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Autodesk Inventor was introduced in 1999 as an ambitious 3D parametric modeler based not on the familiar AutoCAD programming architecture but instead on a separate foundation that would provide the room needed to grow into the fully featured modeler it now is almost a decade later. Inventor 2009 marks a change of focus in the development of Inventor from an up-and-coming application to the current release with the inclusion of the design accelerator wizards and with refined core functions. The maturity of the Inventor tools happily coincides with the advancement of the CAD market’s adoption of 3D parametric modelers as a primary design tool. And although it is important to understand that 2D CAD will likely never completely disappear from the majority of manufacturing design departments, 3D design will increasingly become a requirement for most. With this in mind, we have set out to fill the following pages with detailed information on the specifics of the tools, while addressing the principles of sound parametric design techniques.