SUPPLIER’S NOTES Computer-aided Electronics Enginerring (CAEE)

The application of computers to help engineer new electronic devices is snow- balllng at a rate near 30% per year in the U.S., a new study says. Computer-aided El ectronics Engineering (CAEE) in the U.S., a 312- page report just completed by N ew York City-based Frost & Sullivan, says the old distinctions between computer- aided design (cad) and engineering (cae) have blurred. Cae in making electronics — integrated circuits or circuit boards — now encompasses the entire design cycle from modelling the behavior (or logic) of a system to putting out the compl ete specifications of a workable design. The study predicts the installed base o f caee systems will grow some 29% a year between 1985 and 1990 — from an estima ted 58,000 terminals in 1986 to about 151,000 by 1990. It also predicts 1990 con sumption will be $1.2 billion in current dollars compared to $670 million in 198 6.