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This is the ninth annual installment in a series we call Masters of Manufacturing. In these articles, we honor a distinguished figure in manufacturing technology, and by doing so, we hope to remind readers that a career of great achievement in manufacturing is still possible.
An early pioneer in the fields of NC and CAD/CAm software, Patrick J. Hanratty, Phd, covered his passion for computing and programming almost by accicent, answering a newspaper as seeking programmers in his hometown of San Diego after returning from service in the Air Force during the Korean War. After being hired at General Dynamics Convair Division, Hanratty picked up programming quickly, heading up at a class on the topic without any formal training. Often lauded as "The Father of CAD/CAM" for his later inventions of CAD/CAM software programs, while working at General Electric in 1957, Hanratty developed PRONTO, or Program for Numerical Tooling, an early NC programming software, along with MTD, the Machine Tool Director, the first two NC programs for machine tools used in production manufacturing.
In 1962, Hanratty left GE to join General Motors Corp. (Detroit), where he was part of a team at the GM Research Laboratories, located at the automaker's Tech Center (Warren, MI). At GM, Hanratty developed graphics for GM's DAC (Design Augmented by Computers) project while working on experimental machining, solving problems involving three, four, and five-axis surface machining. After leaving GM, in 1970 Hanratty started Integrated Computer Systems (ICS) where he and his team developed a CAD/CAM system for Redcor minicomputers using TPL (The Programming Language). While highly regarded, the ICS INTERAPT software didn't become a commercial success, leading Hanratty to found another company, Manufacturing Consulting Services Inc. (MCS) in 1971 that developed a new machine-independent software called ADAM (Automated Drafting and Machining), which at that time was said to be the only commercially available drafting and machining system. MCS went on to develop more mechanical CAD and manufacturing software, first with its AD-2000 package and later with the PC and UNIX-based ANVIL CAD/CAM systems.
Today, Hanratty, 79, continues working on programming problems related to CAD/CAM and manufacturing. In particular, he sees no real innovation in CAD/CAM since the debut of Parametric Technology Corp.'s (Needham, MA) parametric Pro/Engineer CAD/CAM package back...