Available since early 2002, Gridgen’s Native CAD Readers provide the ability to read geometry from a CAD system’s native files. Native access avoids translation errors that can occur when using open standard file formats. Because native access is integrated into Gridgen, there’s no plug-in that an engineer has to execute from within the CAD system. In fact, use of the CAD system and its license are completely unnecessary – Gridgen reads the file directly. Native CAD Readers are available for CATIA® V4, Pro/ENGINEER®, STEP, and now Unigraphics®. Based on an early trial of this technology, engineers at Lockheed Martin in Dallas, Texas, plan to incorporate Gridgen's Pro/ENGINEER Native CAD Reader into their CFD meshing processes.

These two new tools are the latest additions to Gridgen’s suite of techniques for working with CAD geometry. Gridgen features a hybrid geometry capability that allows mixed-used of analytical (NURBs) and discrete (STL, wireframe) geometry. The software also includes geometry modeling tools that can supplement CAD geometry with various curve and surface types, including intersections. In this way, Gridgen lets the engineering analyst concentrate on the mesh and analysis, and not the idiosyncrasies of the geometry.