During his recent visit to Pune, Mr. Oleg Zykov, CEO of C3D Labs, sat down with DailyCADCAM editor Sachin Nalawade for an in-depth discussion on the evolving landscape of CAD technologies. In this exclusive interaction, Zykov shares insights into C3D Labs’ journey from its origins within KOMPAS-3D to becoming a global provider of engineering software components, its positioning among leading kernel developers, and how its technologies are empowering CAD, CAM, CAE, and BIM software development worldwide.
DailyCADCAM: C3D Labs has become a recognized technology provider for CAD and engineering software developers. Could you briefly introduce C3D Labs and its mission in the global CAD ecosystem?
Mr. Oleg Zykov: C3D Labs is one of just few global providers of engineering software components. We are experts in geometric modeling, parameterization, data exchange, and visualization. Our mission is to provide global CAD developers with high-quality, affordable components for their products.
What inspired the creation of C3D Labs, and how has the company evolved over the years?
Mr. Oleg Zykov: Our background can be divided into two stages. Initially, C3D was the kernel of the KOMPAS-3D MCAD. In 1995, ASCON launched the development of a proprietary 3D CAD system. The first release of KOMPAS-3D with its own kernel was in 2000. From that point on, the kernel began to evolve rapidly in response to user needs.
In 2012, ASCON began the development of an architectural CAD, later named Renga. The new system needed a dedicated kernel independent of KOMPAS-3D. We had to turn the C3D kernel into a standalone component and provide it with documentation, interfaces, and full-fledged support. As a result, we established a new company: C3D Labs. Since that, we have been developing our components for the benefit of all our customers worldwide.
How do you position C3D Labs among established CAD kernel providers in the industry?
Mr. Oleg Zykov: Our key differentiator is that we offer not just a kernel, but a complete toolkit for CAD developers: the C3D Solver parametric constraints manager, C3D Converter, the C3D Vision/Web Vision desktop and web visualization modules, the C3D PolyShaper polygonal kernel, and the C3D Collision Detection module. We have the same experience and capabilities as the global leaders, but as a relatively young company, we remain highly flexible. We listen closely to our customers and adapt our work to meet their specific needs.
Your core technology includes the C3D geometric modeling kernel and engineering libraries. What makes the C3D kernel unique compared to other modeling kernels available in the market?
Mr. Oleg Zykov: As I already mentioned, we offer a comprehensive range of components. No other vendor in the world provides such an extensive selection from a single source. This is a significant advantage for customers. We provide a single point of contact, and we manage all the components.
Also a notable feature of the C3D Modeler kernel is sheet metal modeling (most CAD developers have to independently implement this functionality). The architecture of the C3D solutions provides access to the geometric and other objects: curves, surfaces, solids, topology, certain procedures, and low-level methods. This makes the kernel highly flexible and extendable through inheritance.
Another key advantage is multithreading. C3D has developed a special procedure for parallel processing that eliminates or minimizes deadlocks. As a result, all kernel interfaces and objects are fully accessible from multiple threads. 3D therefore provides true multithreading and a thread-safe API without any restrictions.
C3D Labs has been actively expanding its partner ecosystem. Could you highlight some of the recent strategic partnerships (LEDAS, Rubius Tech) and explain how they are helping to accelerate the adoption of C3D technologies?
Mr. Oleg Zykov: We highly value our technology partners with expertise in C3D-based software development. Many of our customers want to add some 3D modeling capabilities to their product, but lack the in-house resources to do so. We all know that kernel integration isn’t the easiest task. It requires highly skilled software engineers. In such cases, we turn to our partners, who can implement C3D-based projects for our customers. Besides LEDAS and Rubius, which you mentioned, we have an excellent partner in India: nCircle Tech.
How does C3D technology help software developers build advanced CAD, CAM, CAE, or BIM applications faster?
Mr. Oleg Zykov: We provide comprehensive basic features right out of the box, so developers can focus on the application-specific and industry-specific functionality of their products. This helps reduce development costs and time-to-market. A CAD vendor should focus on refining its proprietary technology, its market differentiator. This is a way to success. It is better to leave geometric modeling to experts, such as our team.
We are seeing increasing integration of AI and automation in engineering software. How do you see AI influencing CAD kernel technologies in the coming years?
Mr. Oleg Zykov: So far, we have been cautious about integrating AI features into the kernel. Mechanical engineering modeling requires mathematically rigorous, highly predictable procedures. However, AI can solve certain mathematical problems that are currently considered computationally intractable, produce unsatisfactory results, or require high computational cost. There are many such problems. AI can help solve them not only by providing an exact answer but also by suggesting an acceptable initial approximation. This allows a conventional numerical method to complete the solution faster than it would without the approximation.
Some CAD math problems are highly complicated but similar to those that have already been solved using AI. We have some confidence that proven methods can also be applied to solve CAD math. Certainly, AI can become a valuable auxiliary tool for model analysis, error detection, and user training.
