Unigraphics to Siemens Digital Industry Software
A Remarkable Journey

Unigraphics was a pioneering mechanical Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) product first released in 1974. It has continued to evolve over the decades and is still a leading CAD/CAM product, now with a different brand identity (NX), owned and developed by Siemens Digital Industries Software.

This remarkable evolution has been chronicled in two peer-reviewed articles published in 2024 and 2025 by IEEE in their CAD Annals series, which is part of the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. See below for links to these two articles.

The History of Unigraphics
1974-2001

This article, authored by George Allen, Paul Sicking, and Wil Valenzuela, covers the early history of Unigraphics during the period 1974 to 2001. It was published in the IEEE CAD Annals Special Issue #1.

To access the History of Unigraphics paper, click here.

Title2 and abstract from IEEE paper

EDS, UGS, and SDRC to Siemens
1991-2010

This article, authored by Raj Khoshoo and Kevin Eustace, covers the history of Unigraphics during the period 1991 to 2010. It was published in the IEEE CAD Annals Special Issue #2 where the paper can be accessed behind the IEEE pay-wall.

To access a more comprehensive (and free) version which is a superset of the IEEE paper, click here.

Title and abstract from IEEE paper

Unigraphics Virtual Museum

This virtual museum was created by John Baker, who was an early user of Unigraphics in the 1970's and later a member of UGS. For years the virtual museum was hosted on the Unigraphics user group website. Click here to enter the museum.