Celebrate 30 Years of SOLIDWORKS at 3DEXPERIENCE World 2025
When SOLIDWORKS CAD software was first released in 1995, it changed the engineering landscape forever. Thirty years later, SOLIDWORKS is the industry leader in mechanical 3D CAD. This year at 3DEXPERIENCE World 2025, we’re celebrating where SOLIDWORKS has been and where it is going.
SOLIDWORKS 95 was released in November 1995. The most immediate difference? Hardware. No longer were designers and engineers tied to gigantic, specialized, expensive workstations to do 3D CAD work. SOLIDWORKS 95 ran on any Windows PC—a revolutionary experience in the 1990s. Since then, the CAD world has been trying to catch up with SOLIDWORKS as its capabilities and product development solutions continue to grow and expand.
If you join us in Houston, you can take a step back in time to when SOLIDWORKS 95 first came out. The 30 Years of SOLIDWORKS booth will feature two experiences for attendees: a 90’s office experience and the 30 Years of SOLIDWORKS Design Challenge.
Take a photo of yourself in a 90s time warp. An office will be set up with actual 90s-era computer equipment and decorations generously provided by the Rhode Island Computer Museum. You can try out SOLIDWORKS 95 on a CRT monitor with a 90s-era trackball mouse and experience what it was like to work with the original SOLIDWORKS release in 1995.
On the other side of the booth, we’ll have the 30 Years of SOLIDWORKS Design Challenge. Attendees will have 10 minutes to get familiar with SOLIDWORKS 95 and then try to design a part from scratch. Trust us—SOLIDWORKS has come a long way and will be more challenging than you think!
Our experts from the SOLIDWORKS training team will be there to guide users and help out. If you don’t complete the challenge the first time, don’t worry—you can try as many times as you’d like (but you only have 10 minutes each time!).
You can see where SOLIDWORKS has been in the 30 Years of SOLIDWORKS booth, then head across the aisle to Model Mania® and test your modeling skills. Right next to 30 Years of SOLIDWORKS, you can see where SOLIDWORKS is going with Model Mania Xtreme. Learn more about these exciting modeling events in this blog.
Anyone who visits the 30 Years of SOLIDWORKS booth will receive one-of-a-kind swag with extra special items for those who can beat the 30 Years of SOLIDWORKS Design Challenge. Come check us out on the 3DEXPERIENCE Playground and have some fun!
SOLIDWORKS is proud to be here after 30 years and continue our strong tradition of innovation and excellence. Celebrate 30 years of SOLIDWORKS at 3DEXPERIENCE World this year, and join us throughout 2025 for more celebrations of our software and the community it helped build. We can’t wait to see you in Texas!
