Windows SP3
I heard Windows Service Pack 3 was released last week. How does it work with SolidWorks? Some are reporting it allows SolidWorks to run faster. Is this true?
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
Everybody's Talkin' 'bout It
The Direct Editing demo video from Siemens. Watch it here; http://www.cadjunky.com/watch/44857204
Their claim that it's 100X faster is out there alright. I'm withholding my opinion on that for now.
I've read that the new Siemens (that's just a terrible name to say out loud) function adds a new 'direct edit feature' to the Feature Tree. If so, what's the advantage?
As a SolidWorks user since 1999, I have no complaints against history based parametric modeling. I've had many successes using SW and so have many others. I dabbled with 'direct editing' when I did a few design jobs for Hewlett-Packard using Co-Create One Space Solid Designer (what a mouthful!). I hated Co-Create, even after training and using it for 6 months.
That's my take, what's yours?
2008 SolidWorks Explorer, Tips & Tricks
On my PDM Solutions blog, you'll find Tips and Tricks for 2008 SolidWorks Explorer.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
Computer Part Prices Continue To Drop
If you're lucky enough to live in the Los Angeles, Orange County, or San Diego County areas of California, you can take advantage of the low prices at Fry's Electronics.
For example, this week;
20" Widescreen LCD Monitor, DVI $179.00
8GB USB Flash Drive $27.99
Canon MP470 All In One Printer $69.99
1TB eSATA/USB External Hard Drive $189.99
2GB DDR2 PC6400 TwinX Memory $19.99 (!)
2ea 2GB Secure Digital Memory Cards $19.99
These are some great deals.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
My New PDM Solutions Blog
Today, I created a new blog, PDM Solutions. In answer to many questions and requests, I felt a specific location for this topic was appropriate. Please visit this blog to discuss and comment about Product Data Management.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
Blow Away Those Pesky In-Context External References
What do I like about In-Context External References? Absolutely nothing! They're like spilled pancake syrup, they leave a sticky residue.
So, here is the Systems Options setting I use for external references.
What happens if you Check-In files with in-context external references into your PDM Vault? It goes nuclear, blows you into a worm hole and you reappear 30 years in the past. 30 years ago, cavemen used AutoCAD 13 to draw petroglyphs.
I like to phaser any in-context external references (try to say that 5 times fast while eating a Rolo) using one of my favorite anti-AutoCAD tools, 2008 SolidWorks Explorer. Use the file Explorer, your secret decoder ring, and the arrow key to cycle up and down the tree. Set the Explorer View to References and the Warp Factor to 10. If you find one of the little buggers, RMB, Open the file in SolidWorks and begin smashing the pesky buggers into the forth dimension.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
NonSensicalSpelling
SolidWorks
SpaceClaim
CoCreate
AutoCAD
GoEngineer
FeatureWorks
WorkGroup
SolidProfessor
PhotoWorks
DDi
CosmosWorks
DWGEditor
iPod
iTunes
HowDidThisSillyTrendStart? CanYouThinkOfAnyMore?
Cheers
DevonSowellWorks
The Temecula Valley User Group Meeting
Last night, I attended the TVSWUG meeting. A small but enthusiastic crowd showed-up to hear my PDMW Enterprise presentation. I abhor Power Point slides, so we jumped right in and I fired-up my favorite data management application. None of the attendees had seen Enterprise in action, and most were impressed with its capabilities. Some liked the the ability to create Versions (without creating Revisions) quickly. Others liked the fact that any Windows file type can be managed by Enterprise.
As usual, I asked how many attendees were using SolidWorks 2008 for production work; the answer was 20%. The remainder said they were using version 2007 and saw no reason to upgrade to 2008.
Later, I opened up the meeting to any and all questions. The topic soon turned to ToolBox. I demonstrated the little known 
ToolBox Tool, "sldsetdocprop.exe" Use this tool to set or remove the attribute, "Is A ToolBox Part" 
This is very handy if you don't want 
to use the default ToolBox interface and set up your own Library.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
The Story Of My First Design
Following is the story of my very first design; The Jet Wrench.
The year is 1975. It's a warm summer night. 7,000 people are watching from the grandstands. In the pits at Ascot Raceway, Los Angeles, CA, my Father and I decide to 'richen-up' the fuel mixture in my 750cc Triumph Flat Track Racebike. To do this, we need to replace the Main Jets
in both Carburetors. The Jets are tiny hexagonal threaded brass orifices with precise holes drilled in the center to meter the amount of fuel that goes into the engine at the wide open throttle position. The Jets share a standard thread pitch, but the Hex can be 1/4" or 6mm across the flats. It's 8:30pm, the Pits are dark, time is of the essence... Which socket do I use? The 1/4" or the 6mm? I don't want to strip or round off the brass hex... I thought to myself; "What if I had 
a double sided Jet Wrench? One with a 1/4" socket on one side and a 6mm socket on the other? How about a polymer Wrench that would 'give' before stripping the Jet threads?" Aha!
Here's some background information that preceded this: In 1975 I was a hotshot professional flat track motorcycle racer. I was 22 years old and had been racing steady since I was 12. The previous two years, we had traveled 
the USA extensively, racing our way across the country. In 1975, I decided to not travel so much, but race mostly in California and Arizona. Why not?, I was making a pretty good living racing two or three times a week during the summer. Traveling had sounded exciting, but I was burned out on the driving. Also, showing up a new race track I'd never seen nor turned a lap on and then expecting to finish in the money, let alone win, was much more difficult than I had anticipated. So, starting in 1975, I raced mostly at tracks I was familiar with.
