Stephen Holmes

Editor-in-Chief at DEVELOP3D

Connects product designers + engineers to cutting edge tech for a better world | #3DPrinting / #XR / #CAD / #AI |

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Articles

ELM Mobility's special delivery

2 months ago | develop3d.com | Stephen Holmes

With last-mile delivery booming, translating the specific demands placed on the transport types involved into purpose-built designs is key to delivering success. Stephen Holmes speaks to ELM Mobility about the creation of its compact and capable EVOLV vehicleOnline shopping promises the consumer convenience and simplicity: a click, a wait and then a knock at the door.
Designers embrace 'method acting' approach

2 months ago | develop3d.com | Stephen Holmes

As 2025’s red carpet season draws to a close, Stephen Holmes reflects on the ‘method acting’ approach increasingly favoured by some product designers and applauds their willingness to commit to the role of end userA few days on from the Oscars ceremony, I’ve been keeping an eye on the press whirlwind that inevitably follows. This year, the Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress were awarded to actors in demanding roles that deviate significantly from their own life experiences.
DEVELOP3D LIVE 2025 Preview

2 months ago | develop3d.com | Stephen Holmes

As we gear up for DEVELOP3D LIVE 2025 at Warwick Arts Centre on 26 March, Stephen Holmes takes a look at some of the highlights planned for the bumper one-day event, packed with design and engineering technology and know-howBig things are afoot in the world of technology, with product design and engineering tools undergoing fundamental changes. The big guns are readying their products for a new world of AI enhancements.
Event report: 3DExperience World 2025

2 months ago | develop3d.com | Stephen Holmes

At Dassault Systèmes’ annual user event, Solidworks celebrated three decades of software excellence by treating attendees to a glimpse of its next big thing – its AI tools, beginning with Aura. Stephen Holmes reports from HoustonDassault Systèmes’ annual global event for its Solidworks software opened with one eye on the past and the other fixed very much on the future. Its achievements as a leading 3D CAD software vendor over the past 30 years are impressive.
Backflip introduces Mesh-To-CAD

2 months ago | develop3d.com | Stephen Holmes

Backflip has announced a new AI foundation model that automatically creates parametric CAD from 3D scans – with a plug-in for Solidworks and a web app available, taking seconds to transfer scan data into editable CAD that can be used in design workflows. “3D scanners map the surface of an object with incredible precision, quickly generating millions of data points, but they produce micro surface textures that can’t be manufactured with traditional tools.
2025 looks set to be a standout year for AI

2 months ago | develop3d.com | Stephen Holmes

With politicians worldwide backing AI, 2025 looks set to be a standout year in the technology’s development. It’s a revolution that will come with major implications for designers and engineers, writes Stephen HolmesIt seems like we’ve spent the early weeks of 2025 waiting for newly elected politicians to settle behind their desks and watching with bated breath for new policies that could prove make-or-break on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
Solidworks Aura annonces as new AI 'Virtual Companion'

2 months ago | develop3d.com | Stephen Holmes

Aura, Dassault Systèmes Solidworks AI-powered co-pilot, has been announced as the software – now in its 30th year – enters what it calls its Gen 7 Stage. At its 3DExperience World event in Houston, Texas, Dassault Systèmes Solidworks CEO Manish Kumar explained that Aura will be available on the platform on any device in July 2025, with the AI responses singularly for that user, reinforcing its message for maintaining secure IP.
First look: Onshape CAM Studio

2 months ago | develop3d.com | Stephen Holmes

Cloud-native CAM tools have finally arrived at Onshape. Stephen Holmes gets an early look at the offering, an easy-to-use toolset backed up by serious speed that will delight current users and perhaps turn the heads of newcomersIt is almost a decade since Onshape broke cover, bringing CAD tools to the browser. Since then, the product set has evolved steadily.
Text-to-spaceship

2 months ago | develop3d.com | Stephen Holmes

Engineers at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center are using generative design to produce lightweight structures for space and taking their AI work on to the next frontier, in the form of text-to-structure workflows, as Stephen Holmes reportsIf developing hardware is difficult, then developing hardware for space is on another level. Space agency NASA has more experience in this area than any other organisation worldwide.
Top of the class: Teaching AI on design courses

2 months ago | develop3d.com | Stephen Holmes

How do modern design courses tackle the subject of artificial intelligence? Stephen Holmes speaks to leading educators about how they see the future of AI and the role that today’s students will play in taking AI tools and skills into workplaces that may still be coming to terms with the technologyWhen a story hits the headlines about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, the focus tends to be some egregious example of plagiarism, fakery or misinformation.