SOLIDWORKS

SolidWorks World 2012 in San Diego may be over three months away, but the first early bird deadline is upon us (register today and save!) and November is only a few days away. If you haven’t registered or convinced the

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SolidWorks World 2012 in San Diego may be nearly four months away, but the first early bird deadline to save $200 is coming up next week on October 28. If you haven't registered or convinced the boss to send you

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A few weeks ago, I attended a celebration thrown by Javelin Technologies, a SolidWorks reseller in Canada. Javelin was moving into a new office in the town of Oakville, Ontario (a suburb of Toronto), and they invited me to come and take part.

Javelin has been growing quickly over the past few years, and found themselves running out of room in their existing offices. The new building has 12,000 square feet of space, and includes a dedicated 3D printing room, a video studio, and even a 3D theater. The staff told me that they will use it to show 3D demos of eDrawings and 3DVIA products, and even screenings of U2 in 3D. They also made sure to outfit the building with products from Javelin customers, including furniture from Teknion, Allseating, Neinkamper and Umbra; lighting from Metalumen and Visioneering; and even a barbeque from Onward Manufacturing.

The Javelin team used DraftSight to communicate with the architects and contractors for the build of the new space, and created a 3D model of the office in SolidWorks from the 2D data to help with space planning and decision-making. During the grand opening, they even uploaded the 3D model to 3DVIA. com and did 3D walkthroughs of the office in the 3D theater – very cool.

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Early last week, SolidWorks founder Jon Hirschtick let employees know that he has decided to step back from SolidWorks and begin the next phase of his career. From the first days of the company (when it was known as Winchester Design Systems), Jon has embodied the SolidWorks philosophy of focusing on the needs of engineers and designers, and creating an experience that is both powerful and simple. We at SolidWorks will miss Jon and his spirit, and wish him all the best in the future.

Earlier this week, I asked SolidWorks employees to share some of their favorite memories of Jon, which I have included below. I would also like to welcome any customers, partners, resellers or other members of the SolidWorks community to share their stories in the comments section below. I'll let Bertrand go first.

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When I came on to SolidWorks as a young territory sales manager, one of the first questions Jon asked me was "Bertrand, what is the most important thing we can measure at SolidWorks?" Being in sales, I answered that it must be something like quarterly sales numbers, or revenue. Jon replied that "the most important thing we can measure is how many users we're helping be productive every day." Jon has always been focused on the end user, and how we can help them turn their ideas into reality. And while Jon was always focused on the day-to-day business, he was always looking five, ten, fifteen years down the road, identifying the coming trends. Thanks again to Jon for leadership and vision. – Bertrand Sicot

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As an Englishman, there are certain things that one expects to remain constant: There will always be a royal family; The summer sun will shine as England plays cricket at Lords; Big Ben will chime every hour, every day. So

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Like many other people, I’ve been a bit sad, if not depressed, since I learned of Steve’s passing.  It’s kind of weird, right?  I’ve never met him, exchanged an email with him, or even seen him from afar at some

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