MCAD Tech News #138
2 Feb, 2005 By: Jeffrey RoweSolidWorks World 2005 Show Report: The many facets of 'The Power of 3D' take the stage in Orlando
SolidWorks World 2005
Show report: The many faceTs
of 'The Power of 3D' take the stage in Orlando
More than 2,200 attendees converged on Disney's
Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida, this week to get away
from winter for a few days and experience first-hand the many
facets of SolidWorks. This year's SolidWorks World International User Conference & Exhibition, held January 30-February 2, was
attended by SolidWorks users, including 11 members of the Disney
design team; resellers; partners; and SolidWorks employees
representing most of the departments within
the company.
The show was busy and packed with information. To give you a feel
for what was happening, I'll include here the highlights from the general sessions that kicked off each day, all of which
were based on SolidWorks' conference theme, "The Power of 3D."
Monday
The conference kicked off Monday with a general
session themed "The Power of the 3D Community." Jeff Ray, SolidWorks COO,
said that a great amount of power is associated with the SolidWorks
community. In the past year, the company has made good on several
customer service initiatives and recently hired a new vice-president of
customer service, Richard Welch.
As far as community growth goes, the company has shipped
around 385,000 licenses worldwide, and more than 700,000
students per year use SolidWorks. The SolidWorks Manufacturing
Network, made up of manufacturing companies that work with native
SolidWorks models, now has 1,300 partners, and more than 21,000
people have taken advantage of the company's 3D Skills program, an
initiative to teach designers and engineers 3D CAD skills.
User groups, always an important part of the SolidWorks community,
now number more than 100 worldwide. The user group effort is
headed up by new hire and long-time user group champion Richard
Doyle. The community also has influence: In 2004, 32,000
Pro/ENGINEER users signed up for eDrawings, a free viewing and
publishing application for sharing and archiving 2D and 3D product
design data. The community also has a positive network effect
because, Ray said, "SolidWorks customers are our best
salespeople."
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| This closeup shows custom motorcycle features designed using SolidWorks and COSMOSWorks. The chopper was created by Orange County Choppers, made popular by the Discovery Channel show American Chopper. |
When the smoke cleared after the motorcycle fanfare, McEleney took the stage to discuss the overall CAD industry and the state of SolidWorks. He told attendees that he believes the global economy has stabilized because business in general is picking up and more businesses are committing to long-term projects. Many of these companies are also investing in new tools and processes, he said. And he described a distinct market segmentation he sees developing: process-centric on one side, wherein the PLM mindset rules, and design-centric on the other, where mainstream 3D dominates.
As for SolidWorks specifically, McEleney covered a number of topics, although he emphasized that SolidWorks continues to be committed to and focused on improving the user experience for both current and potential users. One of his main goals is to plan for a million SolidWorks seats in place while keeping the user community and all those associated with it invigorated — a tall order and lofty goal, to be sure! Tuesday
The theme for the second day was "The Power Of A 3D Future." The main presentation was given by Burt Rutan, founder of Scaled Composites and designer of SpaceShipOne, the first manned spacecraft to exceed an altitude of 328,000ft (62 miles, or 100km) twice within two weeks to claim the $10 million Ansari X-Prize. Rutan's surprisingly small design team used a variety of CAD applications, including SolidWorks and COSMOSWorks, to design and engineer SpaceShipOne. He gave a great talk on what he hopes will come to pass with privately funded space tourism and travel. (To read more about SpaceShipOne, see the feature from the current issue of Cadalyst magazine, now online.)
There's much more to discuss about this important topic presented by Burt Rutan, so stay tuned for more detail in an upcoming issue of MCAD Tech News.
Wednesday
The third and final day's theme was "The Power Of 3D Software Tools." Guess which product was showcased? Well, it was a first look at the enhancements coming in the second quarter with SolidWorks 2006. For many of the attendees, this preview was the highlight of the conference. Jeff Ray said the company has three main release themes for SolidWorks 2006:
- Make SolidWorks the workhorse of the industry
- Make it easier and faster (believe it or not) to go from 3D to 2D — that is, create drawings from models
- Ensure that SolidWorks 2006 is better suited for consumer product design
- General enhancements: display, analysis results advisor, sketch blocks, camera, area fill pattern and annotations
- Consumer product design: 3D sketcher, functional features, net surfaces and decals that can be used with PhotoWorks
- Machine design: 3D annotation views, smart components, broken views and physical loading with COSMOSXpress
- Sheet metal: multiple edge flanges, rip feature, closed corners, gauge tables and bend annotations
- Overall performance for large assemblies and drawings: the claim was as much as an order of magnitude in some cases
Based on what was presented at the conference, 2005 looks to be a very good year for SolidWorks 2006 and the company as a whole.
