CAD.LAB BECOMES THINK3, AIMS AT MASS 3D MARKET.

Cad.Lab Inc, the Italian mechanical computer-aided design software house, has chosen a new name - Think3 Inc - and won an investment from Intel Corp. A name change at the company has been mooted ever since Joe Costello, previously the CEO of Cadence Design Inc, took over as chairman and CEO in February 1998 (CI No 3,339). Under Costello, the company is planning to launch a 3D design tool it hopes will be the equivalent of AutoDesk's Inc's AutoCAD 2D CAD/CAM package. The new product will be affordable, non-cumbersome and easy to learn, claims the company. "Today's hardware can readily handle the performance requirements of 3D software at prices for the masses," claims Costello. 3D design software has traditionally been run on Unix workstations rather than the standard PCs that AutoCAD runs on. But most 3D software developers have now begun the transition over to Intel-based Windows NT workstations. Intel has already invested in Evans & Sutherland Co and Avid Technology Inc, and is working with Microsoft Corp to establish the Intel-NT combination as a viable alternative to Unix workstations. All the Unix workstation hardware vendors - with the notable exception of market leader Sun Microsystems Inc - now have Intel-based product lines alongside their Unix system s. Think3 claims its native Windows software will offer the functionality of higher-priced packages from Dassault Systemes SA, Parametric Technology Corp and Structural Dynamics Research Corp. Think3 can add the undisclosed amount of cash won from Intel to the $17.5m in second round funding led by Robertson Stephens' Omega Ventures, secured recently. It has set up its headquarters in Santa Clara, California, though its engineering facility will stay in Bologna, Italy. Costello is also the chairman of customer care consulting company Zamba Inc and wireless mobile computing start-up NextNet Inc, and he is on the board of front office software house Clarify Inc.