# About

- Link: https://vibecad.nl/en/about/
- Published: 2026-10-22T18:45:23+02:00
- Author: Marijn van den Heuvel \+ AI

_This page is also available in Dutch: [Over mij](https://vibecad.nl/over-ons/)._

**I want everyone to be able to design, without licence hassle.** I am Marijn, a
mechanical engineer and former FreeCAD developer. On this site I track how AI is
changing CAD work.

My story started with a simple wish: to use CAD on my own computer, without an expensive
licence and without asking anyone for permission. For years FreeCAD was the only
serious option for that. I helped build on it for years, with one goal: that a professional
could do their daily work in it. That has not happened yet.

Then it suddenly moved fast. Thanks to AI, more options appeared in a few years 
than in the twenty before, and it is almost impossible to keep up. Hence this site:
I test what comes along, from new models to CAD programs you steer with a language
model, and I write down what I see myself. Sometimes a long story, sometimes a single
line. If something does not work, I say so.

The goal is simple: that you and I keep our own designs in our own hands. Open source
where it works, commercial where it is genuinely better, and never recommending 
something I have not tried myself.

## What you will find here

 * **News**: what AI models and CAD programs can do now, in plain language
 * **Tests**: I let models and tools loose on real jobs and show the results
 * **Benchmarks**: the lists that measure how well a model designs, and what they
   do and do not measure
 * **Explanations**: terms like kernel, MCP and benchmarks, without the computer
   jargon

## My background

I am a **mechanical engineer** and my speciality is **mechanical design**: part 
design, assemblies and the road to production. BIM and electronics only appear here
when they are relevant; my heart is in mechanical design.

As a **former FreeCAD developer** I know that program from the inside, including
the limits a developer does not always dare to name. That is exactly why I am honest
here about what a tool can and cannot do.

## Independent advice

The parties that give CAD advice most often are VARs: resellers who also sell the
software they advise on. That colours the advice: the product they earn on is rarely
the product you need.

I sell nothing. No licences, no seats, no partner commission. That is also why I
will not recommend an expensive licence to you if your work does not call for one.
I work with the tools myself, test them on your work and advise what fits, even 
if that means staying with your current supplier, or moving to something that is
free.

## Get in touch?

Curious what AI could mean for your design process, or not sure where to start? 
Book a no-obligation introduction and we will look at where the opportunities are
together.

[Book an introduction →](https://vibecad.nl/en/about/info@vibecad.nl)