SOLIDWORKS EDU Spotlight – Ridvan Polat, Engineer and 3DEXPERIENCE Mentor

We are fortunate in the SOLIDWORKS community to have many great mentors. Ridvan Polat is one of those helpful people making a difference in the world. First as a student and intern, and now as engineer and mentor of the Tekyaz team, our SOLIDWORKS reseller in Turkey. Through the 3DEXPERIENCE EDU Student community and the Tekyaz student community (in Turkish), he is helping FIRST Robotics teams with SOLIDWORKS and 3DEXPERIENCE Works Cloud Apps such as xDesign. Here is our interview.

Getting Started with SOLIDWORKS

Marie: Ridvan you are an integral part of the SOLIDWORKS and TEKYAZ community. Describe your journey with SOLIDWORKS When did you first learn about SOLIDWORKS? What did you study at University?

Ridvan: I learned SOLIDWORKS in high school in 2010. It has been an integral part of my life ever since.

The importance of SOLIDWORKS to me. It acts as a bridge for me to transfer the products I imagined and designed in my brain to real life. I can say that SOLIDWORKS is a reflection of my imagination.

I made many designs using SOLIDWORKS. I used SOLIDWORKS to turn my ideas into projects and participated in some competitions. While I was studying at the university, I had an idea that could solve the lubrication problems of the Wankel Engine. With the direction of my mentor, the late Professor Doctor Khanlar Bağırov, I designed this idea in 3 dimensions using SOLIDWORKS. I needed a 3D printer to produce a working model. In order to fund this, I participated in the 3. Öğrenci Proje Fikri Yarışması (3rd Student Project Idea Competition) held at my university and came first in the competition. I bought a 3D printer and produced and ran the Wankel Engine I designed in SOLIDWORKS. I am still working on it. I’m thinking of getting a patent. I shared the details of my projects that I designed and produced with SOLIDWORKS on my Youtube Channel. I’ve included the links below so you can access the projects.

RC CAR (I designed with both SOLIDWORKS and xDesign. I also participated in the Project of The Year 2021 Competition.)

Electronic Clutch Gearbox with Locked Synchromesh (I also participated in Dassault Systemes Project of The Year 2021 Competition.)

When I was in my senior year at university, I applied to the SOLIDWORKS Champions program. My goal was to access more resources about SOLIDWORKS, share my development ideas, and build a good network. I was accepted and became a SOLIDWORKS Champion.

At university, I studied three different disciplines. I studied Automotive Technology. Afterwards, I started Automotive Engineering. Since I know the importance of software and electronics in today’s world, I decided to do a double major on Mechatronics engineering while studying Automotive Engineering. When I came to the end of 2021, I graduated from Automotive and Mechatronics engineering departments as the first of the faculty.

The TEKYAZ Journey, 3DEXPERIENCE and DriveWorks

Marie: Describe your journey with TEKYAZ. How did you start? How did you get started with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform?

Ridvan: While searching for a SOLIDWORKS student license, I met Mustafa CanTürk from LinkedIn. Mustafa CanTürk helped me in my license search at the same time introduced me to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. Thus, I met TEKYAZ.

I joined the TEKYAZ Edu Student platform and shared posts. I applied to TEKYAZ Teknolojik Yazılımlar for my internship training. I did my internship as a Long-Term Intern Engineer. During this time, while updating my knowledge about SOLIDWORKS, I also showed interest in Automation software. I took the first step into the world of automation with DriveWorksXpress. Then I met DriveWorks Solo. During my internship, Mrs. Esra Plevne Büke mentored me. With the direction of Mrs. Esra, I learned many new technologies. During my internship, I also had the opportunity to get to know the world of 3DEXPERIENCE better. I had fascinated by the idea of designing through a browser. The first 3DEXPERIENCE role I learned was 3D Sculptor.

I am currently a member of the TEKYAZ family. I am working as a SOLIDWORKS Automation Engineer. In addition, I am working both in this field and in the field of 3DEXPERIENCE with the support of Mr. İlker Uludağ and Mr.Emrehan Çimentepe.I am responsible for the DriveWorks product group. I am also the mentor of a team of 8 Interns working on 3DEXPERIENCE. In my spare time, I try to show people the benefits of this technology by producing content for 3DEXPERIENCE solutions.

3DEXPERIENCE EDU Student Community

Marie: You are now a student champion in the 3DEXPERIENCE EDU Student community, what does that mean for you and for students?

Ridvan: Thanks to a post shared by TEKYAZ on LinkedIn, I met 3DEXPERIENCE. I produce content for 3DEXPERIENCE solutions. Sharing my content in student communities and seeing the people like and comment in the community on my posts, gives me strength. Apart from student communities, I actively share content in many communities. I am proud to be the 3DEXPERIENCE Student Champion. I see this as a reward for my work and I know I have to keep going.

SOLIDWORKS Champion & Certified SOLIDWORKS Expert

Marie: You are also a SOLIDWORKS Champion and Certified SOLIDWORKS Expert (CSWE). How do you see the 3DEXPERIENCE platform enhancing the functionality of SOLIDWORKS for students and educators?

