Five Questions Friday with Ed Gebo
Name: Edson Gebo
Title: Owner, Mechanical Designer, SolidWorks Administrator, Eastern SolidWorks User Group Network Representative, Executive Officer of the Connecticut SolidWorks User Group, blogger wanna-be
Job description: Anything I can get my SolidWorks hands on.
Company: Digital Detail & Design
Hometown: Southbridge, MA
1. Why do you choose to do the work you do?
I like variety, and being self-employed allows me a greater freedom to work on many unique projects. Having a good array of industrial experience and extensive knowledge of SolidWorks helps me complete tasks and add valuable input. As a young kid, I loved to take things apart, so the mechanical side was born early. I was introduced to the CAD world around 1985 while attending Worcester Vocational Tech. The drafting dept had just purchased an Apple IIe, with two floppy drives, a monitor with a green monochrome screen, and a vicious pen plotter that would eat paper without notice.
2.What is your proudest career moment?
Being nominated for Massachusetts Staffing Employee of the year for 2010 was an honor. Dedication and hard work pays off. Winning the SolidWorks User Group leader award at SolidWorks World 2011 isn’t so much of a career moment, but it was truly an honor and a nice surprise. I put a lot of effort into reaching out to help others, having quality meetings, etc. So my SolidWorks User Group commitments are like my second career, but it’s more like a labor of love, an emotional paycheck. It’s quite flattering to get recognized for such an achievement. I was among numerous SWUG leaders that were just as worthy. I wish I could have shared the award with them all. To all those SWUG leaders, I applaud your efforts! Salud!
3.What goal of yours inspires you most?
Saving the world, of course (is it not everyone’s goal?), but I’ll keep it to “make a difference” and “never give up.” That seems to be working for me. As for past goals…when I opted in to run for Eastern SWUGN representative, I vowed in an e-mail to SWUG leaders in the Northeast (some having no idea who I was), that I would become a CSWP before SolidWorks World. On Sunday morning, before SolidWorks World 2011 officially kicked off, I nailed it! CSWP was mine!
4.How has SolidWorks made a difference in your life?
Lots of ways.
•It has kept me employed in some capacity even through this tough economy
•It has allowed me to work on great projects and interesting things
•It has opened doors for me career-wise that would not have been open if I were still using 2D CAD
•It has made me become a more efficient and better designer
•It has permitted me to gain self employment
•It has helped me network with many like minded users I now call friends to share ideas and collaborate with
•It has allowed me to reach even further to users and leaders via the SolidWorks user group network.
5.Do you have a killer SolidWorks tip or trick you’d like to share?
How about in a multi-body part or assembly, if you hold down the shift key, you can pick a surface on a transparent part that has non-transparent parts behind it. Ultimately, it’s the one that helps the user the most, especially when you hear “ahh…I didn’t know SolidWorks could do that”. Not only is that killer; that just rocks!