I had been living my dream since I was 17 years old, the year I became a professional motorcycle racer. From the time I was 12 until I was 16, I raced for trophies. Earning a living doing what I truly loved was a lesson that I 
would carry with me for the rest of my life. When I retired in 1981 at the age of 29, I had raced in over 500 motorcycle races. I had moved out of the house when I was 18, and I enjoyed being on my own. In the winters, when I wasn't racing, I made extra money by working in Machine Shops. Most of these shops helped to sponsor my racing, and many of them were glad to teach me how to operate a Mill, Turret Lathe, Sunnen Hone, Welder, and all the rest of the standard machine shop equipment. Learning and working in Machine Shops would turn out to be a great benefit to me later in my life. I also spent about 18 months working for the Suzuki Motorcycle Factory. At the age of 21, they made me the Customer Relations Supervisor for the entire USA! At Suzuki, I learned about Manufacturing, Inventory Control, and Part Numbering schemes. I was also lucky enough to attend all the Suzuki Factory Training Classes. I never felt comfortable in this environment. One week, I clocked out early on a Friday so I could race in Colorado. When I returned late on Monday morning, I got in trouble. That's the moment I decided I'd be self-employed whenever possible and I quit the Corporate Lifestyle. Years later, I worked as a Contractor for the Honda and Nissan Factories where I learned more about manufacturing.
So, back to the Jet Wrench; at the time of my idea, one of my sponsors was a Machine Shop that sold Motorcycle Service Tools to OEM suppliers. I pitched them on my idea and they said they'd split the costs of the first run with me, double my investment and then they'd own the Jet Wrench. I said "OK, it's a deal!" The biggest cost, of course, was the Mold required to make the injected molded Wrench. I didn't want to risk my own money, so I borrowed the $2,500.00 needed to cover half of the Mold and the Polymer for the first run. In 1975, $2,500.00 was a lot of money to a 22 year old like me. I had no credit, I'd always paid cash for everything, even my cars. I'll never forget mustering up the courage to walk into the Bank Of America in Long Beach, CA and ask for my very first loan. I got lucky, the Loan Officer liked me and my idea, so I got the money, no collateral!. This taught me to never be afraid to ask for something you really want or need.
This story has a happy ending. For the first run, we made 10,000 Jet Wrenches. We gambled on this, but making this many on the first run meant that the piece part cost was low. The final cost of the Jet Wrench, packaged and ready to ship was less than 90 cents. This allowed for a good profit margin. We sold them out and made many more runs. I collected my $5,000.00 check 6 months later. What did I do with the money? I finished paying off the loan and then I...
Well,that's a story for another day.
I dedicate this story to my Father and Mother. My Father, Sid Sowell, was truly a mechanical genius. Of the motorcycles shown, my Father built the engines in all of them and they were fast! He taught me that I could learn anything, and he was right. Thanks Dad.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
We Welcome Our New Client, MicroVention, Inc.
Today, Sarah and I welcome our 28th client, MicroVention Inc. This medical device company is located in Aliso Viejo, CA. We look forward to working, once again, with Gary Currie and his staff. We appreciate all our Clients and the opportunities they provide.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
SolidWorks Performance; It's All About The Processor
My three year old Dell M70 laptop wouldn't stop crashing, even after replacing the hard drive. So, I searched around the Dell Outlet web site for a replacement. Thanks to Anna Wood and her diligent research, I learned that when it comes to running SolidWorks, the CPU is king. A SolidWorks approved video card and lots of RAM are also important too, but the Processor has the most influence when it comes to speed.
Therefore, at the Dell Outlet site, I sorted the laptop choices based upon the best CPU speed. I chose the M6300 for the 17" monitor and the SolidWorks approved video card. The FX1600M video card is not the latest and the greatest, but a new M6300 with the newest video card costs over $3,000, that wasn't in the budget. My outlet pick came to $1,700.00 plus tax and shipping.
Here's what I wound up with: 
I was pleasantly surprised at the speed of this computer. Using Anna Wood's Punch Holder Part, I got a time of 115.45 seconds. That's 10 seconds faster than my XP64 bit, 8GB RAM, Quad Core 2.4GHz desktop! One year ago, I was using an AMD desktop computer. It's best time was 256.95 seconds. Computer speed has really improved in the last twelve months.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
Update, April 9, 2008; After applying Service Pack 3.1, the time dropped to 111.20 seconds, outstanding.
Epic AutoCAD/SolidWorks Joint Enterprise
Check out Mike Puckett's Blog for his exclusive post about the joint SolidWorks/AutoCAD User Group Meeting.
I'll be presenting a session about ERP/PLM/PDM. I'll explain how leveraging the enterprise to increase scalability will result in a robust and seamless best-of-breed solution. When B2B and B2C become state-of-the-art, cutting edge mission critical end-to-end results will drive customer-centric power users to turnkey ERP/PLM/PDM.
I hope to see you there.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
Hey Ford Motor Company, Buy LOW, Sell HIGH
The Ford Motor Company, USA, continues its unique business strategy of buying automobile companies, operating them at a loss, then giving them away in fire sales.
