History of Computer Aided

Drafting and Design

CAD or computer-aided design is the cornerstone for how we design and build things but
how did it come into being what are the historical milestones that got us to this point and
where is it going next.

In qiyq France, French chemist Alphonse Louis Poitevin discovers a process involving

sunlight and a substance found in gum that allows original architectural drawings to be
accurately reproduced. The process creates a negative copy where black lines turn white
and blank space turns blue leaving users with a "blueprint".  Suddenly designs can be
easily replicated and distributed allowing everyone to work from the same design without
fear of errors and reproduction.

Within just a few years later the second great industrial revolution started. In qoey, a
British code breaker, Alan Turing invents the Turing machine which becomes the basis for
the modern computer.

Through the late rps and early tps, mainframe computing is introduced and goes
commercial. And by qott, transistors start replacing vacuum tubes exponentially
accelerating processing speed.

In qoyq, renowned computer scientist Dr. Patrick J. Hanratty joins general

motors research laboratories and help develop DAC, a design automated by computer, but
it's Douglas T. Ross, computer scientist pioneer, and father of computerized machining
that coins the term, CAD. Acronyms aside to this day it is Patrick Hanratty who's known
as the father of CAD.
In qouq, while Intel is busy introducing the microprocessor to the
world, Hanratty introduces the CAD software known as Automated Drafting and
Machinery or ADAM for short. An estimated op% of today's commercial drafting software
can trace its roots back to ADAM.

In qouu, Catia, the first ed CAD system launches running only on exclusive proprietary

hardware but by qoiq with the release of the IBM PC, desktop computing becomes
affordable to the masses for the first time and we see the beginning of the boom that would
soon follow.

In qoiw, John Walker founds AutoDesk and later that year introduces AutoCAD, the first

significant CAD program for the pc, changing the world of design forever. 

Over the next decade, huge strides are made in CAD-based software, ed modeling is
introduced, opening the door to innovative design solutions like BIM and digital
prototyping. 

Over the next few years, AutoDesk introduces a steady stream of game-changing

features further embedding AutoCAD and the design of the industry as an indispensable
tool of the three. In fact, in wppu, AutoDesk shipped their i millionth copy of AutoCAD.
From wpqp on advances continue to be made, including a web-based mobile version of
AutoCAD that frees designers to work from anywhere and AutoDesk Recap, technology
that allows users to create designs using real-world data captured from photos and laser
scans.