VANCOUVER, B.C. — S-FRAME Software Inc., developer of structural engineering software solutions introduced new BIM/CAD links within S-FRAME Structural Office R11. Two new bi-directional links between S-FRAME Structural Office R11 and BIM solutions Revit and Tekla will be released with R11. A new DXF import link will also be available within R11. 

RALEIGH, N.C. — McKim & Creed, Inc., an engineering, geomatics and planning firm with offices throughout the U.S., announced that Jay Gulledge joined the company’s Raleigh, N.C., office as information technology director. 

REDLANDS, CALIF. — The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA's) efforts to assist after the destruction of Superstorm Sandy — including its first-of-its-kind mapping platform, the GeoPlatform — were recognized by Esri at its annual Federal GIS Conference held in Washington, D.C., Feb. 25–27. The company honored FEMA with its prestigious Making a Difference Award, which recognizes organizations doing exemplary work using geospatial technology. The award was presented Wednesday, Feb. 27, at a special ceremony that included FEMA management and Esri president Jack Dangermond. 

NEW YORK AND LONDON — In late February, Sefaira announced that its flagship product Sefaira Concept has been acquired by more than 100 new Architectural firms world-wide in the six months following the software’s General Release in July 2012. Sefaira Concept allows architects to investigate and incorporate sustainable strategies into their projects from the earliest stages of design. 

ATLANTA — Tekla announced a new version of its 3D modeling software, Tekla Structures 19. Available immediately, Tekla Structures 19 delivers new features designed to further enable structural engineers, fabricators, detailers and concrete contractors to be more successful, productive and collaborative.

WALTHAM, MASS. — BuildingSMART International has certified Scia Engineer as the first Structural Building Information Modeling (BIM) software to pass the organization's IFC 2x3 version 2.0 structural model exchange process. Now civil and structural engineers can confidently export structural BIM models to others involved in the architecture, engineering and construction process. 

EXTON, PA. — Bentley Systems, Incorporated announced the immediate availability of InspectTech Collector Mobile for use initially on the iPad. This new iWare app works with Bentley’s InspectTech software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering, which helps asset owners streamline the process of planning inspections, collecting and managing inspection data, and complying with government reporting requirements — reducing inspection times by up to 25 percent, Bentley said. 

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — For many companies, moving their web-application servers to the cloud is an attractive option, since cloud-computing services can offer economies of scale, extensive technical support, and easy accommodation of demand fluctuations. But for applications that depend heavily on database queries, cloud hosting can pose as many problems as it solves. Cloud services often partition their servers into “virtual machines,” each of which gets so many operations per second on a server’s central processing unit, so much space in memory, and the like. That makes cloud servers easier to manage, but for database-intensive applications, it can result in the allocation of about 20 times as much hardware as should be necessary. And the cost of that overprovisioning gets passed on to customers. 

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — Hard Dollar, the creator of project cost management (PCM) software for capital-intensive projects, announced that its Hard Dollar Project Cost Management 12.0 software has achieved SAP certification as powered by the SAP NetWeaver technology platform. The solution used by several customers also using the SAP ERP application provides the ability to access and sync up critical data in real time between Hard Dollar Project Cost Management and SAP solutions. Several existing customers including Wood Groups, Redpath, Aiken Group, and Hunter Construction are experiencing success by having PCM, scheduling and ERP capabilities integrated. 

CHICAGO — Nemetschek Vectorworks’ BIM Camp continues to travel the country and will arrive in Chicago for a one-day seminar on Thursday, April 18. Perfect for architects considering a transition to a Building Information Modeling (BIM) workflow, BIM Camp provides attendees with the skills they need to better understand how IFC-based standards benefit design teams, create sustainable and high-performing designs, and collaborate through Open BIM.