Autodesk foils crooks via videotaped demo SAUSALITO, CALIF. - Software vendor Autodesk Inc. is sending packets of microwave popcorn to reporters and analysts. The snack accompanies a videotape demonstration of a product Autodesk tried to unveil at a November news conference.
The press debut during a Detroit trade show fizzled when two Pentium-90 computers loaded with the company's hot new AutoCAD Release 13 were stolen from a hotel meeting room the night before the press gathering.
Autodesk, based in Sausalito, said its computer-aided-design products are easy to use - a claim the pirates may have bolstered. A letter with the tape said, ``Hotel security cameras recorded the perpetrators doing a complete product demonstration just before they vanished with the machines into the Detroit underground.''
The company added: ``So, in case you cannot watch America's Most Wanted next week, enclosed please find your own copy of the product demonstration.''
Prime Alliance forms venture with Wilson
MINNEAPOLIS - Prime Alliance Inc. and D.C. Wilson Co. Inc. have formed a joint venture, Practical Technology Training, to offer training and technical expertise to U.S. processors.
Practical Technology will be based in the Minneapolis office of D.C. Wilson. Beth J. York will serve as the new company's business manager.
In addition, Prime Alliance, based in Des Moines, Iowa, has formed a partnership with Robert Payne, who will manage Practical Technology Training Australia in Mount Eliza, Australia.
3D Systems makingformat more available
VALENCIA, CALIF. - A computer file format widely used by plastics processors as they do rapid protoyping is being made more available by its developer, 3D Systems Corp. of Valencia.
The company, one of the oldest in the field of solid imaging, is making its SLC (Stereolithography Contour) file format available for commercialization at no charge.
The format complements 3D Systems' STL file format used widely by rapid prototypers and modelers. The company said it hopes its offer will stimulate usage and encourage computer-aided-design developers to create new interfaces with the 3D Systems format.
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Firms can monitor Occupa-tional Safety and Health Administration inspections in their industry through the use of a new computer data base, OSHA SIC Watch, from Genium Publishing Corp. The Schenectady, N.Y., firm analyzes individual OSHA inspection records to uncover agency enforcement priorities and trends among firms in specific Standard Industrial Classification codes.
International Mold Steel Inc. of Erlanger, Ky., has introduced Porcerax II, a permeable, self-venting stainless steel for plastic injection molds. The steel's unique permeable structure is 25 percent air by volume, allowing gas, but not resin, to pass through the material, preventing gas burning, knit lines and short shots.
Rexene Corp. on Nov. 21 completed its public offering of 8 million shares of common stock and $175 million in notes. Net proceeds to the company of the stock offering were estimated at $83.4 million. The Dallas manufacturer of plastic films, polyethylene and polypropylene plans to use the new capital to reduce balance-sheet leverage and to fund potential growth.
Stopol Inc., a reseller of plastics manufacturing equipment, has moved to a new headquarters. The company, originally based in Moreland Hills, Ohio, said it has experienced ``tremendous'' growth, and projects $12 million in sales for 1995. The company also anticipates doubling its sales force next year. The firm's new address is 30775 Bainbridge Road, Solon, Ohio 44139; tel. (216) 498-4000, fax (216) 498-4001.
BASF Corp. of Mount Olive, N.J., has moved its Polystyrene Business Group's western region sales office to 2530 S. Birch St., Santa Ana, Calif. 92707; tel. (800) 769-2273 or (714) 513-7047. ... Air Products and Chemicals Inc. of Allentown, Pa., has named Reforpls Industria e Comercio Ltda. of SÃŒo Paulo, Brazil, as its sales agent and distributor for its line of epoxy curing agents and modifiers in Brazil. ... Injection press maker Nissei America Inc. of Fullerton, Calif., has named Hansen Plastic Machinery Co. of Cleveland its Michigan sales representative.