For years now I’ve been writing on the topic of CAD software running on mobile devices. As more and more of engineering and manufacturing tasks become distributed among various partners and suppliers in ever-expanding supply chains, having a way to access drawings and models on mobile devices (tablets, smartphones, etc.) has become more important. Obstacles Abound Critics—for myriads of technical reasons—don’t believe that mobile CAD is anything but a pipe dream of vendors looking for additional ways to deliver software as well as the potential of a new revenue stream for their products. Though most of the apps are free, as the market grows and demand increases, there is always the possibility that users will eventually be willing to pay for mobility. There are also concerns regarding security as mobile devices can’t be regulated and managed by IT in the same manner as desktop computers. The Current State of Portable CAD Autodesk was the first vendor to jump into the not-yet-...