SOLID MODELING HAS EMERGED AS THE TOOL OF CHOICE IN THE CAD/CAM INDUSTRY FOR DESIGN, ANALYSIS, AND MANUFACTURING. ITS SUCCESS IS NOT DUE TO ITS 3D MODELING POWER, BUT TO A REVOLUTIONARY NEW TECHNOLOGY CALLED FEATURE-BASED PARAMETRIC SOLID MODELING THAT ENABLES ENGINEERS TO CREATE COMPUTER-BASED SOLID MODELS OUT OF INTUITIVE FEATURES AND EFFECT CHANGES SIMPLY BY ENTERING NEW VALUES FOR THE VARIABLE PARAMETERS. COMBINED WITH THE FEATURE-BASED PARAMETRIC MODELING COMES ANOTHER IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT KNOWN AS FULL ASSOCIATIVITY. FULL ASSOCIATIVITY ENABLES CHANGES TO AUTOMATICALLY PROPAGATE FROM ONE APPLICATION TO OTHERS, PROVIDING THE FOUNDATIONS FOR CONCURRENT ENGINEERING.