Pafec Ltd, Nottinghambased engineering software house, has launched Pafec Imaginer, a computer system for threedimensional modelling which offers integration of 3D wire frame, facet and solid models whilst incorporating two-dimensional design in one package which can be tailored to individual product needs using the company’s Horses kernel computeraided software engineering tool and utilities. Using the system it is not necessary to transfer to two-dimensional mode to create drawings and two-dimensional views are updated with the three-dimensional model. Modification of the system can be carried out by the client, or Pafec, to meet design specifications required in many applications including architecture, construction and scientific industries. By using three-dimensional designs the product is easier to visualise, the computer-aided techniques enable design to be adapted more quickly to changes in specifications, and faster completion of the designs results in increased productivity. The product runs on many workstations including DEC VAX under VMS or Unix and on Silicon Graphics, Sun and Apollo Unix stations. Horses, an integral part of Imaginer, was developed to enable new applications to be developed efficiently without complex programming. The system is available via distributors and the basic core system starts at around UKP10,000. Pafec, an acronym for Program for Finite Element Calculations, was formed in 1976 by researchers at Nottingham University where they were involved in finite element analysis for industry, in the late 1970s the company moved into two-dimensional and then three dimensional applications from design to architecture with an increasing specialisation in the field of engineering analysis.
