Mike Puckett's Blog

Taking An Exam At SolidWorks World 2012?

If you're one of the man ypeople signed up to take an exam at SolidWorks World this weekend, you might want to revisit this old blog post of mine to get some hints on how to make your screen layout just a bit easier to deal with during the exam!  Click the link below.

This weekend, version 7.0 of Virtual Tester was released online.  Virtual Tester is the software that manages and delivers all of the SolidWorks Certification Exams.  The system is an online tool that manages the entire database of nearly 40,000 certified SolidWorks Users around the world. 

via www.mikescadblog.com

Are You Ready For SolidWorks World 2012?

Neither am I!  Planning wise that is!

Each year SolidWorks World seems to get busier and busier, and that translates into more and more preparation for the event.  Would I have it any other way?  Not a chance!  In fact by the time Wednesday afternoon (the last day at SolidWorks World) rolls around, I'm ready to do it all over again!

The days at SolidWorks World can be long, by the time Monday starts we're pretty much out of our hotel rooms by 6:30am, and are lucky to make it back to our rooms by 12:00am midnight, just in time to get 5-6 hours of sleep and do it all again the next day.  But I wouldn't want it any other way!

After attending 6 SolidWorks Worlds, I still look forward to going just as much as I did in 2006 when it was in Las Vegas.  How excited can I still be?  Well as I sit here writing this, I am waiting for our official employee pre-conference briefing webinar to begin.  And yes, I have connected 10 minutes early just to make sure I am connected and ready to listen in, and not miss a bit of information!

So if you still haven't registered to go, but were thinking about it, it's still not too late!  You can register online until 11:59pm on Friday Feb 10th, and then you can even register onsite beginning at 7:00am on Sunday Feb 12th.

Hope to see you in San Diego!

Letting Loose On The Weekends

There is that saying about all work and no play, well it's a pretty good saying to follow!  Over the past few years here on this blog I have shared with you a few different hobbies I like to mess around with including R/C cars, SCUBA diving, and other fun stuff.  Well over the past 10 months I have taken up a hobby that has a bit more speed to it.

Here is a quick video of me partaking in my new hobby this past weekend:

 

That is a 2012 CRGRoad Rebel Shifter Kart.  It's motor is a 1999 Honda CR125 dirt bike motor that is basically a 125cc two-stroke motor with a 6-speed gearbox.  It is capable of accelerating from 0-60 in under 4 seconds, and has a top speed of just over 100MPH, all while sitting just an inch off the ground!  On the tracks we run on, it's also capable of hitting as much as 2.5 G's in turns, both positive and negative G's.  Stopping, or slowing down the kart for the turns is handled by a front and rear brake system that has is bias adjustable, and uses ceramic brake discs for better braking under extreme brake loads. 

Since it's a two-stroke motor it runs on a 32:1 mix of oil and 100 octane gas.  Here in Nevada you can purchase 100 octane gas at the pump for the low cost of $6.50 a gallon.  A gallon of mixed fuel is usually good for about half a day at the track.  The power is transferred to the rear wheels via a chain, and there is no differential meaning that in order to get around a corner, the chassis has to be set up in a way that will allow for the inside rear tire to lift off the ground so the kart can turn more efficiently.  There is no suspension, so the design of the frame is such that it will flex and twist to achieve the needed changes to get around a turn as fast as possible.

The kart also has a data acquisition system that records a number of channels including, motor temps, lap times, and rpms, and it also has a gps system that is uses to map out the track you are on, provide gps measured speed, and also the G loads via an on board accelerometer.

Here is a sample track map generated from the system.  The yellow lines represent the path the kart took and that data was then imported into Google Earth and overlaid automatically based on the gps coordinates:

 

Here are a few pictures of the kart itself:

And yes, the kart is designed in SolidWorks!  Along with probably most of the add-on parts!

BOXX Raffle At The CSWE/CSWP Event At SolidWorks World 2012

Are you all set to head to SolidWorks World 2012?  Ready for a chance to win a high end computer workstation while you're there?  Well SolidWorks Solution partner BOXX has stepped up to the plate.

The first thing you'll need to know about having a chance to win this powerful workstation is you have to be a Certified SolidWorks Expert (CSWE),or a Certified SolidWorks Professional (CSWP), and you have to be attending SolidWorks World 2012 and be present at the CSWE/CSWP party on Monday night February 13th.

If you meet those requirements, simply go to the entry website and fill it out: Boxx Tech SolidWorks Solutions.

The computer to be given away at the event is packed full of the latest workstation tech including:

• CPU: Intel i7 Quad Core Enhanced Performance 4.5 GHz
• RAM: 8GB DDR3 2133MHz
• Video Card: NVIDIA Quadro 4000 with 2GB memory
• Hard Drives: 20 GB SSD cache hard drive; 1TB SATA
• 20X dual layer DVD+/-RW Writer
• Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition 64-bit 

And the best part?  The winner of this powerhouse computer will walk away with the actual computer from the event!  No waiting for this bad boy to be built and then shipped, you'll be plugging it in as soon as you get back to the office.

So how do you get in on the action to possibly win?  Well as stated before you must be a CSWE or CSWP, you must be attending SolidWorks World 2012 in San Diego, and you must be present at the CSWE/CSWP party on Monday night February 13th to win.

What if you don't meet those qualifications?  Well there is still time to register for SolidWorks World 2012, and you can even take and pass your CSWE or CSWP exam before you arrive!

We'd like to thank BOXX for stepping up to offer this great prize, and we hope to see you all in San Diego!  Find out more about their SolidWorks Certified solutions.

BOXX is the host of this contest, and is responsible for all rules and regulations.  You can find those rules here: Contest Rules

Consumer Electronics Show 2012

One of the fun parts about living here in Las Vegas is the fact that just about every trade and industry has an annual trade show here in town.  With out a doubt the Consumer Electronics Show is the largest convention of the year.  It's so big that it generates over 150 million dollars in non-gaming revenue for the city, and this year attracted over 3,000 companies, 153,000 attendees, and launched over 20,000 new products.

I spent a day and a half traversing the halls of the show which took up the same space as 30 football fields, over a million square feet!  I stopped by a few booths to chat with company's that I knew were using SolidWorks, and ended up running into lots more customers who as soon as they saw my SolidWorks shirt proceeded to tell me how much they love using SolidWorks, and explaining to me how they used it to design their product.  Here are a few of the cool tech items I saw at the show, some of which I wouldn't mind having in my own home!

The MakerBot Replicator by MakerBot

3D Printers have been around for years but in the last few years the push has been to make them more affordable so that everyone can buy one.  The MakerBot is a cool little printer that is extremely affordable and stands out from it's competitors in the DIY market with one huge advantage, it can print dual colors!  MakerBot debuted their 'Dualstrusion' version at CES and pretty much captivated the 3D printer industry part of the show.  The dual color printing is what sets their product apart from the other printers in this range of the market.  These guys have used SolidWorks to design many of the parts of their product, and chatting with them you simply get the feeling these guys love what they do!  You can check them out here: MakerBot Industries

Urban Green Energy

A few years ago at SolidWorks World there was a similar device on display that allows a house to generate energy via wind.  These guys have brought to market a system that you can custom order and then have installed at your house to generate electricity from wind.  You can either choose a battery type of system that stores energy, or a system that will power your house and sell extra energy back to the power company.  I didn't know this company used SolidWorks, but when I stopped to chat with them the first thing they mentioned was SolidWorks and how they used it to optimise the shape of the fins, and to also study the structural integrity of the system as well.  I briefly chatted with them about SolidWorks Sustainability and they were pretty excited to look into it so they could find out of they could make their green product, even greener!  You can check them out here: Urban Green Energy

Mercedes 

Car companies are getting more and more into tech these days.  Smartphones have paved the way for smart cars now.  One of the big trends at the show on the automotive side was 'apps for cars'.  No they don't mean playing angry birds on the windshield of the car, that might get a bit distracting!  Mercedes was showing off a prototype system that is basically a windshield size heads up display.  As you drive past a business you simply make a hand swiping motion and on the display an information window will come up showing reviews of the place, menus, and it will also allow you to make a reservation.  Of course one of the on lookers asked how distracting that will be to the driver, and the BMW rep simply replied, by the time this is out on the marker, cars will be driving themselves!  Here is another picture of their concept car:

Case Mate

There is so much mobile industry products at CES it's easy to get overwhelmed.  One of the stand out company's was Case Mate who was launching a new iPhone case called the Phantom.  The case is a two material injection molded cover that is designed to make your iPhone pretty much destruction proof.  The idea was to create a case that's both durable and affordable.  Case Mate had so much confidence in the case that one of their sales guys spent 4 days at the show repeatedly dropping his phone over and over to show how sturdy the case was.  And yes, they use SolidWorks to design their products as well.  I was speaking with one of the design engineers who told me they use a sketch program to mock up the design of a new case, and then when they are ready to make a final design that works, they put sketch pictures into SolidWorks and design away.  Pretty cool stuff from a company that loves their products.  Find out more about them here: Case Mate

 3D Everywhere!

3D Tv's have been at CES for some years now, but this year seems to be a break out year for them.  With glasses free 3D Tv's being displayed by Sony, and passive 3D Tv's being displayed by everyone, there simply was no way to avoid them!  LG seems to have stole the show with their awesome display at their booth:

And you thought your dual 30" monitors were cool huh?  I have a 3D Tv in my house and it uses the active shutter glasses which require batteries.  The passive system is the same thing you would encounter when you go see a 3D movie in a theatre.  The Tv companies seem to have figured it out quite well, and I would say that 3D Tv's are pretty much ready for prime time!

Of course if having a 3D Tv simply isnt cutting edge enough for you, then OLED is for you!  How about a 55" Tv that is 4mm thick (A little less then 3/16 of an inch) and weighs 16 pounds?

Here are some pictures of the Samsung model:

Can you spot the Tv in this side shot?

Rumored price tag is said to be around $10,000, but once you see the picture you'll want one.  And who wouldn't want a tv you could hang on your wall with velcro!

The CES show is an industry show only meaning it's closed to the general public.  But if you have connections into the industry this is definitely a show to attend some day.  You'll simply be amazed at whats out there!

500+ CSWE's and CSWP's To Visit The USS Midway Aircraft Carrier At SolidWorks World 2012

On Monday night, February 13th, 2012, CSWE's and CSWP's in attendance at SolidWorks World 2012 will board a bus and make the short drive to the U.S.S. Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum in San Diego Bay.  The annual gathering of Certified SolidWorks Experts and Professionals will board the retired U.S. Navy ship for three hours of food, drinks, entertainment, and networking.

The keel for the U.S.S. Midway was laid on October 27th 1943 and served in various wars, conflicts and humanitary missions around the world until it was officially retired from service on April 11th 1992.  When it returned to the U.S., it was the first time in 18 years the ship had made port on U.S. shores.

Here are some quick facts about the Midway:

• It carried an estimated 225,000 U.S. service personnel over its service life
• The U.S.S. Midway sailed in every ocean in the world
• The U.S.S. Midway is 1001'6" long
• It has a displacement of 700,000 tons
• There are 4.02 acres of flight deck
• The crew would consume 1,000 loaves of bread a day

The ship features more then 60 exhibits, 25 restored aircraft, and a self guided tour of the ship.  Attendees of the event will be able to tour the ship from the ships jail, all the way to the top of it's command tower where you can sit in the captains chair!

