Design automation: Personal computers became important platforms for computer-aided engineering integrated software tools with a common graphics interface proliferated workstations became faster and more cost-effective

The rapid growth of the design automation industry began in 1981 when the Daisy Systems Corp. of Mountain View, Calif., introduced the engineering workstation and made possession of a mainframe or minicomputer nonessential for many computer-aided engineering (CAE) applications. Daisy's approach — the only one possible at the time — was to use a proprietary operating system, develop its own applications software, and sell a fully integrated hardware-software solution. This successful approach was soon copied by others. But 1986 saw a trend to open architectures using standard operating systems and networks.