Richard Doyle's Community Blog

SolidWorks World Co-Speakers Didn't Get "App'ed"

2012-02-08T12:36:13-05:00

Yesterday some very slick apps were released for SolidWorks World 2012. You can get a better look at them here.

Nearly everyone who has seen the apps (for iPad, iPhone, and Android) is very excited about using them next week in San Diego. Some folks have gone so far as to seriously consider buying one of the devices. Others report that they are able to "borrow" from friends or family (mostly borrowing from their kids). The apps will make it easier to navigate around the massive conference center, keep track of sessions and schedules, and they'll help you find those specific Partner companies in the Partner Pavilion.

The release of the Android version was in response to customer requests from last year, and a couple of other annoying little issues were resolved. One issue remains (and is on the fix list for 2013), session co-presenters are excluded from the app's agendas and speaker catalog. So....here's a look at those co-speakers.

Brian Crabtree - MLC CAD Systems
SolidWorks for IT
Monday, February 13th - 2:45pm Room 14A
Brian Crabtree is the Technical Manager for MLC CAD Systems. He has been active in the CAE industry for over 15 years and has been a frequent speaker at SolidWorks User Group in the South Central and South East U.S.

Eric Lagman - Techtronic Industries
PV360 - 2Fast 2Furious
Tuesday, February 14th - 2:45pm Room 31C
Eric is a Senior Industrial Designer at TTI designing for Ridgid and Ryobi powertool brands. Past experience involves retail design and consulting experience designing products for medical, industrial and consumer markets. Design work and photoreal rendering examples can be seen at http://www.ericlagman.com

Greg Rice - GR Marshall Group, LLC
SolidWorks Motion - Basics
Wednesday, February 15th - 10:30am Room 32B
President of Innovation & Creativity, GR Marshall Group. Provider of mechanical engineering design, analysis and drafting services. 23 years experience; includes 17 years exercise equipment design. Rapid generator of creative and practical solutions for design and manufacturing.

Hemant Jatla - Datafrond, LLC
PLM-in-a-Box
Tuesday, February 14th - 4:30pm Room 14B
As a PLM consultant, he recommends solutions to complex product development issues. Many of his large scale PLM implementations have been for Fortune 500 clients. He has successfully managed and deliverd large and complex PLM implementations.

Ilan Madjar - xLM Solutions
Different Customization Approaches and Options for SolidWorks Enterprise PDM
Tuesday, February 14th - 2:45pm Room 15A
Ilan Madjar has been implementing PLM solutions for 10 years at a wide range for customers. Lately Ilan has been implementing PLM systems for Design to Build customers. Ilan holds an MBA and BS in Industrial Engineering.

Jason Kerns - CP Manufacturing
Automation Techniques - Pick One...or Two
Wednesday, February 15th - 2:45pm Room 28A/B
Using SolidWorks since 2006, started as a designer of automation machinery, currently a SW Admin and Developer of Automation in SW.

Jim Byrne - DASI Solutions
Enhance Your SolidWorks Productivity with a 3D Mouse
Wednesday, February 15th - 2:45pm Room 33C
I have been working for DASI Solutions in Michigan for over 13 years as an applications engineer. During that time I have trained and implemented SolidWorks, Simulation and PDM for our customers.

John Schmider - Swave Studios Inc.
Plant Design - An Integrated Approach
Wednesday, February 15th - 1:30pm Room 14A
Mr. Schmider is the co-founder of Swave Studios Inc, a Toronto based design firm, that is working with Consultec to develop & refine its IPD System. Mr. Schmider has worked on projects spanning the automotive, aerospace, medical, and consumer markets.

Josh Altergott - Computer Aided Technology Inc.
Allowing SolidWorks to Perform
Monday, February 13th - 10:30am Room 26A/B
How to Build and Mantain Effective Design Tables
Tuesday, February 14th - 1:30pm Room 14B
Since 1995 Josh Altergott has been a Designer, Trainer, and Consultant. Since 2002 Josh has worked at CATI as an Application-Engineer and currently manages the CATI Support Team. Josh’s experiences allow him to cover SolidWorks technical problems in great depth.

