The SOLIDWoRKS World hashtag is something that started way-back-when during the early days of Twitter. You can still check the old tweets under #SWW09, which supposedly trended on Twitter during SolidWorks World 2009. Many years later, many more services now support hashtagging.
SOLIDWORKS World 2015’s hashtag is #sww15, and it is already being filling up with useful information on Twitter and Google+. Check it out, and keep following them for the lastest!
#SWW15 on:
[UPDATE: 2/2/2015: Wifi will be available throughout the conference areas]
Keeping power hungry mobile and portable devices fed (charged) presents a unique challenge in the 21st Century. This appearently was a real problem recently at the International CES 2015 in Las Vegas this year, according to some reports.
Keeping connected to the Internet also presents challenges. There is a lot going on at SolidWorks World. It is a big event with thousands of tech savvy attendees with tons of devices, competing with resources to keep them feed and connected. Granted, keeping a smartphone charged is pretty dang cheap. However, finding an electrical outlet is the issue at hand.
If you are using your smartphone to keep your schedule (like I do), you’ll be accessing it more often than you might on a normal day. In addition, you’ll likely be messaging (texting, FB messenging, etc.) and using other social media communication more frequently, too. Normally, your smartphone’s battery charge may last a day or two without any worries. No day at SolidWorks World is normal. Even on the most battery efficient devices, you are likely to need power to recharge at some point during the day.
Have a spare battery or extended-life remote battery on hand, whether you are using a laptop, smartphone, tablet, or any combination thereof. Wherever you happen to find yourself, be sure to scope out power outlets. This applies while you are at the conference, and more so also after hours while you are out and about and when your device is most likely to be low on power. (If you are spending extra time at an airport on stop-overs on your way to the conference, this can be particularly challenging.)
During the day, if you have a smartphone and a laptop, you can charge your phone from the laptop via the normal USB connection. Finally, the most obvious thing of all, don’t forget any of the charging cables.
If you are plugged into a random outlet or loaning your charger temporarily to another attendee, don’t forget to grab your charging cable before taking off to your next destination! If you forget it, you will likely never see it again, for various reasons. This particularly applies to breakout session speakers who may get distracted at the end of their presentation by people rushing up to the podium to introduce themselves and ask further questions. Am I speaking from personal experience? Maybe.
Staying connected is the whole reason we carry around smartphones and tablets. That means you always need an awareness of WiFi hotspots. Those of us with smartphones may not be tethered. However, don’t rely on cellphone carrier signal for data connections while in a conference room. Even smartphones on a free data plan may need to switch over to WiFi to access the Internet at some point to Facebook, Foursquare or Flickr. Something new this year: SOLIDWORKS World will provide WiFi throughout the conference area. In other words, the conference itself will be one gigantic hotspot. One of the main locations will be near the Partner Pavilion.
All this means that you’ll need to scope out the locations of these hotspots a head of time so you aren’t left without data connection at an inconvenient moment. Hotspots should be shown on the conference map. Keep in mind that there will be many other people accessing WiFi at the same time, so please avoid downloading big files or streaming videos. I always recommend hitting the hotspots for specific connectivity needs, then quickly moving on.
Good luck and I hope to see you at SolidWorks World 2015!
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The author of this article is an employee of Dassault Systemes. However, the material of this article is not representative of Dassault Systemes, nor is it reviewed by them. Please see the FTC notice in the right side bar of this webpage for further details.
Surfacing with Style by Charles Culp – Discussion of best techniques for creating sketch profiles in SOLIDWORKS, and when to use each tool; with emphasis on the Style Spline sketch tool, and why it can be a superior tool for generating elegant curves.
Creating Company SOLIDWORKS Standards by Greg Johnson – Based on industry experience, how to create company modeling and drawing standards, include items to document are not.
What You Didn’t Know About Assemblies and Mating—2015 by Daniel Herzberg – Overview of several mid-level assembly tools that many SOLIDWORKS users have likely never had the opportunity to learn, such as Advanced Mates and Interference Detection, as well as the many assembly enhancements launched in the past year.
SOLIDWORKS Compliance to Standards, Including MIL-STD-31000 by Rich Eckenrode – Learn about new SOLIDWORKS MBD tool that achieves compliance to MIL-STD-31000 appendix B. They will also gain insight into experiences using the MBD tool.
Working with BOMs So They Don’t Work You by Annie Cheung – Learn about all of the types, options, and tools available in SOLIDWORKS Bill Of Materials (BOMs) to build more efficient and informative BOMs.
I first earned my SolidWorks Professional certificate (CSWP) at SolidWorks World 2011. Attendees of SolidWorks World are able take the CSWP exam if they specify such when they register for the conference.
Between SolidWorks World 2011 and 2012, I joined the DS SolidWorks Corp on the Product Definition team. This is a busy job. There was quite a stretch before I attempted any of the advanced certification exams. There are several advanced exams, covering various areas of SolidWorks functionality. You need to pass any four of the five CSWP advanced certificates in order to qualify to take the Certified SolidWorks Expert exam.
My path to earning my CSWE
As shown in the above chart, I took most of my advanced exams this year: Mold Tools, Surfacing and Weldment, after having the Drawings Tool certification for awhile. I’m excited that I just earned my CSWE this week; a Christmas present to myself. Just in time for SOLIDWORKS World 2015 and its secret CSWE event. Jeff Mirisola wrote about his first CSWE event a couple years ago. This year will be my first, having missing out for two years.
Here’s my badges of honor:
Even though I’ve earned my CSWE, I may still attempt the final advanced exam for Sheet Metal at some point, plus any new exams that may come out eventually.
The number of CSWE’s worldwide is still less than 1950 as of today (December 22, 2014), according to the Certificate Virtual Tester database. Being a CSWE makes you stand out. As an employee of SOLIDWORKS, it shows that I have a thorough understanding of how to use the software that I help design. For users, it is a clear demonstration that you have excellent understanding of SOLIDWORKS and its various tools.
General Session
The General Session for Wednesday was as entertaining as ever. Most the details from Wednesday General Session have already been well covered by other blogs and online outlets. I’m going to focus on Bruce Holway’s presentation instead. It is important to me because he’s describing the his group (Product Definition of which I am apart) and past years SolidWorks World Top Ten enhancements list. He states that the vast majority of past year’s Top Ten have been implemented. He covers many of recent examples.
Also mentioned is the fact that we visit hundreds of customers each year at their sites to understand how they are using SolidWorks. This is extremely valuable in determining how we plan to improve our product offerings by giving us first hand experiences from our customers.
This year’s SolidWorks World Top Ten list:
