Category: News

I am a SolidWorks employee

As some already know, DS SolidWorks Corp recently hired me as the new Product Definition Specialist for drawings.  As such, I am no longer a neutral outsider in affairs related to SolidWorks Corp or any products created by Dassault Systemses.  I will no longer be posting commentary about future capabilities in SolidWorks, nor business plans of the corporation.  I will also likely scale back the types of product reviews that I conduct.  I will still contribute other types of articles to SolidWorks Legion, such as how-to’s, tips and tricks, coverage of public announcements, etc.

This website will still remain my own, and will still not be promotional in nature.   Its content is not reviewed by SolidWorks Corp.  It will not be an official channel for information from SolidWorks Corp.  No specifics about my role at SolidWorks nor any projects, nor customers will be discussed on this website.  I will still cover events, particularly those that I attend, such as user group meetings, SolidWorks World and SolidWorks Technical Summits.

That said, this website is called a Legion for a reason.  There are other contributors to SolidWorks Legion are still free to express themselves.  As always, each contributor is responsible for their own submissions.

I may post SolidWorks related communications via my new Twitter account @swsuper.  That account will likely be used for any official SolidWorks work, such as survey links.

Your comments about this news are welcome.

So, where the heck have I been?

For the past week, I was driving across the USA.  I stopped off at several cities along the way.  There were some surprizes; nothing Earth shattering, but still surprizes.  There was some minor disappoints too (mostly at Hotwire’s unpublished rates program).  If you’d like to see my adventure, check out my personal blog here.  Overall, the trip took 5 and 1/2 days.  Each day was very briefly summed up with a few photos to enhance the retelling of the journey.

SolidWorks Legion April 2011 contest winners

Congratutations to Gary Hall (1st place winner) and Jeff Cox (2nd place winner).  3DConnexion will (or already has) shipped the SpacePilot PRO to Gary Hall and the SpaceNavigator to Jeff Cox.  I hope they enjoy their new toys!

On a side note, I’ve not been able to actively post frequent articles recently.  There is a very good reason for that.  I’ve been busy.  There will be more information about this busy-ness soon.  ???Stay tuned!  That said, article frequency should pick up in a few of months.

SolidWorks Legion contest for SpacePilot PRO (April 2011)

SpacePilot PRO

Republished reminder (original post here):

What better way is there for me to show my appreciation to SolidWorks Legion readers than to give away free stuff!  3Dconnexion gives away new 3D mice from time to time to raise awareness of their products.  This month, they have offered to give a SpacePilot PRO to the first place winner of the SolidWorks Legion April 2011 contest.  In addition, they have offered to give a new SpaceNavigator to the second place winner.  Of course, I’m running this contest to raise awareness of SolidWorks Legion.

SpaceNavigator

To enter the contest, send a Twitter Direct Message to @fcsuper with the following phrase “I want my 3D mouse” and include your first and last name.  If @fcsuper is not currently following your Twitter account, leave a comment on this article (below) prior to April 24, 2011 to ask me to follow you.  Otherwise, use the alternative entry method by sending an email to buzyperson@gmail.com with the “I want my 3D mouse” phrase and your name in the email subject.  Limit is one entry per person.  Only the first entry by an entrant is eligible.  The deadline to entry is April 30, 2011 5:00PM Pacific Time.   No entries will be accepted after that time.  It is each entrant’s responsibility to ensure their own ability to use Twitter or email in order to entry this contest. Unfortunately, due to restrictions established by 3DConnexion, only residents of the United States of America are eligible to win.

For additional rules and conditions, please see original post.

COFES11: The Congress on the Future of Engineering Software

Congress on the Future of Engineering Software 2011 conference (COFES11) ends today.  People from all over came to Scottsdale, AZ for a week of conversation about…well, about the future of engineering software.  I guess the name describes the event fairly well.  Its agenda speaks for the conference well, too.  From the event’s press release: “For design and engineering organizations, software is key to innovation,” explains Cyon Research President and CEO Brad Holtz. “At COFES, leading thinkers from all corners of the industry gather to explore where and how design and engineering software needs to evolve to.”  Oh, and there is golfing too! 🙂

Annual Technical & Educational Conference Day 2

Due to timing and problems with my flight, I didn’t get into Kansas City until 12AM last night.  Obviously, this means that I completely missed day 1 of the Annual Technical and Educational Conference.  The schedule for day 1 of the conference was geared towards part 1 of a full two day course covering GD&T principles.

When I arrived to the conference this morning, I was immediately greeted at Registration by Donna Brenton, who help organized the event.  Not long after that, Floyd McWilliams (ADDA President) introduced himself to me.  Olen Parker, ADDA Executive Director, introduced himself right after.  This conference is put on by a very friendly group of individuals with lengthy experience in the field of design drafting.

Day 2 of the conference started out with a brief opening word from McWilliams.  ADDA Board of Directors each introduced themselves to everyone.

The first breakout presentation I attended was by Jeff Levy, who covered Google Sketchup very well.  There was also an interesting presentation and video by Dr. Edward Price, who discussed the Chicago Stormwater Retention System.  After that, I sat in on a portion of the second day of the GD&T training course.  My own presentation in the afternoon covered the establishment of company CAD procedures.  Finally, there was a very engaging presentation by Terry Schultz that covered workplace ethics.  I’ll go into more detail about most of these presentations at a later date.  As I’ve learned from other conferences, it’s a good idea to pace my coverage over the couple of weeks that follow the event.

So far, I’m seeing a lot of value in this event.  The GD&T courses are high quality.  There is enough variety in presentations to justify attendance for just about anyone in the drafting field from all areas, including mechanical engineering, architecture, civil engineering and graphic arts.  There is a lot of focus on covering several CAD applications, including SolidWorks, PTC, AutoCAD and Revit.

It should be noted that I did receive a pass to attend this event, although I’m kinda earning my keep by being a presenter.  No other expenses were covered by the ADDA.