The history of SOFiSTiK

2021 — SOFiSTiK establishes new subsidiary SOFiSTiK North America
and branch office SOFiSTiK France

SOFiSTiK has established the new subsidiary SOFiSTiK North America in Tennessee, USA. With this move, SOFiSTiK maintains its international growth trajectory and positions itself in the strategically important North American market. SOFiSTiK North America will serve the market-specific software and service needs of the North American construction industry, with a special focus on bridge design. The technical center’s expertise builds on a powerful software toolset for construction staging, time dependent effects, structural optimization, pre- and post-tensioning, and fast computing, aiding the development of integrated workflow for modeling, analysis, design and reporting for their clients’ individual bridge and infrastructure construction projects.Operations of the technical center in the US steered by experienced structural engineer and bridge design specialist, Andrés von Breymann.

Based in Paris, SOFiSTiK's new branch office SOFiSTiK France will cater to the market-specific needs for construction software and services of the francophone regions in Europe and Africa. With this new chapter, SOFiSTiK aims to strengthen support to its clients by offering a powerful ensemble of software and technical expertise with the understanding of the clients' specificities, both in terms of projects and work-culture.

2020 — SOFiSTiK founds new subsidiary SOFiN Consulting in Finland

SOFiSTiK launches a subsidiary in Finland: SOFiN Consulting assists engineering practices, construction contractors, and public authorities with consulting services for bridge construction projects. The move is SOFiSTiK’s response to developments in the construction industry that have made new approaches to modeling and design as well as associated services and knowledge transfer necessary. The new entity’s managing director, Atte Mikkonen, is a civil and structural engineer with 20 years of experience in bridge construction.

2019 – Mensch und Maschine becomes majority shareholder of SOFiSTiK & SOFiSTiK completes leadership transition

Mensch and Maschine Software SE increases strategic stake in SOFiSTiK AG to 51 percent.
The founders and management of SOFiSTiK retain a 49 percent stake. The new arrangement results in a greater ability to innovate and strengthens the product portfolios of both companies. A stable capital structure is established for the planned succession.

Founders Thomas Fink and Casimir Katz withdraw from daily operations. They relinquish their roles on the management board and move to the supervisory board. Long-standing chairs Frank Deinzer and Stefan Maly take the helm as the heads of the company.

2018 - SOFiSTiK establishes subsidiary in Israel

SOFiSTiK has established a new subsidiary in Israel. German construction software supplier SOFiSTiK has founded SOFiSTiK Middle East with the aim of further expanding its footprint in Israel and the Middle East and offering better service to its local customers. This new subsidiary has been set up to expand this area and to secure significant growth in other disciplines, such as local consulting and training. Ben Shick will be managing SOFiSTiK Middle East at its offices in Tel Aviv. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Structural Engineering and is a BIM specialist with many years’ experience in SOFiSTiK and Autodesk technologies. His role will be to further increase SOFiSTiK’s market share in Israel.

2017 - SOFiSTiK AG celebrates the company’s 30-year anniversary with groundbreaking ceremony for impressive new office building in Nuremberg

SOFiSTiK AG celebrated its 30-year company anniversary by breaking ground on a new office building in Nuremberg. 30 years after the successful construction software maker’s founding nearly to the day, SOFiSTiK has started work on its own innovative construction project. The new facility will be completely planned and implemented using building information modeling (BIM) and SOFiSTiK’s own construction software.

2016 - 25. SOFiSTiK Seminar and new sales office in the UK

Themed "Connecting Continents", the 25th SOFiSTiK Seminar was celebrated with 170 customers from 21 countries in Munich. Another highlight of the year is the opening of a sales office in the southwest of London, which gives SOFiSTiK the opportunity to extend international business relations as well as to offer even better service to existing regional customers.

 

2015 - A new generation is beginning to take over

With the appointment of Stefan Maly, who has worked with SOFiSTiK for many years, into the managing board, SOFiSTiK continues to follow the path of “rejuvenation”. Over 60 highly qualified and motivated professionals are employed by SOFiSTiK, and as a team ensure the growth of the company, always keeping focus on quality and service.

2012 - Inauguration of sales offices in Austria and a subsidiary in South Africa

With the acquisition of the sales branch of ABES Pircher & Partner GmbH, SOFiSTiK enhances its international presence
and strengthens the commitment to further develop its bridge design operations.

ABES Pircher & Partner has been very successful during the past 7 years in exporting German engineering software into broad international markets. In addition, the South African subsidiary "Advanced Bridge Engineering Systems SA (Pty) Ltd." was acquired and renamed "SOFiSTiK Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd.".