For example, Tata Motors, India, recently completed the purchase of the Jaguar and Land Rover brands from Ford. Ford purchased Jaguar in 1989 for $2.5 billion and Land Rover in 2000 for $2.7 billion, a total of $5.2 billion. Apparently lacking the skills taught in Economics 101, they sold them both for the give-away price of $1.7 billion. Truly amazing, isn't it?
We held Ford stock for many, many years. Henry Ford was a hero to me when I was in grade school. I used to write letters to the Ford Motor Company when I was a kid. Real Heros like Dan Gurney, A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti raced Fords, and won. Ford, what happened?
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
SolidWorks Purchases CircuitWorks
SolidWorks Corporation today announced it has acquired U.K.-based Priware Limited, developer of CircuitWorks™ software, bridging the gap between electronic CAD and mechanical CAD software. The acquisition gives engineers around the world a platform to integrate electronic and mechanical designs for the millions of electronic products developed every year.
SolidWorks acquires CircuitWorks provider Priware
Addresses high demand for integrated electrical and mechanical design platform
CONCORD, Mass., March 26, 2008 — SolidWorks Corporation today announced it has acquired U.K.-based Priware Limited, a SolidWorks Gold Partner and developer of CircuitWorks™ software, which bridges the gap between electronic CAD and mechanical CAD software. The acquisition gives engineers around the world a platform to integrate electronic and mechanical designs for the millions of electronic products developed every year.
According to BCC Research, the electronics industry will reach $3 trillion by 2012. CircuitWorks enables engineers to accelerate and simplify electronic product design by integrating ECAD files into their 3D models and 2D drawings. As a SolidWorks Gold Partner Product, CircuitWorks allows engineers to ensure electronic components such as printed circuit boards (PCBs) will fit and work correctly in their products – all within the SolidWorks® software design window.
“The electronics industry is inherently becoming more complex, meaning we as engineers are increasingly challenged to arrange for proper interaction between electronic components and their mechanical environment,” said Gert Lamberts, project manager at security and electronic control unit supplier N.V. Nedap (www.nedap.com). “Working in separate programs with PCB makers slows the process and increases the chance we’ll have to re-work something. The integration of SolidWorks and CircuitWorks is a marriage of high-performing tools that lets us innovate and collaborate, rather than simply recreate new products.”
Previously, much of electronics development involved designing the product to fit around the electronic components. SolidWorks and CircuitWorks together let engineers design PCBs to fit inside ever more stylized product frames, whether an MP3 player or the dashboard of a new car.
For example, a mechanical engineer can use CircuitWorks to include a PCB design (in industry-standard IDF and PADS file formats) in the SolidWorks solid model of a new global positioning system (GPS) device to help ensure the PCB is not too close to any metal contacts. SolidWorks Routing would allow the engineer to create the wire harness to connect to the PCB. The engineer would also be able to gauge how the PCB will stay in place using COSMOSWorks® design validation software, and check heat flow using COSMOSFloWorks™ thermal dynamics analysis software.
The acquisition further establishes SolidWorks software as an indispensable platform for developing highly complex mechatronics systems, which combine electrical, mechanical, and information processing components found in consumer electronics and robotics. SolidWorks and CircuitWorks combined let mechatronics engineers use digital modeling to improve product quality, reduce prototyping, and streamline development.
“Very few products made today are purely mechanical,” said SolidWorks CEO Jeff Ray. “As products become ‘smarter’ with more complexity, electronic components are increasingly driving the design. The lines are blurring between electronic and mechanical industries, and this acquisition is a natural step toward helping engineers be more innovative and proficient in this changing climate.”
Availability and pricing
CircuitWorks is immediately available as a component of SolidWorks Office Premium. It will be provided to existing Premium customers at no additional charge.
About SolidWorks Corporation
SolidWorks Corporation, a Dassault Systèmes S.A. (Nasdaq: DASTY, Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA) company, develops and markets software for design, analysis, and product data management. It is the leading supplier of 3D CAD technology, giving teams intuitive, high-performing software that helps them design better products. For the latest news, information, or an online demonstration, visit the company’s Web site (www.solidworks.com) or call 1-800-693-9000 (outside of North America, call +1-978-371-5000).
# # #
SolidWorks and COSMOSWorks are registered trademarks, and CircuitWorks and COSMOSFloWorks are trademarks of SolidWorks Corporation. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright (c) 2008 SolidWorks Corporation
2008 SolidWorks Training
Last week, I had the opportunity to teach the 2008 SolidWorks Essentials Class for V.A.R. Digital Dimensions, San Diego,CA. This is a 4 day class designed to introduce users to SolidWorks and teach them the fundamentals of history based, parametric, 3-D Solid Modeling. For example, Draw a 2-D Sketch, Extrude the Sketch into a 3-D Solid, Create Features to achieve the desired Design Intent, Create a Drawing of the Created Part, Create Assemblies from Created Parts, Create Assembly Drawings.
