The following story is written with my colleague, Nirali Jain, SOLIDWORKS EDU Marketing team, supporting educators and students. Meet Nirali at the EDU Zone in the Exhibition Hall at 3DEXPERIENCE World.

3DEXPERIENCE World 2026, February 1-4, Houston Texas is only a few weeks away and I am so excited to review our program for SOLIDWORKS Educators. Researches, Professors, Instructors, Teachers and Administrators of all educational levels. You are an integral part of our SOLIDWORKS Community. It is time to celebrate.

I first attended SOLIDWORKS World 24 years ago as an engineering professor at Mass Bay College. The experience made an impact on my life and the lives of my students. SOLIDWORKS Educators, I want to share with you highlights of our 2026 program.

The General Sessions introduce our latest technology, customer experiences, community & certification highlights, and innovative startups, educators and students.

Educators can attend “hands-on” sessions and hear from other educators in our community. There will be a special session hosted with our user group leaders around the world. The SOLIDWORKS User Group Network (SWUGN) has groups just for educators too.

There are breakout sessions and meetups with focus on education and learning. Educators that register can attend 100’s of other sessions on Design, Simulation, Manufacturing, the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform, and more.

EDU Zone

One of the goals of the SOLIDWORKS Education team is to provide qualified candidates to our commercial customers – with the help of SOLIDWORKS educators. The EDU Zone will feature student projects from around the world as we celebrate AAKRUTI, our innovative global design contest. We will also feature local students from Texas A&M University AUVSI RoboSub Team (WIRED Underwater Robotics) and Project Legacy Electric Motorcycle designed by University of Houston student Khanh Vu. Educators and their students will be able to talk to Dassault Systèmes Lead Talent Partner, Suzanne Diekan, about internships and careers. More on the EDU Zone in next week’s blog.

Manufacturing Shop Floor

What is a shop floor without machines? Thanks to our hardware partners, visitors can watch live demonstrations featuring Ellison Technologies’ DNM 5700 4^th GEN vertical machining center, Tormach’s newly released 15LX CNC lathe, BlueBay Automation’s Spartan Robotics, and Integrated Manufacturing Systems’ labeling and scanning technologies. Together, these partners showcase a fully connected, end-to-end production environment. You can read more about the playground here.

Tuesday Night Event

For our 3DEXPERIENCE World 2026 Tuesday night event, attendees will take over Space Center Houston. Get ready for an extraordinary, fully privatized evening exploring one of the most iconic science and innovation destinations in the world. With exclusive access to the entire venue—including Independence Plaza, the Astronaut and Mars Galleries, the Boeing 747 and shuttle replica, the Falcon 9 rocket, and private tram tours to the historic Saturn V rocket—guests will immerse themselves in interactive exhibits, simulators, and hands-on space experiences available only to our group. You can read more about the Tuesday night event here.

If you haven’t registered – there is still time. Register here.

If you cannot attend 3DEXPERIENCE World 2026, you can still experience General Sessions and key interviews streaming at Live.SOLIDWORKS.com. Invite your students to watch the General Sessions with you.

Thank you SOLIDWORKS Educators for being an integral part of the SOLIDWORKS Community.

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 across all levels of learning.