Ken Mally - RKI
Design Automation for Today and the Future
Wednesday, February 15th - 1:30pm Room 15B
Ken Mally is a Mechanical Engineer with 20 plus years experience in product design and engineering. He has run his own consulting firm and currently heads RKI's Engineering efforts.

Kieran Flannery - Educator
The Impact of SolidWorks on Technology Education in Ireland
Monday, February 13th - 4:30pm Room 15B
Kieran has extensive experience as a teacher and in his role as Regional Development Officer with T4. His knowledge of Solidworks has contributed greatly to its integration into the Technology subjects as a design, communication and investigative tool.

Michael Menta - Dorman Products Inc.
Advanced Vault Customization and Add-ins for SolidWorks Enterprise PDM Vaults
Monday, February 13th - 4:30pm Room 31A/B
Director of Engineering for Dorman Products, Inc. Dorman Products is a leader in the automotive aftermarket for OE replacement parts.

Rafael Sequeira - SETECH Brasil
Creating Routing Content to Speed Your Designs (Piping/Electrical/Tubing)
Tuesday, February 14th - 4:30pm Room 33A
Mechanical Engineer graduated at POLI-USP (São Paulo – Brazil) in 1992. I have been working with 3D design since 1986 and with SolidWorks since 2000. The last seven years were dedicated to piping design of chemical plants using Routing.

Scott Gutschow - Bay Port High School
Integrating SolidWorks into Our Middle and High Schools
Tuesday, February 14th - 10:30am Room 15A
Scott Gutschow is currently a instructor in the Howard Suamico School District in Wisconsin. Scott has been teaching for over 16 years and has extensive experience and development of line assembly including improvements and modification to production processes.

Stephen Lapic - Brentwood Industries Inc.
A Day in the Lifecycle of a Project at Polychem Systems
Wednesday, February 15th - 1:30pm Room 14B
As an engineer, I started designing on CAD systems in 1983 on a Navy project. Since then I've received four automotive patents using five CAD systems. My experience with PDM systems is in various roles, the last as system administrator.

Steve Hughes - Mentor Graphics
Linking ECAD and MCAD with the ProStep EDMD Format
Wednesday, February 15th - 1:30pm Room 30C/D/E
Steve is the Product Manager at Mentor Graphics for its Exhibition Products. As Mentor Graphics’ representative on the ProStep iViP forum he has helped drive the development of the ProStep EDMD format and its adoption by ECAD and MCAD developers.

Will Cobb - Smooth Logics
Guiding Your Engineering Department to the Next Level
Monday, February 13th - 1:30pm Room 30C/D/E
Will is a software engineer from Holland, MI. He received his computer science degree from Grand Valley State University, and he specializes in developing SolidWorks integration software.

So there you have it, a look at some of the SolidWorks World co-speakers that didn't get "app'ed". Next year we'll make sure they get the recognition they deserve in the SolidWorks World apps.

"SolidWorks Anne" is on the Move

2012-02-08T08:11:58-05:00

2008 SWUGN User Group Leader of the Year Anne Yust is leaving Minnesota for the warmer climes of...Colorado. While that's bad news for the members of the Twin Cities Simulation User Group, it's great news for SolidWorks users in the Denver area. I suspect that once Anne settles in, her first order of business will be to get involved in the Colorado SolidWorks User Group.

NOTE: The Twin Cities Simulation User Group will be left in the capable hands of Tera Hansen, who was highly recommended by Anne.

Anne will be joining us in San Diego next week for SolidWorks World 2012, and I hope that everyone there will join me in wishing Anne all the best in her new adventure. You can find Anne hanging out at the SWUGN Booth in the Partner Pavilion or at the 13th Annual SWUGN Summit meeting on Monday afternoon.

If you're really intent on meeting Anne. I know exactly where she'll be Monday through Wednesday morning - she'll be first in line for the general sessions. Watch the video below, and at roughly thirty seconds in, you'll see what I mean. If you want to chat with Anne, better do it before the doors open - otherwise you'll have to sprint along with her.

Good luck on the move Anne, and thank you for everything you've done for the SolidWorks User Group Network. Your contributions are a huge part of SWUGN's success.

