Meet Gary Swingle, SolidWorks Discussion Forum Member #50,000

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Hello Gary, congratulations on being the 50,000 user to sign up to the SolidWorks hosted Discussion Forum.

Thanks for the honor!

Please tell us what you do and where you work.

I just recently graduated from Clemson University with a BS in mechanical engineering. After an extensive job search, I decided to take “the road less traveled” and accept a position with a very small engineering firm that specializes in helicopter rescue and support equipment, Precision Lift, Inc (PLI). I worked part time with the company while I was working towards my degree, so the transition between school/career has not been too hard. Our claim to fame is a patented rescue basket that is approved to hold up to 15 people, and will not spin or twist in flight. We also do a lot of design work on maintenance platforms for a myriad of different aircraft. Since starting full time in June, we have begun development on two completely new products, both of which will utilize the capabilities of SolidWorks extensively.

How long have you been using SolidWorks?

SolidWorks was my first venture into feature-based parametric modeling, which I got a chance to play around with my freshman year of college. That was in 2003, so I suppose it has already been 5 years.

Do you use any SolidWorks Add-Ins, like PhotoWorks, PDMWorks, or CosmosWorks?

It was not until recently that I started using some of the more advanced Add-Ins that SolidWorks has to offer. As PLI has venture into more advanced products with consistently shortened deadlines, an essential attribute of our company is that we are able to do as much of our own product development in house as possible. I have been using PhotoWorks for about 6 months now for graphic representations used in manuals, promotionals, and brochures. We just recently (last week) upgraded to SolidWorks Premium, so all of our analysis will be moving in house as well. Of course, this means more work for me, but we can control the result to our standards and really minimize the amount of time we are waiting for outside contractors to finish up our work. There are talks of utilizing PDMWorks as our company grows, but for now we are still in the “planning” phase as far as PDM goes.

This is one of my favorite questions to ask a SolidWorks user; tell us about the very first time you saw SolidWorks being used and what was your reaction?

Like I said, I had my first experience with SolidWorks as a freshman at Clemson University (Go Tigers!). At the time, I got involved with the Formula SAE team, a completely student-run organization that involves the design, fabrication, testing, racing, and marketing of a small open wheel race car. I won’t get into it too much, but it is really a great opportunity for young engineers to “get their hands dirty” and find out what their major is really all about. Anyway, some of the older members of the team were designing the entire car in SolidWorks, and the second I saw them rotating the entire model around in 3-D space, taking measurements, creating drawings, and building the parts right from the model, I realized the power of the software. From that point on, I used SolidWorks for every engineering related design product I could, self-teaching myself as I went. At the time, Clemson did not offer any classes that used SolidWorks, so I struggled through all of the qwerks associated with modeling, assemblies, and drawings as I learned how the program flows. I still remember the first framework that I ever made – It consisted of about 50 different cuts of square tubing. Of course, I modeled them all as individual parts and tried to assemble them together. 500 mates later, all of which had countless errors, I finally got it all together. If only I had known what a “weldment” was. I still think that one of the reasons I am so comfortable troubleshooting assemblies now is because of the trials I went through on that model.

What is your favorite feature or function of SolidWorks?

I don’t think I can really narrow it down to one feature, because in terms of use, I suppose the ‘extrude’ feature is my favorite. Seriously though, I am constantly impressed every time I find a new shortcut. I recently took the Advanced Parts/Assembly Modeling classes at my VAR, and was surprised with how easy it was to implement some of the features that I never knew were in SolidWorks into my daily modeling tasks. Try to tell a golfer to change his swing after five years of playing, and you will get a lot of resistance. The shortcuts in SolidWorks are so intuitive that you forget how you did it the hard way.

If you could learn a new method or function in SolidWorks or a SolidWorks Add-In, what would it be?

Since we just upgraded to CosmosWorks, I am really excited to become as comfortable with all of the features within as I am with SolidWorks. I have a good amount of classroom experience with FEA, so I think it is just a matter of finding out where the buttons are. I am anxious to see how much my skills as a designer improve with the ability to validate the function of the part/assembly instantly.

Why did you decide to join the SolidWorks Discussion Forum?

I was having a problem with my GPU crashing, and could not find an answer anywhere on the internet. I figured I would give the forums a shot to see if there was a solution to the problem. Unfortunately, I did not find a solution, but was immediately impressed with the amount of helpful topics already posed to the boards. As a scrolled through some of the topics, I recognized a lot of them from my own experiences, and thought, “Wow, I wish I had had this resource when I encountered this problem”. I did eventually figure out the problem with my GPU, so I suppose I will make my first post about that issue, in case someone else runs into it.

So far, what do you like about the SolidWorks Discussion Forum?

Since I am so new to the Forum, it is hard to say. Like I said though, the large amount of knowledge combined with people willing to share it makes it an exciting community to be a part of.

Do you read the SolidWorks Blogs? If so, which ones?

I have not in the past, but I guess I will have to start reading yours!

Is there a SolidWorks User Group in your area? Have you ever attended a SolidWorks User Group meeting?

I do not know for sure, that is something I will have to look into. It is always nice to have an additional resource.

How about SolidWorks World? Have you ever been to one of these amazing conferences?

No, unfortunately I have not. Every time the announcements go out, I wish I had a way to attend (Universities do not generally pay for trips like that!). I look forward to attending in upcoming years now that I should have the means.

Gary, welcome to the SolidWorks Community, we’ll look forward to your postings on the SolidWorks Discussion forum.

Thanks again!

Precision Lift, Inc – HB-2000 Helibasket (PhotoWorks Render)

Precision Lift Inc – First Responders Module (FRM)

Comments

[Devon T. Sowell]

Charles-

Thanks!

Devon

[CharlesC]

Steve: 29812
Devon: 29742
Charles: 31198
http://forum.solidworks.com/forum/tombstone.cfm?ProfileID=29812

[Devon T. Sowell]

Hi Steve-

That's a great idea.

Devon

[Steve Calvert]

Devon, great story. I often wondered just how many people have signed up for the forum. I think it would be neat to see our own number in our signature line on the forum, just to give others an idea of how long someone has been there.

Steve