Ridvan: We live in the age of production. There are a lot of competitions for students in order to encourage them to design and produce. (For example: FRC and Teknofest) Teamwork is very important in these competitions. The situation is the same in professional business life. 3DEXPERIENCE is a great solution for teamwork.

For educators, I can say this: Due to Covid 19, distance education has entered our remote working life. As an educator, imagine you want to give your distance student a test. You can use many apps for this, but 3DEXPERIENCE gives you everything in one app. For example, the Teacher can create an exam calendar with Project Planner and assign students tasks for the exam. You can set a time for this action. Let’s say the student is taking a design exam. It is easy for the teacher to access the design data as it will save its design in the cloud common area. You can get detailed information by watching the video content I prepared about how to use 3DEXPERIENCE for education.

How to Use 3DEXPERIENCE for Education? (Note: 3DEXPERIERENCE EDU Student Community is free. Tto access this content, please register go.3ds.com/studentcommunity.)

FIRST Robotics (FRC) Turkey

Marie: Have you used SOLIDWORKS and or the 3DEXPERIENCE platform apps with FIRST Robotics teams in Turkey?

Ridvan: Together with the FRC teams in Turkey, we organized a competition on “Transport to the Future”. I helped create the Wiki pages for the communities established in this competition. We have an Intern team that I mentor. This team, in turn mentored the teams participating in the competition.

In addition, we prepared a video series with my teammate Onur Kökbaş to show how 3DEXPERIENCE and SOLIDWORKS can be used together for the teams that will participate in the FRC competition in the future. I am sharing this series piece by piece on 3 different platforms.

3DEXPERIENCE EDU Student Community Posts belonging to the series:

3DEXPERIENCE FRC Story – Overview

3DEXPERIENCE FRC Story -Chapter 1

3DEXPERIENCE FRC Story – Chapter 2

3DEXPERIENCE FRC Story – Chapter 3

(Note: 3DEXPERIERENCE EDU Student Community is free. To access this content, please register go.3ds.com/studentcommunity)

Latest Projects with 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS & Cloud Apps, xDesign

Marie: I have seen your work with the SOLIDWORKS cloud app xDesign, describe your latest project to help students learn these new tools.

Ridvan: I had created a review series on 3DEXPERIENCE platforms. It was a series in which I examined the 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS student package in detail. In this series, I generally included video content. I wanted to live the tablet experience of xDesign. I thought about what I can do to show people. While surfing the internet, I came across a ring. Its design impressed me. I asked myself, what if I could design this ring using a tablet? First, I created the video content below. I decided to shoot this as a training series based on the feedback received afterwards. I had a lot of fun creating this tutorial series.

YouTube: xDesign Touch Mode | How to make Gear Ring design? | Introduction

Imagine entering a design program through a browser. You design a ring that you admire on your tablet and produce it in your 3D printer. Moreover, since it is a mechanical design, you can even give it movement. Creating these models on the computer may not be exciting. But doing it from the Tablet certainly makes for an exciting experience.

While creating this series, I took care to use many commands in xDesign. I can easily say that when you complete my training series, you will have learned many of the commands in xDesign.

I wanted to produce a special content for Valentine’s Day using this design. I created a story. We exchanged ideas with my teammate Vera Türkan on editing. I wanted to turn this story into an animation in Visualize Connected. I got help from my teammate Murat Şen in this regard.

“The reason I admire this ring is because I am a mechanical designer with a passion for mechanics. I see this ring as a symbol that combines my passion and love.”

An Engineer’s Understanding of Romance:

3DEXPERIENCE and the TEKYAZ Design Summit

Marie: What did you do with the TEKYAZ Intern Team that you mentored?

Ridvan: We presented a 3DEXPERIENCE story with our Intern Team at the TEKYAZ Design summit. We have also added English subtitles to this story. I recommend you to watch our story about using 3DEXPERIENCE, which is an example of good teamwork.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iijcyMGnIJ0

Let Your Hobby Be Your Job

Marie: You have done so much in just a few years with Tekyaz, what do you recommend to students to be successful in their engineering careers?

Ridvan: I studied engineering in two different fields. To be successful in their engineering career, they must truly love engineering and their chosen major. When there is love, you are no longer working at your job, but at your hobby. To give an example from myself: Before joining the TEKYAZ family, it was my hobby to design, produce using a 3D printer, and produce video content. And now these hobbies have become my business. I work in my hobby, and that’s why I’m happy. When you are happy, success is inevitable.

“Work on your hobby, not your job. Let your hobby be your job.”

More tips on xDesign by Ridvan can be found here on his YouTube playlist. Thank you Ridvan and the team at TEKYAZ for helping so many students.

Design well. Marie

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Marie Planchard

Senior Director, Early Engagement, 3DEXPERIENCE Works at Dassault Systemes

Marie Planchard is an education and engineering advocate. As Senior Director of Education & Early Engagement, SOLIDWORKS, she is responsible for global development of content and social outreach for the 3DEXPERIENCE Works products across all levels of learning including educational institutions, Fab Labs, and entrepreneurship.