In a nutshell, the Basic stuff. The 9 students were very enthusiastic, were able to understand the concepts, and we all had some fun too. I really enjoyed the experience and I look forward to teaching again. Some other subjects I look forward to teaching are PDMW Enterprise, PDMW WorkGroup, File Management, and Weldments.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
Easter Egg Hunt, 2008
Here are a few photos from a glorious Easter day! I took these using my daughter's $58.00 pink Polaroid digital camera, not too bad. When I look at that area of grass that's worn out, I'm reminded of our dear friends Chuck & Dottie Gibson. Friends for over 16 years, they recently moved away from Carlsbad, CA to live closer to their daughter. We hosted a going away party for them. Over 100 people turned out to wish them farewell and good luck! Hence, the worn out patch of grass. Chuck & Dottie were Mentors and Friends to all they met. Chuck was a College Professor, World War II Hero, and a National Champion Tennis Player. Dottie was one of the most loving persons I've ever met. Blessings to them!
From 4GB To 8GB RAM
When Fry Electronics here in San Diego,CA had 8GB (4X 2GB) Patriot PC6400 RAM on sale for $160.00 (!), I just couldn't resist. I've been using it 3 days now on an XP 64 bit machine. I don't have time right now to run benchmarks, but appears to be about 10-20% faster than 4GB RAM. Since I use PhotoWorks everyday, that's where I see the largest gains.
Perhaps next month, I'll find the time to benchmark this set up. It is really nice that computer component part prices keep falling. I also picked up a 500GB Seagate Barracuda Hard Drive SATA 3.0GB/sec ($99.00) for my Server. If your Motherboard supports 3.0GB/sec, don't forget to remove the jumper from the Hard Drive or it will run at 1.5GB/sec instead. Now, if it were only possible to build my own laptop...
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
SolidWorks/3DVia/Supplier Source's Don Swavely
It is my pleasure to post a recent interview with my friend Don Swavely, SolidWorks Corp.
Don, it’s been a few months since I spoke to you, how have you been?
Hi Devon. It has already been a while since SolidWorks World. Like everyone, I’ve been very busy and really looking forward to springtime.
What is your title at SolidWorks Corp. and what do you do?
Engineering Analyst is my title, which allows me a lot of leeway as to what I do. I’ve been part of the SolidWorks Manufacturing Network/Sliderule/SupplierSource team for just over two years now. With more than 30 years in the design and engineering business (and more than 10 of those as a SolidWorks user), my role has been to help provide some perspective and inject some reality into the SupplierSource product development process. Growing the site and finding ways to help make it better are also my responsibilities. And, I’m the customer contact go-to guy for both the SolidWorks Manufacturing Network and SupplierSource. Keeps me hopping!
I know you’re working closely with the new 3DVia group, what is the newest and latest with 3DVia?
3DVIA is the Dassault Systèmes’ (SolidWorks’ parent company) product line devoted to bringing the 3D experience to more users, especially people who aren’t involved in CAD. For folks just getting started there is 3DVIA Shape, which is a free online 3D modeling application that allows anyone to start creating, uploading and sharing models. 3DVIA Printscreen allows users to save 3D scenes from both OpenGL (like SolidWorks) and DirectX applications. SupplierSource is also part of the 3DVIA product family; which also includes 3DVIA Composer (a suite of excellent tools for using 3D data throughout the product development and manufacturing process), 3DVIA Live (for 3D collaboration) and 3DVIA MP and 3DVIA Virtools (products that concentrate on helping developers and educators with new 3D environments and games).
The Supplier Source website is looking good these days, the growth seems tremendous. What can you tell us about the growth and what kinds of companies are using the site?
Thank you, Devon. You’ve been a big help by providing feedback and by being one of our earliest customers. SolidWorks users are the core of our customer base. Many have come from the SolidWorks Manufacturing Network. We’ve also added quite a few new suppliers by gradually getting the word out through SolidWorks users and on the internet. We have all sizes and types of companies, but the most interest and activity has been centered on the development and prototyping end, which isn’t surprising since speed, finding new ways to do things and finding new sources is most important during development. Free internet tools like SupplierSource help make it a little easier.
Personally, I have received inquires from people that have used the Supplier Source web site, what can the site offer to the SolidWorks Community?
It is certainly good to hear that you’re getting activity through SupplierSource. We try to help companies find each other and then stay out of the way, so feedback like yours is important. Right now, when you’re working in SolidWorks there is a direct link to SupplierSource from the “Home” panel of the task pane (in the Online Resources panel). Just type in the service you’re looking for and you’ll be taken directly to search results for suppliers of that service on SupplierSource. Then if you want to work with other SolidWorks users; you can then refine your search (over on the left, under Certifications) to include only suppliers who are members of the SolidWorks Manufacturing Network. We’re also working with SolidWorks to improve this capability and integrate SupplierSource further into SolidWorks so that it is even easier to find new sources. In addition, we’re in the process of transitioning all of the SolidWorks Manufacturing Network members to SupplierSource to provide a single focus for users.
If people have questions about Supplier Source, what’s the best way to get more information?
The fastest way is to go the website (http://www.suppliersource.com/) or contact me directly at dswavely@solidworks.com or 978-318-5527. The site FAQ covers a number of technical questions. The site blog has a variety of odd posts that answer some additional questions and the site also has email feedback links. I see and respond to all of those emails. You could come visit me too, but they may take you a bit longer.
I see you’ve started your own Supplier Source Blog, how do you like blogging?
It is a great way to “talk” with interested viewers in a more informal and complete way. It also allows for immediate feedback from anyone reading it. I’m happiest when I know a little more about the real people involved in anything, so I try to let my personality and opinions show through.
Is there any chance we could see you at any of the SolidWorks Technical Summits or SolidWorks User Group Meetings this year?