Digital twins, simulation-driven design, and cloud-based engineering platforms are gaining momentum. How is C3D Labs adapting its technologies to support these trends?
Mr. Oleg Zykov: In most cases, our technologies do not require any adaptation; the kernel is used “as is” in all these applications. As for the “going cloud” trend, we released the C3D Web Vision web visualization module several years ago, and it has become one of the key drivers of our business. This year, we will introduce a new web platform solution built on our extensive experience and shaped by our customers’ needs. DailyCADCAM readers will be the first to discover the new solution!
Which industries or application areas are currently driving the highest adoption of C3D technologies?
Mr. Oleg Zykov: We have our roots in mechanical engineering. It has been the key driver of our growth. Lately, we have been seeing more customers from the fast-growing BIM sector. BIM vendors are increasingly licensing our web visualization tools, IFC converter, kernel, and collision detection modules. The industry requires high performance to handle consolidated BIM models, and we adapt our technologies to meet these demands. Our partners have released popular converters from Revit, Navisworks, Aveva, and Smart Plant formats to the C3D format.
As for applications, C3D tools are used in CAD, CAE, and CAM products for preparing of geometric model for simulation, for geometry conversion, and pre- and post-processing visualization. PDM systems make extensive use of C3D Vision and C3D Web Vision for geometry visualization.
India has a rapidly growing engineering software ecosystem. How do you see opportunities for C3D Labs in the Indian market?
Mr. Oleg Zykov: That’s absolutely true, which is why we’re meeting in Pune, India, today! India has long been renowned for its software developers. Many of the world’s leading CAD products are developed there. The country hosts offices of Autodesk, Siemens, Dassault Systèmes, PTC, and many other CAD market players. Not long ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the “Make in India” initiative, designed to promote the development of domestic technologies and strengthen the country’s technological independence.
We aim to contribute to this initiative by providing our technology to Indian developers. We are open to many collaboration options, including technology transfer and joint ventures. By combining our mathematical expertise with India’s software development capabilities, we can accomplish a great deal.
What new technologies or capabilities can we expect from C3D Labs in the near future?
Mr. Oleg Zykov: One of our newest products is C3D PolyShaper, a polygonal kernel. Today, engineers use a lot of mesh geometry coming from generative design tools and 3D scanners. Such models are to be processed and integrated into the world of conventional solid modeling. We are advancing these tools, and PolyShaper will soon undergo significant improvements, allowing our customers to integrate polygonal and hybrid modeling into their CAD systems.
As I already mentioned, the second new project is a brand-new platform for web developers. It is microservice-based and will provide customers with easy-to-use visualization, conversion, collision detection, and other services. They will be accessible via a simple API. Stay tuned for our latest news!
How do you envision the evolution of CAD software development over the next 5–10 years?
Mr. Oleg Zykov: The CAD field, and specifically the geometric modeling we do, seems to be the most conservative IT area! We’ve been making the kernel for 30 years, and over that time, the world around us has changed dramatically. And we’re still doing B-Rep! There is currently no alternative to this representation in engineering software, as the importance of model accuracy remains undisputed. However, there is some evolution. More and more CAD systems are browser-based, hybrid modeling is on the rise, and AI tools are emerging. All of this gradually improves the engineer’s efficiency.
As CEO, what has been the most exciting milestone for you in the journey of C3D Labs?
Mr. Oleg Zykov: All aspects of my work are exciting! The key milestones are securing our first customer and launching first C3D-based product. To be honest, every new product based on our kernel is a major milestone. It is a tangible result of the efforts of our mathematicians and software engineers. By the way, the team has just reached exactly 100 —what an exciting milestone! In 2012, there were just 12 of us.
What advice would you give to startups and developers who want to build engineering software products today, especially those building AI for CAD, CAM tools?
Mr. Oleg Zykov: Look ahead, look for new market opportunities, and do what will truly benefit engineers! And, of course, rely on proven and tested components for your development 🙂
Finally, what message would you like to share with the global CAD, CAM, CAE, and PLM community reading DailyCADCAM?
Mr. Oleg Zykov: Let’s make CAD together!
As the conversation concluded, Mr. Zykov emphasized the importance of collaboration, innovation, and leveraging proven technologies to drive the next phase of engineering software development. With a strong focus on flexibility, partnerships, and emerging areas such as web-based platforms and hybrid modeling, C3D Labs continues to expand its global footprint. His message to the industry was clear and inspiring—“Let’s make CAD together!”—a call to the global engineering community to collaborate, innovate, and shape the future of digital design.
We sincerely thank Mr. Oleg Zykov, CEO of C3D Labs, for taking the time to share his valuable insights with DailyCADCAM.com readers.
Visit C3D Labs – https://c3dlabs.com
Thank you. If you have any questions, feel free to write to sachin@dailycadcam.com
