasys’ 3D printing solutions, the whole process is completed within a week. That’s a roughly 90 percent saving again, which would be unfathomable with any other technology.”

Efficient design and engineering of assembly-line tooling

These benefits also extend to Schneider Electric’s mechanical design and engineering department, which is tasked with the production of assembly, control and adjustment tools for its diverse product range. This has seen the company utilize Stratasys 3D printing to produce prototype jigs and fixtures to validate the ergonomics and functionality of the final assembly tools.

“We are increasingly using 3D printing to design and engineer assembly-line tools for validation – thereby saving time in the production of the final tools,” explains department manager, Yann Sittarame.

Using Stratasys’ Connex multi-material 3D printing technology, Yann and his team can produce new manufacturing tool prototypes in just one week. In the past, it would have taken at least three weeks to produce the same tools using conventional CNC machining, which amounts to a substantial time-saving of approximately 70 percent.

“This technology has changed the way we work and changes the way we think about doing things in the future,” he adds. “Looking ahead, we plan to 3D print the final tools, which is perfectly achievable given the accuracy and durability of our 3D printing process.”

Factory of the Future

According to Sylvain Gire, Schneider Electric is firmly committed to its goal of creating the Factory of the Future and sees Stratasys as a key partner and enabler to realize this.

“We started utilizing Stratasys 3D printing a few years ago for prototyping our new solutions,” he says. “We will continue to leverage Stratasys 3D printing solutions for the ongoing development of our tooling process, predominantly for the production of small quantities of new products. We’ll also shortly be looking to use Stratasys’ 3D printing solutions for final production, such as for spare parts or for low-volume requirements.”

“Schneider Electric’s innovative use of 3D printing in their current manufacturing processes and as a key strategy in their Factory of the Future program epitomizes their leadership in global connected energy management,” says Andy Middleton, president, Stratasys, EMEA. “By partnering with blue chip companies like Schneider Electric, Stratasys is able to demonstrate the strategic value of additive manufacturing and help companies optimize their supply chain efficiencies while bringing better products to market, faster.”

About Stratasys Ltd.

For more than 25 years, Stratasys Ltd. has been a defining force and dominant player in 3D printing and additive manufacturing – shaping the way things are made. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Rehovot, Israel, the company empowers customers across a broad range of vertical markets by enabling new paradigms for design and manufacturing. The company’s solutions provide customers with unmatched design freedom and manufacturing flexibility – reducing time-to-market and lowering development costs, while improving designs and communications. Stratasys subsidiaries include MakerBot and SolidScape, and the Stratasys ecosystem includes 3D printers for prototyping and production; a wide range of 3D printing materials; parts on-demand via Stratasys direct manufacturing; strategic consulting and professional services; the GrabCAD platform with over 3 million professional users; and the Thingiverse and GrabCAD communities with over 2 million 3D printable files for free designs. With more than 2,700 employees and 800 granted or pending additive manufacturing patents, Stratasys has received more than 30 technology and leadership awards.

For more information, visit www.stratasys.com or http://blog.stratasys.com/, and follow on LinkedIn.