# Key Points from #hplusroadmap IRC Discussions

• Bryan Bishop was extensively documenting and analyzing the OpenCASCADE CAD software codebase, focusing on boolean operations algorithms and creating wiki documentation at diyhpl.us/wiki, revealing the software's complex structure with code comments in three languages and cryptic naming conventions.

• The history of OpenCASCADE was discussed, including its acquisition by Dassault Systemes in 1999 for approximately 200 million French Francs, along with the unusual "Cascade Definition Language" (CDL) created specifically for the project.

• Technical discussions covered galvanometers in 3D printing technology that use analog PID loop control with precision around 1μm, and the distinction between geometry and topology in CAD systems, particularly OpenCASCADE's handling of edges, wires, vertices, and faces.

• Participants shared information about transcriptome profiling and human zygote data, exchanging scientific papers and resources on pre-implantation development through tools like paperbot and libgen.

• A significant education-employment gap was highlighted: while STEM PhDs in the US doubled from 400,000 to 800,000, faculty positions only increased from 70,000 to 100,000, prompting discussion about career paths for scientists, particularly in industry leadership roles.

• Specialized tools and technologies mentioned included Syrris and Dolomite Microfluidics (chemical reactor systems), ImplicitCAD (for modeling car parts), SALOME platform, and clang-format-3.5 with its predefined code formatting styles for major web projects.