And since I'll be inside the general session room on Tuesday, I'll be watching your run to the User Group Leader section with a big smile on my face and a camera in my hand.

Wrapping Up the 2011 SWUGN Technical Summits

2011-12-06T06:46:32-05:00

Just a couple of hours from now I'll be standing in front of a room full of people, talking about SolidWorks User Groups, SolidWorks World, and the SWUGN Summit - Tampa.

The 2011 SWUGN Technical Summits were very successful. We started the year in Birmingham, England, and made stops in Phoenix, Kansas City, Boise, Minneapolis, Detroit, Nashville, Las Vegas, and now Tampa. The Minneapolis event set a record for attendance with 184 people, and we had more than 100 people in Nashville and Kansas City. The first ever event in Detroit attracted 98 SolidWorks users.

The SWUGN Technical Summits wouldn't be possible without the presenters, and SolidWorks users stepped up this year in big numbers. Thanks to the following people for their contributions:

Dan Loader, Kevin Clouden, Adam Hartles, Graham Bloom, Jon Doyle, Neil Cooke, Jerome Marget, Anna Wood, Doug Landers, Dave Zamora, Phil Sluder, Devon Sowell, Lou Gallo, Patrick Rainsberry, Sal Lama, Mike Puckett, Wayne Tiffany, Charles Culp, Ed Eaton, Lynnette Sabatka, Brian Reel, Adrian Fanjoy, Darrel Lampley, Idris Trainer, Jeff Osman, Ryan Okelberry, Blake Young, Norm Nguyen, Dan Aalbers, Ryan McCain, Matt Morgan, Mike Spens, Reza Tabatabai, Greg Jankowski, Jenn Oster, Dan Podzimek, Tim Gorski, Amos Avery, Rob Jensen, Brian Lindahl, Chris Narveson, Dan Bovinich, Jason Raak, Mike Garvelink, Micheal Beem, Ken LaVictor, Darin Grosser, Lars Christensen, Jeff Cope, Avelino Rochino, Elton Smith, Ricky Jordan, Gary Hall, Brian McElyea, Steve Uptain, Rustin Webster, Jeremy Clark, Nicole Walden, Brad Williamson, Lyle Fisher, John Milbery, Toby Robinson, Randall Bock, Aaron Magnin, Keri Prasky, Casey Gorman, Keith Huber, Dan Wilson, Carl Scheible, Steve Brown, and Mark Lyons.

The 2012 SWUGN Technical Summit schedule is being developed now, and we'll annonce all of the 2012 cities at SolidWorks World 2012.

The SWUGN Summit at SolidWorks World

2011-12-01T13:44:02-05:00

In 2000, roughly 30 SolidWorks user group leaders met for a roundtable discussion with SolidWorks folks and the members of the newly created SNUG (now SWUGN) committee. The purpose of the meeting was to bring together user group leaders to discuss plans for SNUG, to outline the support being offered by SolidWorks Corporation, and to simply get to know each other a little. We sat in chairs in a big circle, but by the time we finished going around the room introducing ourselves, time had run out for any meaningful dialog.

These days the SWUGN Summit is a little more structured and organized, but the purpose is still the same. Some 75 - 120 user group leaders from around the world attend each year, and it's a great opportunity for them to speak face-to-face with fellow group leaders, to learn about how other SolidWorks user groups are doing, and to hear from some really special guests.

The SWUGN Summit is not just for SolidWorks user group leaders. Anyone interested in forming a user group should absolutely be there, and SolidWorks users interested in learning more about local chapters worldwide are encouraged to attend. We have some interesting presentations scheduled, and there's always a surprise guest or two.

The 13th Annual SWUGN Summit meeting will be held at SolidWorks World 2012 on Monday, February 13th from 4:30pm to 6:00pm. We'd be happy to see you there.

SolidWorks World - These Folks Present. A Lot.

2011-11-30T11:43:55-05:00

Since SolidWorks World 2006 (Las Vegas), there have been approximately 1070 user technical sessions presented at SolidWorks World conferences - an average of 214 per event. Every year brings new presenters and topics, but every year also brings back SolidWorks World veteran presenters.