User Group Meetings are very important to me and I was really glad to see SolidWorks give them, and their organizers, more prominence at SolidWorks World this year. There are five SWUG groups that I can reasonably get to from here. I regularly go to the CM-NC SWUG meetings, which are great! I also go to the Boston Area SWUG and the New Hampshire SWUG meetings when I can. I’m hoping to go up and visit Rob Rodriguez at one of his Northern Vermont SWUG meetings soon. There is also a new group that has just been started by Bill Dalpe for the Rhode Island and Southern Massachusetts area (first meeting is April 16). It’s actually the closest to my house, so I’ll certainly be going there. Going to a Technical Summit has been on my Gotta’ Do list for a while now, but this year’s locations will make it tough. There are some rumors floating about (and hard work being done to organize) one that is closer. Maybe that will be my first one.
Don, I wish you well, and I look forward to seeing you again soon. Thanks for your time.
Thank you, Devon, for the opportunity and for your support. Catch a wave for me!
Temecula Valley, CA SolidWorks User Group
Brian Wixom, the TVSWUG User Group Leader, sent me an e-mail asking me to to present at their April 15 meeting. I guess if we're 'short' on our taxes, I might not make it :-)
He asked me to pick the subject so I'll be demonstrating one of my favorites, 2008 PDMWorks Enterprise. I hope to see you there.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
2008 SolidWorks Explorer & Windows Desktop Search
Today, I've spent most of my time using these two applications. What am I doing? I'm Searching for specific files, and Copying the found files to the desired folder. I'm Verifying and Editing Part Numbers and the Custom Property 'Description'. I'm Replacing Old Parts with New Parts and maintaining the 'links' to the Assemblies and Drawings. I still can't 'Delete' a Custom Property in 2008 SolidWorks Explorer like I could in the old version :(
All these files exist on my local drive and my external drive, so I can successfully use W.D.S. Once I get going, this goes very fast. Does anyone else like using these tools? It seems these applications get a bad rap from many users, some of it deserved. What's your opinion?
I'm also listening to iTunes radio, 181 FM, while I work. Do you have a favorite Internet radio station?
Cheers,
Devon
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
Update;
Here's a screesnshot showing that the 2008 SolidWorks Explorer Functions are available in the Windows Desktop Search User Interface.
Microsoft Cuts Vista Prices
http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9882510-56.html?tag=nefd.lede
Here's some good news;
Mike Puckett Interview
Here is my interview with SolidWorks Blogger
, Mike Puckett;
Hello Mike-
It’s my turn to interview you, if that’s OK?
At this point I don’t think I have much of a choice!
Where do you work and what do you do?
I work for Dauntless Molds in Covina Ca. We design and build Thermo Plastic Injection Molds for the plastic industry. The company was started way back in 1975, and continues to be a leader in the field. We specialize in molds that produce plastic optical lenses for sunglasses, prescription lenses, and inner ocular (in eye lens replacement). One of our most well known customers is Oakley. Currently, we are their choice for supplying the molds and tooling that they use to mold, and manufacture their sunglass lenses.
Do you travel for your company, if so, what is the most interesting place you’ve been to?
I am actually sitting in a hotel lobby on a business trip filling in this interview right now. Travelling is not a routine thing; in fact I would say I maybe do 2-3 overnight or extended stay trips a year for work. The next few months do however have me coming here to Minnesota (where I’m at now), in April we are heading to the Black Forrest in Germany to visit the factory for Arburg Molding Machines, and then right after to Vienna Austria for a trip to the factory for Wittman Robots. I have one more trip scheduled in May that I will be able to discuss in further detail down the road!
At SolidWorks World 2008, you told me you’ve designed some complex molded parts; how did you become an expert in this field?
First I’m not sure I would qualify myself as an expert, so let’s just say well versed? I actually started off in the trade working in the shop running EDM machines back in 1994. It took me about six months to figure out that I would much rather sit in an air conditioned room in front of a computer, instead of a machine shop getting my hands dirty all day long. That change however didn’t really take place until around 2002 when I was given a full time position using Solidworks to design fixtures and electrodes for the shop. Up until that point I had used Autocad, and then moved up to Solidworks in the shop to interrogate drawings, and create inspection dimensions. I wanted to get the experience of working in the shop to get a thorough understanding of the tools we built, before I attempted to design one of my own. In the mold making trade, so much of the designs are based off of what people have done for years. Using Solidworks along with COSMOS, I have been able to shatter some pretty old perceptions as to what’s actually necessary to make a mold work. I have had instances where we have been able to simplify water channels in inserts by doing basic FlowExpress studies.
I know you’re very active in your local SolidWorks User Group; since your group is successful, to what do you attribute your group’s success?
The real success of any user group comes from the satisfaction of its members. If you give them what they want, they will keep coming back, and participating. I do however believe that the person leading the group needs to have the passion necessary to lead. Remember, all we really get for leading these groups, is free admission to Solidworks World. So to dedicate the time and efforts needed, we as group leaders have to make a commitment to the group. My motivation goes back to my days when I was trying to learn Solidworks back in 1998-1999. There were no user groups, no technical summits, and locally there weren’t even any classes at the local colleges. I worked my way through the Planchard books to learn what I could, and then learned by trial and error. Because of that, I have always been as open with my Solidworks knowledge as I can be, and I try to do what I can to make it as easy as possible for those trying to learn the software. If I can help one person get through the Solidworks learning process, I have succeeded.
