One of the premier conferences in the engineering software industry is PLM Road Map, presented byCIMdata, Inc.

Last week, I got a note from CIMdata that Jon Hirschtick would be one of the keynote presenters at PLM Road Map.

This could make things interesting.

Jon, as many folks in the industry know, was the founding CEO of SolidWorks. After selling the company to Dassault Systems, he continued on, ultimately working as a DS “group executive” until early October, 2011. This will be, to my knowledge the first really significant public outing Jon has made, talking about CAD, since he left DS, almost exactly a year earlier.

Here’s the abstract CIMdata provided for Jon’s presentation:

The great irony of the CAD business today is that nobody in the CAD business wants to talk about CAD. With solution providers all talking PLM and business process automation the time has come to revisit CAD. In his keynote presentation, “CAD Future: A Perspective View,” Jon Hirschtick will take a look at where the CAD business has been and more importantly, where it needs to go. Based on his many years in the industry, Jon Hirschtick will provide a personal perspective view on the impact of the ever-changing design process, the new generation digital-native workforce, new modeling technology, and most importantly the massive changes in computing platforms — both hardware and software.

Note the mention in there about “where it needs to go.” Let me read between the lines: Jon has probably been subject to a non-compete agreement with Dassault Systemes. Those things typically last a year (though, they can be longer.) Is it possible that we’ll see Jon back in the CAD business sometime in the near future?

I have to admit—the speculation is kind of fun. I do think the CAD industry could use some more shaking up. Jon not only has a long history in the industry, he has a great reputation for being a champion for the needs of CAD users.

For more information on PLM Road Map 2012, which is being held October 2 and 3, in Plymouth (Detroit) , Michigan, visit CIMdata’s website at: http://plmforesight.cimdata.com/index.cfm?content=include_conference12.cfm