Visionaries of the design and engineering software industry gather at twelfth annual event.

Scottsdale, AZ April 14, 2011 -- Cyon Research Corporation today welcomes attendees to the opening of the twelfth annual Congress On the Future of Engineering Software (COFES.)

COFES provides a relaxed and informal atmosphere designed to foster thoughtful conversation. The three-day event brings together executives and engineers to discuss the most important issues facing both users and vendors of design and engineering technologies.

In the scheduled presentations, analyst briefings, and roundtable discussions, guest experts will discuss not just the status quo, but also the trends and technologies that promise to drive innovation far into the future.

"For design and engineering organizations, software is key to innovation," explains Cyon Research President and CEO Brad Holtz. "At COFES, leading thinkers from all corners of the industry gather to explore where and how design and engineering software needs to evolve to."

This year, the COFES opening keynote speaker is John Gage, former Chief Researcher and Vice President of the Science Office for Sun Microsystems. Gage is best known as one of the founders of  NetDay, and for creating the tag-line "The Network is the Computer," and was the man behind many of Sun's most successful product developments. He left the company in 2008 to work on green technologies to help combat global warming. Among his current projects is a global initiative to enable all schools to connect to power and communications networks in the most energy-efficient way and the development of an innovative and advanced control system for lighting.

Sponsored by Geomagic, Gage's keynote will trace the history of computing, from the original visions of Ivan Sutherland's Sketchpad to "Flying into the Heart of Atoms", from Computer-Aided-Design to Network-Aided-Design. He will discuss how we can democratize the power of CAD by making design tools available to all the world's schools and communities, emphasizing designing for energy and water-efficient objects, systems, communities and cities.

"COFES assembles the leaders who bring the power of computing to the product design process," said Gage. "Since Ivan Sutherland first demonstrated his Sketchpad in 1963, we have witnessed the power of computer-aided design in creating a multi-trillion dollar chip and computer industry and have seen the extension of computer-based simulation and design into every industrial field. It is now just beginning to touch new fields: fundamental materials and biological systems. More importantly," he added, "the past 50 years have demonstrated the power of CAD to change the intellectual technology of human thought, the very way we see and understand the world."

Co-located with COFES 2011 will be the third annual Design and Sustainability (DaS) Symposium, that explores the intersection of design, simulation, and sustainability for both the built and manufactured environment. The DaS Symposium showcases new ways design software can increase the visibility of sustainability issues at the design stage. Attendees are challenged to identify areas of common ground that may be best served by collaborative, rather than competitive solutions.

To view the full agenda of COFES 2011, please visit: http://cofes.com/agenda

About Cyon Research
Cyon Research Corporation is a think-tank providing key information, research, analysis, and consulting to its clients worldwide. COFES: The Congress on the Future of Engineering Software is Cyon Research's primary event, which explores investments necessary today to take advantage of future technologies.