Design
Designing Dads: How Design Skills Translate to Dad Skills
With Father’s Day only a few days away (don’t forget to buy that classic tie), we wanted to take a moment to recognize all the Dads out there. Being a Dad means wearing multiple hats, and balance between this and
... ContinuedSolidWorks Simulation and the fine art of skim boarding
I got to the beach at last this weekend. There was sun, sand, and the perfect family day out (with two kids under ten). I also brought along my nemesis—a skim board that I purchased in a moment of madness. I could surf in my youth, so I figured how hard could it be? Turns out it was very hard—what just call me “Mr. Face Plant.” To make matters more embarrassing, my 9-year-old son had a go, and after a couple of tries, he was successfully riding the board. That got me thinking. Apart from my son’s youth, stamina, flexibility, better balance, and all-around natural ability, what was keeping him up and me flat on my face?
... ContinuedGreen Design Contest in Full Swing
Thanks to all those of you who have participated in our Green Design Contest so far! I'm dying to preview your entries, but I'm going to wait until the formal judging starts on July 1st to check them all out
... ContinuedMade in 3D: The 3D Printing Challenge
By now, I'm guessing that most of you know all about rapid prototyping and 3D printing, and how they make it infinitely easier to visualise your design concepts before actually making a working prototype. But if you're not familiar, imagine
... ContinuedTrip report: my SolidWorks User Group tour
As you may recall from my earlier post, I spent the week of May 23 driving through the southeastern US with SolidWorks User Group Network coordinator Richard Doyle, attending user group meetings and visiting customers. It is always exciting to get out of the office and meet with SolidWorks users, and I learn something new every time. Rather than give you a day-by-day retelling of my trip, I thought I would talk about some of the highlights.
Each of the user group meetings was different and enlightening in different ways. The first meeting was in Atlanta, Georgia, and was held at the Quickparts headquarters. The second meeting in Greenville, South Carolina, was held at Clemson University. At this meeting, several resellers set up a display of 3D printers for the 70 attendees to demo, and SolidWorks customer Redneck Engineering brought out a few custom choppers. Here’s a picture of me sitting on one of them along with Vince “Nobody” Doll, who runs the company.
University of Istanbul Solar Boat Team Competing in This Week’s Solar Splash Competition
If you happen to be near Cedar Falls/Waterloo, Iowa this week, there’s an interesting event taking place this week you might want to check out. Starting Wednesday, June 8, teams from universities around the world will be racing solar and
... ContinuedDesigning the hot rod baby buggy: your help needed!
The Let’s Go Design team is moving full steam ahead on our third project, the Hot Rod Baby Buggy, and we're starting to design bigger pieces of the stroller. But there are always challenges when you're developing a new product,
... ContinuedWhat do bikinis, ATVs, and tank treads have in common? The new Let’s Go Design episode!
Well, Jeremy and the Let's Go Design team are at it again. If you haven't checked in lately, they launched a new project last month. The goal this time? To build a hot-rodded baby buggy, something any dad would proudly
... ContinuedThree Elements Timberworks cuts development costs by 50% with help from SolidWorks
Three Elements Timberworks, Inc. from Colorado isn't your average SolidWorks customer. They don't build motorcycles or medical devices or any kind of machinery. Rather, they design and assemble of hand-cut, custom timber frames for interior and exterior residential and commercial projects throughout the Rocky Mountain region.
Recreating the U.S.S. Missouri with help from SolidWorks
I recently learned about an interesting project we're sponsoring here at SolidWorks. It's the work of a gentleman named Donn McKinney, who hails from Yorba Linda, California. Donn is a fan of the World War II-era Iowa-class battlships built for the United States Navy, and he has decided to attempt to create a fully-operational 1/32-scale model of the U.S.S. Missouri. And by fully-operational, Donn means that it will have full navigation, propulsion and radar capabilities.
If you're not familiar with your naval history, the Missouri was the last battleship built by the United States, and saw active service from 1945-1955, with a reactivation period from 1984-1991. Today, the Missouri is a museum ship. It weighs 45,000 tons, is nearly 900 feet long, and is capable of carrying a crew of 2,700.
That's a big ship, and it's hard to imagine turning something so huge into a 1/32-scale replica. Even at that size, the final result will be over 27 feet long. So to get started, Donn is using SolidWorks to create a full model of the Missouri. In fact, he's already started to build parts of the hull, and is making significant progress modeling the other parts of the superstructure. Donn is currently estimating that the project will take 2-1/2 to 3 years to complete. Talk about dedication.
Matti Technology AG uses SolidWorks to shorten design cycles by up to 20%
They may not be a household name, but Switzerland's Matti Technology AG is a major player in the development of printing presses, finishing lines, drying techniques, and digital printing technologies. They provide high-speed solutions to support a variety of business printing needs, and have successfully integrated a thousand different digital systems
Evolution of an inventor
While drafting today’s press release, we spent time speaking with X-Finger inventor Dan Didrick and learned more about how he got his start helping people. Believe it or not, it was trying to scare the pants off of people. As a child, he loved using materials from his father’s dentist office to make movie-quality monster masks. By seventh grade, the budding special effects artist was selling his instructional video on mask-making through creepy Fangoria magazine.
Uncork Your Brain with Mind Maps
That great idea you are looking for is already somewhere in your mind or in the collective mind of your team. The real effort in coming up with a great idea, is all about getting out of your own way so that your great idea can reveal itself. I want to refer to this as the “idea release” process, rather than the idea generation process.
A very useful tool in the idea release process is mind mapping. In this post, I will discuss how we inadvertently trap our great ideas in our mind; strategies for getting out of our own way; and finally how mind maps can help.
... ContinuedTaking the Certified SolidWorks Professional Test – Segment 1
In March I wrote about how I was challenged by blogger Matt Lorono to pass the Certified SolidWorks Professional (CSWP) test, and my promise to pass it by the day SolidWorks World 2012 begins. It has been a month since my first post, so I thought I would give an update to everyone.
If you’re not familiar with the CSWP, it’s broken up into three segments. So when Marie Planchard started helping me train, we focused on what I would need to know to pass the first segment. In this part, you have 90 minutes to
- Create a part from a drawing
- Use linked dimensions and equations to aid in modeling
- Use of equations to relate dimensions
- Update of parameters and dimension sizes
- Mass property analysis
- Modification of geometry on initial part to create a more complex part
In preparing for segment 1, I worked through the sample exam on the website. After I created it the first time, Marie worked with me to make the design again and showed me where I could save time. For example, Geometric Relations, Linked Values for sketch dimensions and Equations really help. In the CSWP exam, the part was not difficult – but you have to work fast.
... ContinuedBen Gulak and team design the next wave of personal transportation using SolidWorks
What do an electric unicycle that transforms into a full street bike and a skateboard/tank hybrid have in common? The answer is a guy named Ben Gulak and his team of co-conspirators.
Ben comes from Toronto, Canada. He’s currently a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he’s a mechanical engineering major. When he’s not attending classes, he manages not one, but two, companies.
... Continued