1
AL WHATMOUGH
Another guy who has been round the circuit for a few years, Al is a key decision maker in Fusion 360, which is part of Autodesk. They are a major player in the marketplace as a disrupter. Al's impact on the maker space has opened its eyes to what FREE software is capable of. Al's background in manufacturing and HSM means that on the list he is the most knowledgeable of high-end machining. We can't wait to see what Fusion does next.
2
ROBERT NEWMAN
Robert Newman has been in the industry for many years, and his LinkedIn accredits him for work on ArtCAM, Fusion 360 and now Carveco. Out of the 4 on the list he seems to have worked across the most products. He is currently responsible for the software behind how the world money is designed and speaks at alot of conference on coin design.
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3
JASON DORIE
A newbie in this space, Jason is the creator of Lightburn, and although not CNC related yet, rumors say that Lightburn will be releasing in the CNC market soon. With Jason's Apple credentials this upcoming product could give the other products a run for its money.
4
DR EDWARD POWELL
Edward is Vectric's Managing Director and under the guidance of renown expert Brian Moran, (Brian was a founder of ArtCAM). Edwards work with Vectric has mean the brand have created one of the most successful CNC maker software's on the market today. Like our number 2 ranking Robert, Edward also comes from an ArtCAM background, so maybe the quality of these products come from its pedigree. Edwards teams host yearly user groups educating customers in CNC and software.
HISTORY'S MOST INFLUENTUAL PEOPLE IN CNC SOFTWARE
THE EARLY DAYS
There are many people who have made significant contributions to the field of CNC software, and it's difficult to name just a few. However, here are some of the most influential people in CNC software in the early days:
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1. John Parsons - He is considered the father of numerical control (NC) and computer numerical control (CNC) machining. He developed the first NC milling machine in the late 1940s, which led to the development of modern CNC machines.
2. David Taylor - He is the founder of Griffo Brothers, the company that developed the first DNC (direct numerical control) system for CNC machines in the 1980s. The DNC system revolutionized the way CNC machines were programmed and operated.
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3. Tony Umeda - He is the founder of Mastercam, one of the most widely used CAM (computer-aided manufacturing) software in the world. He developed Mastercam in the early 1980s and it has been a standard in the industry ever since.
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4. Ken Merritt - He is the founder of GibbsCAM, another popular CAM software used in the manufacturing industry. He started developing GibbsCAM in the early 1980s and it has since become one of the leading CAM software solutions.
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5. Donald Welbourn a pioneer of computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) research and development in the United Kingdom. After initial work at Cambridge, with the Delta Group plc, Donald helped to lead the formation Delcam in 1989
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