How SOLIDWORKS Turned Ernesto Mosqueda’s Life Around
Some people do not realize what they’re truly passionate about until later in their lives. You might think you want to be in a certain industry or field for the rest of your life, but then that all back fires when you start to loathe your occupation. Fortunately for Ernesto Mosqueda, he found his passion for SOLIDWORKS as an adult, changed his profession, and now has newfound aspirations of what he wants to do for the rest of his life.
As a child, Mosqueda would help his father assemble automotive parts in his garage. “Before I could go out and play, I had to put in a couple of hours helping out in the garage,” Ernesto stated in an interview with Cadalyst.com. He learned important life lessons in this garage as his father taught him to never give up when he was struggling with a problem, and the importance of working his way up from the bottom. These life lessons would prove invaluable for Ernesto.
Ernesto worked as a self-employed designer of food processing equipment. That is where he learned how to draw in 3D and understand dimensions; however, there were a lot of difficulties he ran into that could not be solved on paper, such as seeing clearances and conducting motion studies.
Ernesto was introduced to CAD software when he started working for Day-Lee Foods. “I saw my boss using SOLIDWORKS to design a conveyor system that would roll tortillas to make frozen taquitos… I had to know more about it. I was really curious about the software and its abilities.” After asking his boss if he could practice using it, Ernesto was initially intimidated by SOLIDWORKS. Although he began to struggle using the software, his interest in the program propelled him to look into training courses on SolidProfessor.
“Within the first hour of watching the SolidProfessor courses, I was amazed to find out that I was actually able to draw a basic sketch, extrude the sketch and then rotate it… It was so simple and easy to follow that I proceeded to purchase the SolidProfessor membership,” Ernesto said. After becoming more familiar with SOLIDWORKS, Ernesto started to design parts for his boss and would eventually have to constantly make drawings of different building pieces for him as well.
After one year of training with the software, Ernesto was able to design a conveyor belt that transfers one gallon metal cans from room to room for labeling and packaging. Ernesto shed some light on the project, “Before the conveyor was installed, the employees were doing double the work, loading the cans into a steel basket by hand, then moving them via forklift. We eliminated the forklift traffic, as well as the need for two or three people to handle each load.”
Even as he became proficient in SOLIDWORKS, he kept looking through SolidProfessor training courses to gain more than just an intermediate understanding of the software. Due to his continued commitment to improve his application skills, he was able to land a new job opportunity as a maintenance manager for Del Real Foods, in 2008. Right away, Ernesto started to modify the designs of the company’s equipment. “I came up with an alternative design… drew it by hand first, then asked the company owner to invest in SOLIDWORKS so we could create a digital drawing and send it to an outside machine shop for manufacture. The new cylinder lasted at least three years, and is probably on the machine today,” Ernesto said.
Ernesto is now a freelance machinist, working on restructuring current rides that need adjustments. In the meantime, Ernesto is now working on his newest innovation in SOLIDWORKS, a lightweight exoskeleton. Ernesto explains the reasoning behind his design, “My mother-in-law suffers from rheumatoid arthritis… So, I’ve started designing this exoskeleton glove that will help her to straighten her fingers and allow her to be able to grip simple things like a broom, a dust pan, or a chair. That’s something that one day I can finish and give her, so that she can use the function in her hand again.”
Ernesto has truly lived his life based off the advice his father gave him as a young child. Ernesto continued to progress his skills in SOLIDWORKS, as he would constantly look at training courses in SolidProfessor. He also started as a food equipment designer, but eventually made his way to a maintenance manager position. Ernesto has bigger goals set in mind, and with his passion and work ethic there is no reason why he can’t accomplish these goals. We wish Ernesto the best of luck on his future endeavors!