SDRC And Autodesk Veteran To Bring Revolutionary Design, Modeling And Integrated PDM System To The Leading Manufacturers In The World

SANTA CLARA, CA--(INTERNET WIRE)--Feb 15, 2002 -- Mechanical design software upstart think3 today announced that Toru Kawaguchi has been named President/Representative Director of think3 Japan, in addition to the Vice President position at think3 Inc. After previous successes with Japanese distributor TCI (Toyota Caelum Inc.), including adoption by Matsushita, Sharp and Toshiba, think3's new Japanese sales and marketing subsidiary will bring additional resources close to the customer base. Kawaguchi-san, who built SDRC's 3D/PDM sales and marketing team in Japan throughout the 90's and lead Autodesk's MCAD Japanese business unit until recently, will work closely with TCI as well as prospects and existing customers to dramatically expand think3's presence in Japan.

"As a seasoned manager who understands the Japanese market and is adept at building customer-centric business teams, Kawaguchi-san is a tremendous asset to our executive staff," said Joe Costello, Chairman and CEO of think3. "However, the biggest benefit may be his perspective. Since he has seen the last major trends in graphics software from the inside, Kawaguchi-san understands what we need to do to be successful in moving mainstream 2D designers into the 3D world of think3."

Kawaguchi-san began his career with Nihon Univac (Unisys) and was also with IBM Japan before joining SDRC and Autodesk. At think3 he will lead the company's sales effort to leading manufacturing firms including those in the consumer electronics, automotive, and heavy machinery industries.

"Japanese manufacturers have a good history to think about 3-D as well as the efficient utilization of 2-D tools. However, they are not necessarily successful on its real implementation and just beginning to think real 3D," said Kawaguchi-san. "Our thinkdesign and thinkteam solutions strike an excellent balance between high end, very complex systems such as those from SDRC that are expensive and difficult to learn and use, and low end, 2D graphics packages like those from Autodesk. Our opportunity in Japan is enormous."

About think3

think3 is a privately held mechanical computer aided design (MCAD) company on a mission to revolutionize the $9 billion CAD software industry by bringing powerful, flexible, affordable "mass 3-D" design software to every engineer's desktop. think3 software is used by leading companies worldwide including home accessory manufacturer Alessi, sport shoe maker adidas, Buell Motorcycle Company (a division of Harley Davidson), Candy/Hoover (vacuum cleaners), Dinan (custom BMW engine parts), Matsushita Seiko (consumer electronics), Pininfarina (automotive products), Pfaltzgraff (dinnerware and accessories), Sharp (consumer electronics), Tokuda Kougyo (heavy industry parts), and Toshiba (consumer electronics), among others. Headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., think3 has engineering centers in the US, Italy, France and India. think3 products are sold through worldwide distributors and VARs, and online at www.think3.com. For more information, call 1-800-323-6770, or email: Email Contact or go to www.think3.com.