CAD Society Announces Winner of the 2005 Leadership Award

Robert McNeel, Founder and President, Robert McNeel & Associates to be recognized at COFES2005

BETHESDA, MD, March 29, 2005 � The CAD Society, a not-for-profit CAD industry association, today announced the winner of the 2005 CAD Society Leadership Award.

The recipient of this year�s award is Robert McNeel, founder and president, Robert McNeel & Associates. The award will be presented at a ceremony on April 16 at COFES2005: The Congress on the Future of Engineering Software, being held in Scottsdale, Ariz.

McNeel has demonstrated outstanding leadership in the CAD industry from the very beginning of his career. McNeel and Associates quickly became the largest Autodesk reseller in the U.S. due in large part to a solid customer focus. He went the extra mile for his customers and always gave frank opinions making him a trusted reseller. His customer focus and business leadership has propelled AccuRender and Rhinoceros to the forefront of the industry.

�Bob's contribution to the market has been on many levels,� said Martyn Day, publishing director, EDA Ltd. �He has shown how a big dealer can still be close to its customers, demonstrated that powerful software doesn't have to cost the earth and pushed visualization and 3D surfacing to the front.�

The CAD Society Award for Leadership is awarded to an individual in the CAD industry whose outstanding technical and/or business leadership over the past year has significantly contributed to the benefit of CAD community.

The CAD Society is a not-for-profit industry association with the goal of fostering a community and encouraging open communication among those who make their living within the CAD industry including AEC, mechanical, manufacturing, and GIS.

About COFES 

The sixth annual Congress on the Future of Engineering Software, presented by HP, will take place at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort, Scottsdale, Ariz., April 14-17, 2005. COFES, a mainstay of the engineering software industry, provides an intensive conference atmosphere where private and public discussions are held. Attendees are executives, end users, CAD and PLM vendors, analysts, and press who work together to determine, define, and clarify the business issues of engineering technologies.

COFES is an invitation-only event. To find out more information and to request an invitation, please visit 

www.cofes.com

About The CAD Society 

The CAD Society is a not-for-profit industry association with the goal of fostering community and encouraging open communication among those who make their living within the CAD industry including AEC, mechanical, manufacturing, and GIS. The CAD Society is dedicated to creating an informative community and improving the tools its members employ in order to get their jobs done. This is achieved by providing an open forum of communication, which helps to illuminate the practices of industry vendors. It has been a leader in creating interoperability guidelines that encourage software vendors to develop applications that can openly share data.

www.cadsociety.org