Are you a computer geek? If so, what your favorite thing about computers?
Computer geek? How about internet nerd that likes computers? I think Josh Mings more likely suits the computer nerd label (where does he find those neat toys)! I currently have a home desktop computer that is a 3.0ghz machine with 3gb of ram, and an nVidia Quado FX 540. My mobile workstation is a Dell M90 with an nVidia Quadro FX3500, and just this week I received my new ‘toss around’ laptop which is a Dell Vostro 1500. The Vostro is going to be my everyday tote around laptop for email, internet ect, basically whenever I don’t need to have Solidworks with me. At Solidworks World I lugged my M90 around for five days, and never had to use Solidworks. I was able to pick up the Vostro for under $500, so that will be the computer I take with me to Germany in April. Computers are a big part of our everyday life, so I like to try to keep up with the technology, and have fun with them. At our company I also manage the network, so I have recently been learning Microsoft Small Business Server, and learning the inner workings of Microsoft Exchange. I also build and set up our new work stations here at the shop.
I know you’re an excellent photographer, what is your favorite camera and why?
Photography is actually a new hobby of mine. I bought a Nikon D70 18mm-70mm kit from a guy off Craigslist back in December. I chose the brand strictly based on the deal I found. I had been using a point and shoot Sony for a few years, so this is totally different. Learning how to use the different settings is a challenge, and thankfully there are a lot of resources on the internet. I have an annual pass to Disneyland, so I make frequent trips to the park just to take pictures. As they get better, I will share them with everyone.
Finally, tell us about your scuba diving adventures.
I honestly have no clue what could be a more relaxing activity. I do about 99% boat dives, and try to stay away from beach diving as much as possible. The boat trips are very relaxing. After arriving at the boat at 6am and having breakfast, we get a 2 hour nap on the way out to Catalina Island. When we arrive at the island, we put our gear on, and then take about 10 steps into the water at the dive site. We do three dives and then head back to arrive around 5 in the evening. Between dives the boat crew feeds us, and fills our tanks. I couldn’t imagine a more lazy activity! Down in your area, there is quite a bit of fantastic diving off the La Jolla Shores, including some nice wreck dives. For us out here in California, we get water temps at depth that gets to just over 60F on a warm day, so that involves a 7mm thick wetsuit, hood, and gloves. I will say that the wetsuit is the worst part of diving. Other than Catalina, I have dove off the coast of Oahu, and also been to Cozumel where we did 6 days of diving. Cozumel by far was the best diving I have done anywhere. The 80f water and visibility of 200+ yards made it very nice. In fact, this reminds me it’s time to get the tanks inspected, and get ready to dive again as the weather gets warmer again. I’m not sure where I heard it, but Jeff Ray is a certified diver, so I invited him to come speak at a user group meeting, and then we could go diving the following weekend. I’m not sure if he will actually take me up on my offer, but it would certainly be fun. I just hope that he doesn’t put itching powder in my wetsuit or pull some other prank to get back at me for the Jacuzzi pics from Solidworks World!
SolidWorks For Your iPod
Hello, my name is Devon Sowell and I'm an iPod junkie. Here's a link to the site where you can obtain some cool SolidWorks files that play on iPods. Enjoy!
Now, I'll crank up my iTunes and listen to I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night), The Electric Prunes, one of Matt's favorites. Great Drums on this song!
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
My First Patent
I worked on this design almost 4 years ago. Since I willingly signed away any rights, I just forgot about it, until today. The key to this design is described in the phrase "Without Undercuts". SolidWorks provided the tools to help make a successful design.
The head of the design project, Dr. Steve Yon, is a brilliant scientist. He is the Director of Research at Innercool Therapies. Steve has an extremely high level of understanding in the subjects of fluid mechanics and fluid motion. He loves to ride bicycles and exotic motorcycles. He has an ex-racer spec Ducati!
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
Press Release From nVidia; The New Notebook FX3600M Video Card
This press release caught my eye for a couple of reasons. I need a new notebook. I've been waiting for a notebook that would support; 4GB RAM, Vista 64 bit, DirectX 10 and a Quad Core CPU. Well, this HP Compaq 8710w supports 3 out of 4, sorry, no Quad Core CPU, yet. This photo came from an nVidia press release. nVidia is bragging about their new video card. This looks good.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
Feb. 22, 2007
Here is the cost of the HP 8710w configured with maximum performance selected; fastest CPU, 4GB RAM, FX3600 Video Card, Vista 64 bit, Office 2007; $4,050.00 plus tax and shipping (!)
Vista 64 bit Operating System
Are you considering the Vista 64 bit Operating System? I am. Tom's Hardware Guide has information and test results for this O.S. They mention the cost of the O.S., but they've missed the mark when it comes to finding the best price. Shown are the prices from Tom's Hardware Guide.
Here are the prices from my favorite source of software, Buycheapsoftware.com. I recommend this site and I've been using them for over 6 years. Note that the Ultimate Retail version includes both the 32 & 64 bit versions. My choice is the 64 bit O.E.M. version at $197.00 plus tax and shipping.
Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
My Blog & My Opinion Are Not For Sale
A few days ago, I noticed that there was a "commercial link" on Josh Ming's Blog to a company called Inspirtech, they sell SolidWorks Training Materials. A few days later, I saw another commercial link to this company on Gabi Jack's Blog. I didn't pay anymore attention to this until I saw a "review" of Inspirtech's products on Gabi's Blog. After reading Gabi's positive review of Inspirtech, I asked her, in the comments section, if she was being paid by Inspirtech or getting free product in exchange for the link on her Blog. Gabi sent me a private e-mail where she explained she got to view all the Beginner Training for free. Next, I received a private e-mail from Albert Whatmough from Inspirtech. He offered the training materials to me for free and also told me there is a 15% "Commission" available for referrals.
Gabi and Josh, it is none of my business how you want to run your Blogs. However, I am in charge of my own Blog. Therefore, I am stating very clearly that I won't accept any Commissions nor any Free Content in exchange for any type of commercial link or mention on this Blog. Companies can ask me to look at their product, but that doesn't guarantee a mention on this Blog, and a commercial link to their company will never appear here.
Feb. 16- Here is a snippet from my latest comment;
"My Blog is about my opinion and I hope everyone is clear about how I feel about this subject. In my opinion, it's all about creditability; once someone starts accepting favors or money in exchange for Blog Posts, commercial links, or positive reviews, then this person and their Blog loose creditability."
Best Regards,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
GM Reports Biggest-Ever Automotive Loss
"DETROIT - General Motors Corp. reported a $38.7 billion loss for 2007..." That's a $10,410,958 million dollar loss PER DAY. I can't imagine waking up everyday knowing my company was going to spend this amount more than it takes in everyday. Here's a link to this report: http://www.msnbc.com/id/23124844/
Of course, I can't even remember the last time I owned a GM built vehicle. I can't even think about a model I'd even consider owning, right now. Another website is reporting GM is looking to lay off 74,000 people (!).
This is really too bad. GM made it's own bed, now it has to sleep in it. GM has disconnected from its customers.
Devon T. Sowell
3-D Design Solutions
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
OK, now I remember the last GM car I owned; a new 1998 Saturn Wagon. We bought it for my Wife. During the first 18 months, it was in the shop for 14 different problems! It just missed being declared a "lemon" as per California law. We couldn't afford to just dump it, so we hung on to it for about 30 months. We paid $18,000 for it new, we got 1 offer for it used, $7,000. I've never lost so much money on a car before or since. No wonder I couldn't remember this car!
"As GM goes, so goes the country" Is this still true today?
A 2008 SolidWorks World Interview, Rich Allen, SolidWorks Corp.
It is my pleasure to post my one on one interview with Rich Allen, Product Manager, PDM Solutions, SolidWorks Corporation. Rich brings a lot of experience to the PDM Solutions Team.
Rich: I started out as a Mechanical Engineer. I got to go to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. My passion was actually Alternative Energy; Solar and Wind Power, maybe a little early, ahead of our time, the early 1980's.
Devon: Yeah, that was pretty early alright.
Rich: My first job out of college was as a Windmill Engineer. I got to put up Wind Farms in California.
Devon: I've driven though them many times, very impressive!
Rich: I think they're beautiful, all,very importantly, you know, all within the "green" spirit of things. They're helping to reduce our dependence upon foreign oil and all that.
Devon: Fascinating. I've always been a fan of sailboats, sailplanes, airplanes, airfoils and stuff like that. It's very elegant.
Rich: I agree. It was a tough for the time for this industry,it wasn't well funded, oil was a little too inexpensive still; and we'll talk about now, 20 or 30 years later, obviously, Solar and Wind energy are back in vogue. But in the meantime, to stay employed, I stayed with the propeller theme by making helicopters.
Devon: Helicopters!
Rich: Yes, a little more interesting, complex devices.
Devon: Pretty complex, alright.
Rich: Yes, 100,000 to 1,000,000 parts, whatever goes into a certain model. And I was lucky, I got to learn CAD in the early, early days. Yeah, in 1981, when you were running off a 10 million dollar IBM mainframe, it wasn't exactly CAD for the common man. So, Cadam, CATIA, I got to use those, way back. And I was so smitten by it, after about 5 years, I started my own company, and I had an AutoDesk Dealership.
Devon: Interesting, where was it located?
Rich: That was in Connecticut.
Devon: OK
Rich: So I spent a lot of time learning a lot of CAD systems, Document Management, Networking, and all that went around that.
Devon: I am a Document Management junkie. As a matter of fact, I think I was introduced to you a few months ago back in Concord, MA,at SolidWorks HQ; I was taking the PDMWorks Enterprise Training, taught by Joy Garon. You came into the classroom and she introduced you.
Rich: Right, OK.
Devon: I love Data Management.
Rich: It's been a passion of mine for a long time. I've sold 10 different Data Management packages during the past 20 years or so. And it's good, all good experience, it helps in my current role. Just to catch up, after AutoDesk, I spent a little time with CoCreate.
Devon: CoCreate, I used that at Hewlett Packard.
Rich: Well, that was the Hewlett Packard product; One Space SolidDesigner, ME10. Now it's a PTC product, apparently. I spent some time with IBM, with their PLM Solutions Group. And finally, with SolidWorks these last 3 years, Marketing and Product Management.
Devon: SolidWorks has a unique community that I've never seen at any other company.
Rich: I would agree with that.
Devon: I'm always amazed how they can keep it going.
Rich: Yeah, to keep the passion and to keep people excited and loyal as they are is a real testament to the company.
