What is the history of Computer aided design?
In 1959 Boeing was awarded the X-20 (Dyna Soar) contract. One of
the sub-contractors was North American Aviation. They were using a
computing system called "Master Dimensions" on the IBM 704 for
aiding in the design of the X-20. Boeing established a group called
"Master Dimensions" in order to maintain compatibility with this
major sub-contractor. I am aware of this because a member of my
"Numerical Control" group was assigned to head up the new group. In
that same period North American Aviation, I believe, was taking
steps to interface the "Master Dimensions" system with the APT
(Automatically Programmed Tool) system. As I recall Roy Limming
worked at North American in those days. He may well be one of the
first, if not the first, to introduce computer aided design into
the work place. I had gone on to other computing assignments when
"CAD/CAM" became the name for what we had called "numerical
control" and "master dimensions". Both North American and Boeing
archives may be a good place to start on this subject.