October 2008
Autodesk, Inc. has named ClearEdge Power, Inc., a leading provider of ultraclean and efficient on-site energy generation systems for homes and small businesses, as the Autodesk Inventor of the Month for October 2008.
ClearEdge takes the fuel cell technology that has been used successfully for industry and scales it for homes and small businesses to create a more energy- and cost-efficient on-site generation system.
ClearEdge used Autodesk Inventor software to develop its first product, the CE5, a highly efficient energy system that converts clean natural gas into two important home and business energy needs: heat and power.
"Our engineers love Inventor because they can take an idea, develop a design, create a digital prototype, and analyze performance - without ever leaving their computers," said Zakiul Kabir, senior vice president of Engineering and Product Development at ClearEdge.
"We can go from concept to actual product, without spending a dime on sheet metal for physical prototypes."
The Inventor of the Month program recognizes the most innovative design and engineering advancements made by the extensive community using Autodesk Inventor software - the foundation of the Autodesk solution for Digital Prototyping.
A digital prototype is a realistic 3D representation of the entire end product, used to virtually optimize and validate a product before it is built to reduce the necessity of constructing costly physical prototypes.
The five-year-old clean tech company is changing the way homes and businesses get their energy. By capitalizing on advances in fuel cells, fuel processing technology and power conditioning systems, the CE5 is a compact energy system that is clean, efficient and environmentally sound.
The home fuel cell system delivers up to 40 percent savings on utility bills to home and business owners, while dramatically reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
ClearEdge's chemical and mechanical engineers use Inventor for all of their design work, from designing production tools and product components to assembling complete, integrated fuel cell systems.
By doing all design work digitally, the company's engineers can visualize and simulate the real-world performance of every aspect of the design, from pipes and plumbing to electrical controls.
Working with Autodesk reseller and training partner IMAGINiT Technologies helped ClearEdge to rapidly experience the benefits of Digital Prototyping.
For example, doing everything digitally helps all the components work together within the tight space constraints of a 5 kW fuel cell system that is only three feet wide, two feet deep, and five feet tall.
In this way, the Inventor software enables ClearEdge to more efficiently analyze multiple what-if scenarios, accelerating time to market.
"For innovative startup companies like ClearEdge, Digital Prototyping is a way to save time and money, build better products, and beat the competition to market," said Robert "Buzz" Kross, senior vice president of Autodesk Manufacturing Solutions.
"We are thrilled at the competitive advantage that Inventor software has provided ClearEdge."
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