SolidWorks World 2012 Top Ten Enhancement Requests

In a tradition of SolidWorks World, there is a vote for the top ten enhancement requests for SolidWorks.  This year’s list varies a bit from previous a bit more than normal.  There’s a couple reasons. 

First, several items from last year’s top ten was actually included in the next release (some even announced at the show).  Here’s the completed and planned items from last year’s list:

  • SolidWorks should cleanly uninstall itself (Done in the same year)
  • Freeze Features (Done in the same year)
  • Enhanced Equations Input & Editing & Linking (Done in 2012 and added abilities planned for 2013.)
  • File compatibility between versions (Announcement some ability for this is planned for 2013.)

Item number 9 from last year was to keep the Ideas area of the forum open for year around voting.  It should be noted that this isn’t actually a request to improve SolidWorks, but regarding the process to provide input for how to improve it.  It is essentially a vote for the voting process.  Technically, voting for enhancements is available year around via the Enhancement Requests area in the Customer Portal.  The Idea voting system is something fun just for SolidWorks World that allows SolidWorks to have the opportunity to take a yearly snapshot of customer needs. 

Second, the voting system for Ideas worked a bit different this year.  In previous years, voting and submission of ideas was mingled.  This meant that ideas that where submitted early naturally received more votes.  This year levelled the playing field.  All ideas where first collected in the first phase, then voted upon during the second phase.  Ideas that may have been hidden in previous years now got a chance to be noticed.

SolidWorks World 2012 Top Ten Enhancement Requests

  • #10- Thread creation wizard
  • #9- Add lock rotation option to cylindrical
  • #8- Escape key should immediately return control of the interface (similar to request from last year)
  • #7- Dimensions should stay where you place them
  • #6- Ability to control a plane’s front and back side orientation
  • #5- Reduce the bounding box of drawing views to visible components only
  • #4- Address the shaded with edges bleed thru issue
  • #3- Don’t delete your children, dangle them instead (similar to request from SolidWorks World 2010’s list)
  • #2- Mass properties should include the option to automatically put a point a the center of gravity
  • #1- Start using more CPU cores whenever its possible (similar to request from SolidWorks World 2010’s list)

Firsts and lasts and repeats of SolidWorks World 2012

SolidWorks World 2012 saw some firsts and some lasts.  Attendance peak was just shy of 6000, first time attendance reached that level.  Attendance of the CSWP-CSWE Event was well over 800, also a first.  Yet, there’s a last too.  This was the last time the event is for CSWP attendees.

Next year, the special event will only be for CSWEs.  In part, this is in recognition of the success of the CSWP program, where having the Core certification is becoming the norm.  It is also meant to honor the new status of the CSWE.

This is also my first SolidWorks World as an employee.  This means I was very busy with the business of…well, I was working.  This was the reason for my lack of posting articles during the conference.  As mentioned previously, I did frequently update the SolidWorks World 2012 flickr group and the hashtag #sww12 on Twitter.

Along with some first and lasts, there are also some repeats.  San Diego was again a great host city, even covering the conference on a local news station.  We again had an awesome Gaslamp Block Party as the Special Event.  The food was much better this time around.

Birds-of-a-feature is where people of similar interests can enjoy their meals together and have interesting discussions.  There’s been some experimenting with the format of this idea in recent years.  This year, Birds-of-a-feature was returned to the Breakfast and Lunch room, where it seems to work well.  It is no longer limited to just one day, nor just to lunchtime.

The keynote speaker, Tony Fadell (billed at the inventor of the iPod), was announced just ahead of the conference.  Yet, SolidWorks World still managed to have a worthy surprize speaker, Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs!

When looking through the Conference Notebook and Show Program, I discovered that the list of Breakout Sessions started with one of my presentations, Advanced Customization Techniques in SolidWorks within the CAD Admin category.  Ironically, this session was scheduled in the last timeslot of the conference, on Wednesday at  2:45pm.  Of course, there were 214 total sessions spread across 11 timeslots.   I’m not 100% sure, but I believe that’s also a record.

SolidWorks World 2012 prelude (after the fact)

With my new role at SolidWorks, my time at SolidWorks World 2012 was spent working.  As such, my hobbie (this website), was not updated during the conference.  I had hoped for a chance to post at least a couple of updates during the conference.

I wasn’t fully out of commission though.  There are many tweets and flickr updates from me during the conference.  Though I made a few Facebook updates, most of these where via Twitter; so it almost goes without saying that Google+ didn’t get updated.

Also, I forget my camera, so all of my photos where with my phone.  Fortunately, its camera isn’t half bad.

More to come.

 

SolidWorks World 2012 comes to a smartphone near you

SolidWorks World 2012 has several high quality applications for various devices.  SolidWorks World 2012 is available for the iPhone and the iPad on the iTunes store, and for Android devices on the Android Market.  (At SolidWorks World 2011, the mobile application was only available for the iPhone.)  The 2012 version is loaded with practically all the information you’ll need to navigate the conference.

  • Full conference schedule
  • Log on to your SolidWorks World 2012 attendee account
  • All sessions, including descriptions, maps of how to get to the assigned room, link to speaker’s bio, and the ability to add the session to your agenda
  • All speakers and their bios
  • Floor maps for each level
  • Partner Pavilion directory, map, and other information
  • General conference information, such as overview, hours, food, and special event
  • Location of important points of interest
  • Info about Dassault Systemes, including information other mobile applications

Additionally, there are links to SolidWorks related accounts on Twitter (tweet updates on the #sww12 hashtag), Facebook (SolidWorks World page, [not the SWW12 page]), Flickr (SolidWorks photostream including SolidWorks World 2012 group with uploaded photos by SolidWorks and attendees) and Youtube (SolidWorks related videos).

As a bonus, there’s a feature to scan QR codes of badges from other attendees to start building your contact list.

Smartphone and laptop strategy at SolidWorks World 2012

Power

SolidWorks World is a big event with thousands of attendees.  Due to the rise of mobile electronic devices in the past few years, an interesting problem as arisen.  On a normal day, your smartphone’s battery charge may last a day or two without any worries.  However, 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.  With 2012, this need is even more obvious with the new and highly useful SolidWorks World 2012 mobile application, in addition to other mainstays like social media, calendering, phone calls to your associates and other attendees you plan to meet, etc.

My personal advice is to always have a spare battery on hand, whether you are using a laptop, smartphone, other mobile devices, or any combination thereof.  Also, scope out power outlets wherever you happen to be.  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 have a smartphone and a laptop, you may be able to 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.  Make sure they are on your checklist!

Wifi

Another growing need is connectivity via wifi.  Those of us with smartphones may not be as tethered.  However, don’t rely on cellphone carrier signal for data connections while inside of the conference center.  Even an Andriod on a free data plan may need to switch over to wifi to access the Internet at some point.  SolidWorks provides several wifi hotspots throughout the conference center.

Regardless to the type of device you use, scope out the locations of these hotspots a head of time so you aren’t left without data connection at an inconvenient moment.  Even still, there will be many other people accessing the wifi at the same time, so please avoid downloading big files or streaming videos.  I personally recommend hitting the hotspots for specific connectivity needs, then quickly moving on.

Good luck and I hope to see you at SolidWorks World next week!

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.