Page 10 - Automated Issue 11

ISSUE 11

60 SkyCiv Engineering
SECOND
START-UP Interview with Sam Carigliano, CEO.

Please can you give me a brief overview of SkyCiv also seeing some engineering firms switching over to
and its products and services? SkyCiv as they prefer the easier, faster user interface.
Four years ago, when we were still engineering
students, Paul Comino and I developed and released The software is lower in cost and complexity than
a simple beam calculator. The software allowed traditional software and offers increased accessibility
engineers to perform a full beam analysis in a matter to mobile devices. It’s also the only software of this
of minutes, which was unlike anything that was type that also works on Mac computers.
available at the time. We were motivated to build the
software because we felt there was a real need for it – What was the biggest challenge when setting up
there was no easy-to-use tool to analyse a beam and the company?
there was a problem with software accessibility. The biggest challenge we’ve faced is changing the
attitudes of those using alternative software
We received a large number of requests for the tool, packages. We’ve met engineers who are very set in
so two years ago we branded as SkyCiv and their processes. Even though they are using
expanded our range of software. SkyCiv now provides expensive and clunky software, they may be too
a suite of powerful structural analysis and design comfortable in their current processes to be open to
software that is all hosted on the cloud and accessible change.
via a web browser. It offers a range of products for
analysing beams, frames, plates and cables. We’ve been focussed from day one on making the
interface intuitive and easy-to-use, which means the
What would you say is the biggest innovation software is powerful but lightweight and easy to work
SkyCiv brings to the market? with. We’ve had a lot of interest at trade shows, where
The main innovation is bringing structural the team has been working on changing perceptions
engineering software to the cloud, as this means it in the long term and demonstrating how the shift to
can be accessed at any time on any device, without the cloud can make analysis easier for engineers.
any downloads.
How do your products and services relate to the
SkyCiv offers flexible subscriptions on a yearly or growing use of the cloud?
monthly basis, which is also something that has Recently, we’ve seen many types of engineering
previously never been seen in the market. The typical software becoming available on the cloud including
model is to purchase a licence for around $5,000. OnShape, a cloud-based computer aided design
(CAD) tool. Across many platforms including financial,
Flexible subscriptions mean that the software is now file storage, e-mail and more, businesses are moving
more accessible to students, smaller companies and their operations to the cloud and the engineering
those working on short term projects, as they can now sector is no different. We’re promoting this change in
access the software only when they need it. We are our industry, and it’s really starting to take off.

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