PTC (NASDAQ: PTC) today announced that its Creo® computer-aided design (CAD) and Windchill® product lifecycle management (PLM) technologies have been used by Lawrence-Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) throughout the development process of the National Ignition Facility (NIF), which recently achieved a breakthrough nuclear fusion reaction that produces more energy than it consumes. NIF's highly engineered "system-in-system" machine has more than 3.5 million parts and consists of 750,000 unique part designs, believed to be the largest Creo and Windchill assembly ever built, and possibly the largest 3D CAD modeled assembly ever built.

"NIF represents an incredible engineering feat whose breakthrough could ultimately transform access to clean energy, and the use of PTC software solutions throughout the development process demonstrates the immense power of our technology." "We are grateful for our extensive partnership with LLNL and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) over the years, and we are proud of the role our technology played in the development of NIF."

Heppelmann published a blog post reflecting on the long-standing relationship with LLNL that led to NIF's recent fusion development. In his article "Breakthroughs in Fusion Ignition: Designing the Ultimate Clean Energy," Heppelmann reviews PTC's decades-long commitment to the NIF program, the use of PTC's Creo and Windchill software for NIF modeling and design management, and PTC's broader commitment to sustainability. Heppelmann writes:

"PTC has been a close partner supporting LLNL's NIF engineering team for over 25 years. When I joined PTC in 1998, NIF had already chosen our Pro/ENGINEER® CAD software, which of course is now known as Creo. A few years later, as their data management needs grew, the NIF team added Windchill to the solution. Over the years, PTC product teams have had many collaborative discussions with LLNL and wider DOE representatives who have been challenging PTC to push what our software must do to enable their highly advanced projects. "