2010 - BiMOTiON - SOFiSTiK goes Building Information Modeling

In order to provide existing and new customers with the best possible support in design and construction using Building Information Modelling technology (BIM), a new subsidiary is founded by SOFiSTiK AG alongside the Autodesk Revit Structure specialist Dipl. -Ing. Armin Dariz. BiMOTiON GmbH is thus the second subsidiary of SOFiSTiK AG, based in Brixen (Italy) and Nuremberg.

2008 - SOFiSTiK 2.0

The effort to sustainably continue the success story of SOFiSTiK, and to implement as much as possible in customer benefit and software innovation, founds the steps of an internal restructuring of SOFiSTiK AG in 2008.The long-serving senior managers Frank Deinzer and Christof Lorenz are promoted to the board so that SOFiSTiK is equipped at full strength for future challenges. In addition, a new corporate design and website are launched.

2007 - 20th anniversary

In the summer of 2007, SOFiSTiK celebrates its twentieth anniversary together with numerous customers, partners and friends at the Schloß Hohenkammer near Munich. The commemorative speech is held by the adventurer, doctor and scientist Bertrand Piccard. Meanwhile, SOFiSTiK is using
an extensive distribution network. As Business Development Manager, Robert Herceg is responsible in particular for the successful establishment of distribution in Spain, the Balkans and Eastern Europe.

2006 - Foundation of the SOFiSTiK Service GmbH

Since the beginning of 2006, the long-term partners Andreas Imse and Dr. Wolfgang Schneider have supported SOFiSTiK AG as the subsidiary SOFiSTiK Service GmbH. This company, which emerged from FIDES Rhein-Main, can look back on many years of experience in sales and service for SOFiSTiK software.

1999 - Transforming into a company on stocks

The goal to better pool the activities of distribution and the various development partners ultimately leads to the decision to establish a company on stocks. Mensch und Maschine AG (www.mum.de) joins the newly established SOFiSTiK AG as an important shareholder. Members of the supervisory board are Adi Drotleff, Prof. Dr. Ernst Rank and Dr. Johannes Harl (chairman).

1996 - First graphical and interactive user interface for FE analysis & design based on AutoCAD

A European research project for automatic FE analysis and optimisation is the reason for the development of an automatic mesh generator. For ease of input of the structure and control of the calculation, a module for AutoCAD is developed. The emerging product “SLAB-Designer” establishes the first sales success in England.

1987 - SOFiSTiK is born

Through growing success and the inclusion of new partners (Gert Apell et al.) grew the need for a professional organisation. On the 22nd July 1987, SOFiSTiK GmbH is founded, based initially in Andechs. In the sense of a wine-growers’ cooperative, the partners continue to develop the software independently,
but use the SOFiSTiK GmbH collaboration for sales and marketing. At the time, the concept of a “SOFiSTiK seminar” was conceived and the development of AutoCAD attachments began.

In 1988, SOFiCAD first sees the light of day, with its first customers such as Schmitt&Stumpf, Grassl and Bögl leading to further circulation. The establishment of a central hotline and new partners such as Prof. Walter Pauli has strengthened SOFiSTiK since 1990. The context sensitive editor Teddy brings a real breakthrough in the use of the parametric input language CADINP.

 

1982 - The early years

After the award of his doctorate in 1982, Casimir Katz begins with the development of FE programs on micro-computers with the operating system CP/M, motivated by Joachim Stieda who had been developing programs on the new Olivetti 6060 and the IBM 5110 since 1976.

Thomas Fink joins the team shortly after. The organisation takes the form of three independent engineering practices similar to a card players’ group. With 64kB of memory, a slab framed structure with 3000 unknowns could be calculated in around 4 hours.

Two years later the IBM PC allows for a newly developed version of TOP, now called STAR2, to be sold successfully. Among the first customers,
in addition to many other innovative smaller offices, are larger customers such as Bilfinger&Berger, Hochtief and Schlaich Bergermann. New distribution channels are established through FIDES.

1974 - The University Years

Under the guidance of Prof. Dr. -Ing. Heinrich Werner at the Technical University of Munich, a research project involving the engineer Joachim Stieda and the student Casimir Katz is set up to create a computer program for the non-linear analysis of bridge piers (named “TOP”).

In 1976, Casimir Katz begins his thesis with the development of a finite element program for flow calculation. The desire to use the existing pre- and post-processors of the SET program lead to the first description of a “database”.

This project is very successful, and the program TOP and further program components are integrated. The group of Prof. Werner is further strengthened by Ernst Rank and Thomas Fink, and later Jürgen Bellman and Byron Protopsaltis.