The Golden Age of RISC: CAD and CAM on HP-UX Workstations

In the transition from mainframe-centric computing to distributed systems, the 1990s marked a pivotal era for technical computing. As companies migrated from host-based CAD/CAM solutions on IBM System 370/390 or Digital VAX systems, the industry shifted toward a client-server model powered by RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) workstations. Among these, the HP 9000 series running HP-UX on PA-RISC architecture emerged as a dominant force in the Mechanical Computer-Aided Design (MCAD) and automation markets.

This shift was driven by the sheer computational horsepower of PA-RISC processors, particularly their strong floating-point performance. The introduction of 64-bit PA-RISC 2.0 further solidified the HP Visualize workstations as prime platforms for Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) and technical design, maintaining their relevance until the industry-wide migration to Windows-Intel and Linux in the early 2000s.

The Graphics Evolution: From PEX to OpenGL

Visualization was the primary bottleneck for early 3D CAD. To address this, HP introduced PowerShade in 1992 for the HP 9000 700 workstations, providing high-level graphics functionality even to entry-level systems via PHIGS or Starbase libraries.

For professional development, HP initially relied on the HP PEX libraries, which delivered high-performance 3D graphics through the X server. While the MCAD market initially preferred PEX, the industry eventually coalesced around a single standard. In 1995, HP began licensing and supporting Silicon Graphics OpenGL on HP-UX, simplifying the process for CAD vendors to port their software to PA-RISC hardware.

Pillar Applications of the HP-UX Ecosystem

Several heavyweight software suites defined the technical capabilities of HP-UX workstations, spanning design, modeling, and structural analysis.

I-DEAS and the Automotive Sector

Developed by SDRC, I-DEAS (Integrated Design and Engineering Analysis Software) was a diverse suite used extensively in the automotive industry—most notably by Ford Motor and the Williams Formula 1 team. It evolved through various "Master Series" releases, transitioning from 32-bit to 64-bit support as the hardware evolved.

By the late 1990s, I-DEAS was tightly integrated with HP's Visualize graphics, supporting HP-UX 10.20 and 11.00. The software eventually merged into Unigraphics NX and was later acquired by Siemens.

CATIA: The Aerospace Standard

Originally developed by Dassault Systèmes for aircraft design, CATIA (Computer-Aided Three-Dimensional Interactive Application) was a premier tool for product development. While CATIA was ported to PA-RISC in the mid-1990s (V4), it required rigorous hardware certification. HP maintained a dedicated team and consultants to ensure CATIA performed optimally on HP-UX, though it often competed with HP's own internal offerings.

AutoCAD: The PC Pioneer's Unix Venture

Unlike CATIA or I-DEAS, AutoCAD was born on the PC. While it dominated the MS-DOS and Macintosh markets, Autodesk attempted to capture the Unix workstation market in the 1990s. However, the Unix port saw limited market acceptance (less than 10% of sales). Support for HP-UX ended with AutoCAD 13 in 1994, as Autodesk shifted its focus entirely toward Windows 95 and NT.

HP ME10, ME30, and SolidDesigner

HP's own Mechanical Design Division (MDD) produced a suite of tools that became mainstays of the ecosystem:

• ME10: A 2D CAD program for drafting and documentation.
• ME30: A 3D solid modeling system.
• SolidDesigner: A newer 3D modeling software that eventually replaced ME30.

These products were so successful that the MDD was spun off as CoCreate in 1996, which continued to support HP-UX until the company was acquired by PTC in 2007.

High-End Engineering: MSC Nastran and Patran

While CAD focused on design, Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) focused on analysis. The MacNeal-Schwendler Corporation (MSC) provided the industry standard for finite element analysis (FEA).

MSC Nastran, a spinoff of NASA's structural analysis system, was used to analyze stress, vibration, and heat for the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. Because these calculations required immense floating-point precision, they were perfectly suited for PA-RISC's architecture. Nastran remained supported on HP-UX well into the 2010s (up to version 2012).

MSC Patran served as the essential pre- and post-processor for Nastran, allowing engineers to model mechanical products and evaluate results. It interfaced with nearly every major CAD format of the era, including CATIA and I-DEAS, creating a complete pipeline from design to simulation.

Summary of Software Lifecycles on PA-RISC

Software	Vendor	PA-RISC Era	Peak HP-UX Version
I-DEAS	SDRC / EDS	1986–2007	HP-UX 11i
CATIA	Dassault	1996–2008	HP-UX 11iv1
AutoCAD	Autodesk	1990–1994	HP-UX 10.20
Nastran	MSC	1991–2012	HP-UX 11i
ME10/SolidDesigner	HP / CoCreate	1993–2008	HP-UX 11i