Devon: Yes, for example, just to take a User, like me, and give me the opportunity to become a Blogger, and offer so many opportunities, it's just amazing. I can't think of any other company that I work with, that I can do that with. All the SolidWorks employees just have this great attitude. I've dealt with AutoDesk, CoCreate, and PTC myself and they don't have anything like the SolidWorks Community, in my opinion.
Rich: Each company has it's own culture and I've found SolidWorks' to be the most unique, dynamic, and rewarding.
Devon: As a Consultant/Contractor, I've seen that Data Management, at some companies, carries a huge overhead. A few years ago, I was able to help a medical device company organize their CAD data. I really enjoyed that experience. I first became interested in SolidWorks Data Management when I met Joy Garon at a SolidWorks Explorer BreakOut Session at 2003 SolidWorks World, Las Vegas. I really appreciated her attitude and willingness to discuss SolidWorks Data Management. This year, I'm giving the 2008 SolidWorks Explorer Hands On Session. So, I really like stuff like that. So, what's your point of view?, from the other side of the fence, when it come to Data Management.
Rich: Well, I think the challenge is to get Data Management to be Mainstream. To do that, obviously, it has to be easy to use, just like SolidWorks, it has to be fast to implement, it can't be too scary for management, it has to show a quick Return On Investment. I think most upper level management is going to be apprehensive about a 5 year deployment and would prefer a 3 month simple PDM deployment. And the good news is that PDM can ,and should be, very fast. We would like to see Users get a ROI within the first year, ideally. And that's good for those that have to sign the checks. So, that's really our trick, to take the fear factor out of it, to not get it confused with perhaps a more complex PLM type system installation, or ERP installation. I think a lot of companies know maybe they're important, maybe they're necessary, but their factor of scale is much more complex, perhaps more that implementing PDMWorks.
Devon: I do a lot of medical device work and I've been trained in Agile and I've seen some of these issues too. And the thing that is kind of disappointing to me is that and that I would like to see implemented is this; I like to think of the SolidWorks CAD files as the starting point to move forward in managing my Data. I like to use the SolidWorks files as Data Containers. And I don't see that point of view from a lot of other people. They say the CAD Files are over there and my Documentation is over here and they don't understand the link between the two.
Rich: Yeah, I agree with that.
Devon: And so I would ask you you; Do you see that? Do you agree with that? Is there a scheme or method to try to bring that awareness that maybe the CAD Files should be a Data Container. Do you agree with that?
Rich: Well, naturally we're a somewhat CAD Centric company And we do see that managing the day to day data, that are tightly integrated with a PDM Tool, like PDMWorks Enterprise, is going to work. It will allow you to manage the Drawing, Assembly, and Part Data on a daily basis. And I think that's what you're referring to.
Devon: Yes, I am.
Rich: And to share beyond CAD network to the entire Enterprise, that's where the PLM or ERP systems are probably more effective. Maybe they don't even use the native CAD files, like you say, they keep them "over there" and they are maybe concerned with say, eDrawings, .pdf files, or .tiffs or something that is a transportable neutral file. So we see our responsibility as the work in progress, the day to day engineers' tight integration, mechanism, that we can share information with these other systems and distribute though out the Enterprise and even though out the Supply Chain.
Devon: Great, now I'm going to ask you a question and that has to do with neutral file formats, do you think that's the answer for storing CAD files? Like in an Agile System?
Rich: Yes, I do. I think that they need smaller, easy to manage, common, formats. .pdf is working well, now there is 3D.pdf, our own eDrawings is good, those are all good formats. I think that's what they should probably be using. Now, they might need the MetaData and the Bill Of Materials and certain things to pass along. But do they need, you know,the 100MB 3D Assembly within the Enterprise? With Agile, I personally think not.
Devon: OK. Well, this is a question I get asked everyday. I deal with these issues all the time. So, that's good to know. Recently, I was fortunate enough to go out on my first PDMWorks Enterprise Implementation. I was really impressed with this implementation. It was at a One Man Machine Shop. Now the thing that was great was that the customer's computer skills were high, he was extremely organized, he knew SolidWorks well, he was an idea candidate for me. It was definitely to his advantage to have PDMWorks Enterprise. To be able to create new Projects, use Auto Numbering, all the new Projects have the same Layouts and Templates, it was amazing. I was really impressed with the results. I think a lot of companies could benefit from PDMWorks Enterprise.
Rich: Oh, I'm glad you feel that way.
Devon: On the other hand, from my point of view, using it everyday with a couple of Clients, They're always asking the question, "Where do we store the 3D Files?" That's a real important issues for most companies. And being able to prove, under Title 21, what we have "over there" is exactly equal to what we have "over here". I'm just sharing some of the questions and some of the things I see on a daily basis. I have seen a lot of progress[in these areas .ed] And, I've seen a lot of progress with eDrawings too. You know, when it first came out it was pretty clunky, and it's much better, it runs smoother now.
Rich: You know, we include eDrawings Professional with PDMWorks Enterprise, 2008.
Devon: Yes, that's great. My next question is; What do you see in the next 5 years? Without giving away any secrets, I know you can't do that.
Rich: Well, certainly the more transparent we can make PDM to the User, the better. In the old days, you had many different interfaces, and the Engineers and Designers had to go back and forth between 1, 2, 3, 4 system