Category: SWUGN

Houston User Group Meeting

I enjoy opportunities to visit SOLIDWORKS users. My previous trip found me in St. Louis. Recently, I visited the Houston. While in Houston, I was able to present at the Houston SOLIDWORKS User Group at their meeting on June 13, 2023. Joe Lance is the leader of the user group. He was instrumental in setting up and running the meeting. Also, he also gave me sound advice for my travel arrangements in Houston. Additionally, I was also able to connect with several customers and resellers during my trip.

I actually gave two separate presentations at the user group meeting!

My first presentation covered the topic of xDrawing and the associated Manufacturing Definition Creator Role on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. The benefits of xDrawing are numerous, not least of which is the flexibility to create drawings and MBD product definition from the same data set, so work is not duplicated when creating either, and so that data always matches between these different methods.

My second presentation followed a break and interlude where Joe Lance gave out swag to attendees. Joe gave away lot of great SOLIDWORKS themed items! The topic for my second presentation was about the Product Definition team and how we work to make sure we keep our customers at the forefront of the decision-making process for SOLIDWORKS products. This presentation was impromptu, without slides nor firm outline.

Exploring the Town

Overall, this trip was a little shorter with a more tightly packed schedule. As such, I didn’t get much time to explore Houston. There are some sites/sights I was able to squeeze in, such as a visit to the Space Center Houston and an evening at Saint Arnold Brewing Company.

Replica Space Shuttle Independence and an actual Space Shuttle Aircraft, Boeing 747
Evening at Saint Arnold Brewing Company

I did discover a good breakfast crepe at Melange Crêperie. Are there more hidden gems in Houston? Another trip back may be in order at some point.

Austin trip to meet customers

Austin, TX has long been on my todo list for work travel. There are a lot of great SOLIDWORKS customers in the Austin region. Come last week, my long awaited plans came to fruition. This was a busy trip.

  • Visited several customers in both San Antonio and Austin.
  • Conducted a limited Alpha Test and received a lot of great feedback.
  • Presented at the local SOLIDWORKS User Group: CTSWUG
Central Texas SOLIDWORKS User Group meeting in Austin
Full house at the CTSWUG on April 17, 2019.

User Group Meeting and Support

My presentation at the user group meeting covered the topic of Model-based Definition in the context of SOLIDWORKS and SOLIDWORKS MBD. It’s a topic I’ve presented many times. (NASWUG, NSWG and SWW17)

Jeremy Browning also presented a lively demonstration that evening on how to model in a manner that utilizes SOLIDWORKS tools with maximum efficiency and resiliency.

Thank you to Nadia Shea and Jeremy Browning for their efforts of support during my visit. Also, thank you to Steve Calvert for his efforts, including the change of the date for their user group meeting to suit my travel.

Also, While in Town

While in town, I was able to indulge local flavor (literally); perhaps a bit too much.

  • The Grove Wine Bar and Kitchen Downtown, first night in Austin
    Shrimp and a variety of bruschetta,
  • Stubb's Bar-B-Q
    Brisket, Ribs, Cole Slaw and Sweet Potate Mash
  • Styles Switch Barbeque
    Ribs, Brisket, Sausage and Corn Casserole
  • Micklethwait Craft Meats
    Pork Shoulder, Sausage, Beans and Cole Slaw

There was also a chance to take in a few of the regional sights and sounds from time to time, of course.

Great Trip!

However, the focus of these trips is to interact with SOLIDWORKS customers. This allows us to learn from our users about how we can improvement our products to better suit their needs in future releases. In this regard, this trip was a great success! Thank you to everyone who meet with me and participated in the local SOLIDWORKS events!

My unorganized #SOLIDWORKS User Group tour – #swugn

This year, I’ve been on a kind of unorganized SOLIDWORKS User Group tour.  I’ve presented at user groups in Tulsa, OK, Denver, CO and Seattle, WA.  The diversity of meeting locations never ceases to surprize me: hotel conference rooms, high school machine shops, college meeting rooms, libraries.  BTW, I’m not pictured in any of the photos below, as I was the one who took these photos of other speakers at these events.

In Tulsa and Denver, I presented on Drawing Views.  As simple as this topic may seem for many, even experienced users have told me they learn something new when I talk about Drawing Views.

In Seattle, I presented on SOLIDWORKS drawing functionality that has been added since SOLIDWORKS 2013.  Even though most of the capabilities I discussed were available since SOLIDWORKS 2014 and 2015, even seasoned users of SOLIDWORKS 2016 jumped up with excitement as they found out about “new” functionality.

Tulsa SOLIDWORKS User Group

Tusla, OK


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Northern Denver, CO


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Southern Denver, CO


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Seattle, WA

North Alabama SolidWorks User Group

After my great Nashville visit, I headed on down to Huntsville, AL last week.  I was able to meet with a lot of SOLIDWORKS customers and users.  I presented at the April 2015 meeting of the North Alabama SolidWorks User Group (NASWUG) about the topic of Model Based Definition (MBD), how to apply it within SOLIDWORKS.  I also demonstrated the new SOLIDWORKS MBD product which streamlines SOLIDWORKS for MBD processes and provides 3D PDF output for non-CAD consumption for the purpose of contributing to Technical Data Packages (TDP).


 

There was a lot of great questions by user group meeting attendees about implementation Model Based Definition, the standards that support Model Based Definition (such as MIL-STD-31000), and Product and Manufacturing Information (PMI) solutions available in SOLIDWORKS, such as DimXpert.

Matthew Lorono speaking at NASWUG

I’m glad I had the opportunity to visit Nashville and Huntsville, along with many SOLIDWORKS customers in these areas.  I learned a lot, and I also hope I provided a lot of new information to those interested in MBD and SOLIDWORKS in general.

Nashville SolidWorks User Group meeting

I made my first trip to Nashville, TN this past week!  Thank you to the Nashville SolidWorks User Group (NSWG) for hosting me.   While in town, I did have a couple hours of free time to check out the Grand Ole Opry Convention Center.


Grand Ole Opry Convention Center

I was in town visiting several SOLIDWORKS customers and meeting up with local users.  On Monday evening, I presented at the April NSWG meeting.


My presentation gave a general overview about Model Based Definition, how to apply it within SOLIDWORKS today.  My presentation also covered the new SOLIDWORKS MBD product that will streamline MBD processes within SOLIDWORKS and provide an output in the form of a 3D PDF for non-CAD consumption.  Attendees asked a lot of great questions about Model Based Definition and Geometry Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T and the industry adoption thereof).  Adoption of MBD is being driving the release of the MIL-STD-31000 standard and the desire by industry to reduce cost of product definition, revisions and design communication.

 

SolidWorks User Group Network Technical Summit in San Jose, CA on Dec 18, 2012

Some people say the world will end 10 days from now.  My bet?  We’ll be just fine on December 22, 2012.  That in mind, if you are in the Northern California area (or within an hour’s flight) and interested to improve your SolidWorks skill, networking with others professionals, and meeting SolidWorks employees, I recommend you look into attending this year’s SolidWorks User Group Network Technical Summit in Silicon Valley on December 18, 2012.

I’ve written about the benefits of the Technical Summits in the past.   SolidWorks employees will be attending this year, along with very helpful presentations.  Registration and details are found on the SWUGN site here.