NOTE: I'll use terms like "all-time" and "highest score ever", but my data only goes back to 2006. This is just for fun.

The Workhorses
It will come as no surprise to regular SolidWorks World attendees that Sal Lama of DS SolidWorks is the all-time leader in the number of presentations with 18, followed closely by Craig Therrien (DS SolidWorks) with 17, and Mark Biasotti (DS SolidWorks) and Marlon Banta (DS SolidWorks) with 16 each.

SolidWorks users that are prolific presenters include Jerry Winters (VB CAD) with 15, and Rob Rodriguez (Axis CAD) with 14.

Special Note - Phil Sluder has presented at every SolidWorks World conference (sometimes twice), and would probably be close to the top of the list if I had better data).

SolidWorks reseller reps step up frequently as well, and Josh Altergott (CATI) leads the pack with 9 sessions. Adrian Fanjoy (CATI) is next with 8, and Randy Simmons (3DVision) been at the podium 7 times.

The Experts
SolidWorks World presenters are held to a high standard, and each session is evaluated by the attendees. An average score of 4.00 (out of 5.00) is the threshold that determines if a presenter will be invited back the following year. Here are some of the top sessions and presenters from year's past.

Highest Rated Session Ever
Rob Rodriguez takes the honor with an overall score of 4.84 for his SolidWorks World 2011 session - PhotoView 360, Instant Images (hands-on).

Mark Biasotti comes in a very close second (4.80) with his SolidWorks World 2011 session - SolidWorks Clinic, Is the Doctor In? (he had a lot of help with this session - it was a panel of experts), and David "Woody" Woodruff (Design Dreams, LLC) rounds out the top 3 with his SolidWorks World 2010 session - The Other Project BUB, Part 2 - Land Speed Racing Designs for Bonneville.

All-Time Ratings
What would a post like this be if it didn't include some "Top 10's", right? Here are the top 10 sessions of all-time (sessions in red will be presented at SolidWorks World 2012, asterisks *** denotes a presenter that will be presenting a different topic).

PhotoView 360, Instant Images (hands-on) - Rob Rodriguez, Axis CAD (2011)
SolidWorks Clinic, Is the Doctor In? - Mark Biasotti, DS SolidWorks (2011)
The Other Project BUB, Part 2 - Land Speed Racing Designs for Bonneville - "Woody" Woodruff, Design Dreams, LLC (2010) ***
Rip-n-Stitch, Surfacing Repairs for Solid Models - Keith Pederson, CAPINC (2010)
Creating SolidWorks Enterprise PDM Add-ins, From Napkin to Distribution - Jerry Winters, VB CAD (2011) ***
Integrated CAM, What it Means for Designers, Engineers, and Programmers - Anthony Graves, HSMWorks (2010)
Exporting Information from Intralink into SolidWorks Enterprise PDM - Kevin Schmitt, Inflow Technology (2010)
Using 2D Analysis to Conquer Complex Problems - Omar Zohni, DS SolidWorks (2011) ***
Electrical Mechanical Workflow with SolidWorks and E3.WireWorks - Patrick Hackney, E3.WireWorks (2010)
7 Habits of Higly Effective SolidWorks Users - Jason Pancoast, CAPINC (2009)

One more Top 10 - the highest averages, 2 or more sessions minimum (the overall average for all presenters is 4.10).

David "Woody" Woodruff - Design Dreams, LLC (4.53)
Marie Planchard - DS SolidWorks (4.52) ***
Sal Lama - DS SolidWorks (4.47)
Marlon Banta - DS SolidWorks (4.46)
Joe Rowsey - Joe's CAD Co. (4.46)
Jerry Winters - VB CAD (4.46)
Keith Pedersen, CAPINC (4.44)
Matthew Derov - DS SolidWorks (4.43)
Tim Paris - ModernTech (4.42)
Ed Eaton - DiMonte Group (4.41)

As you can see (in red), 7 of the top 10 presenters will be in San Diego in 2012 (Marie will be there as well, but her crazy schedule doesn't leave much time for technical sessions).

Check out all of the sessions and presenters by heading over to the SolidWorks World 2012 site, then make sure you see some of these terrific sessions and speakers. You'll be happy that you did.