What will certainly be the highlight of the event will be the flight simulators that users will be able to take a ride in.  Experience a virtual launch from the flight deck, fly mock missions with your co-pilot, but whatever you do, don't eat before you fly and tumble your way through the sky!

So is it too late to join in the fun?  Never!  Registration for SolidWorks World is open all the way up until the event, and you can save $100 on registration until January 20th.  If you're a CSWP or CSWE, you save an additional $100!

If you're planning to attend SolidWorks World and are not a CSWP or CSWE, what are you waiting for?  You don't want to miss out on what's sure to be one of the funnest events ever!  You can still take and pass your exam before you go, visit the SolidWorks Certification site for more information!

We hope to see you on board the U.S.S. Midway at SolidWorks World 2012!

CSWP Isn't The Only Thing We Do!

The SolidWorks Certification Program is a pretty in-depth program.  On the outside we have several customer facing exams that include the CSWE, CSWP, CSWA, and a handful of advanced topic exams covering topics like mold tools, surfacing, weldments, sheetmetal, and FEA.  What you won't see, unless you work for a SolidWorks Value Added Reseller, are the exams that we provide for our resellers.  We have just over 10 exams that deal with a laundry list of topics all meant to improve the experience our customers have when they interact with their reseller.

Hands down the most complex and toughest exam we offer to our resellers is the Support Tech Core, and Support Tech Upgrade exams.  Every support technician that works for a SolidWorks Reseller is required to pass the core exam at least once, and then is required to pass the upgrade exam each year.

So why the sudden urge to share this with you?  Well this year as one of my projects I am taking over ownership of the content that is included in the support tech core and upgrade exams.  In the past it has been handled by one of our best senior support tech guys, Mark Johnson.  If you are a VAR support tech person, no doubt you know Mark well as he more then likely has worked with you on an issue here or there.  We're also still asking for his input on the exam as well as a group of other SolidWorks Support techs from around the globe.

The support tech upgrade exam is something we do each year that is released right along side the newest release of SolidWorks.  The next release will be this fall and will deal with new features found in SolidWorks 2012.  The exam is 30 questions in 30 minutes and a passing score of 24 or better is required.  The content mainly covers new functionality in core SolidWorks, and also includes technical support issues that may have been encountered during beta.

So if you're a reseller support tech, look for the CSWST 2012 exam early this fall, and good luck on it, we'll be looking forward to seeing how you all do.  SolidWorks 2012 is just around the corner, and there is lots of cool new stuff to see!

 

It's SolidWorks 2012 Beta Time

Sure summer officially started last week which is sort of a big deal, but if you are a hard core SolidWorks user, the arrival of summer means much more then backyard bar-b-que's, fun in the sun, and family vacations.  It means that the next release of your favorite 3-D CAD software is available for testing! 

Starting today the first beta release for SolidWorks 2012 is available for download by subscription customers via the customer portal.  You can get all the details by visiting The SolidWorks 2012 Beta Site. 

There are lots of prizes to be had, and lots of new features to discover.  Participation for me this year will be a little different since I will be pouring over the what's new content, and watching the most reported issues in order to develop content for an exam that VAR support engineers have to take as part of their annual upgrade requirements.

 

Behind The Scenes At SolidWorks World 2011: CSWE/CSWP Event

With the introduction of the CSWE exam at SolidWorks World 2010 we decided to split up the CSWP event at SolidWorks World 2011 to have an exclusive CSWE event.  This year we started the event at 6:30pm for CSWE's only and opened the event to CSWP's at 7:00pm.

Initially the plan was to have all the attendees walk the .6 mile distance to the venue where our event was being held.  On the Saturday before the event however the plans changed.  We met with the event planning staff and began the walk to the venue.  About half way there it was decided that the walking route to the venue crossed too many busy streets so it was decided that busses would be provided instead.  The only thing this really effected was that we had to reprint 600 copies of the event handout sheet that had walking directions on it!  Instead we redid the flyer to give instructions about the bus schedule.

Originally we had planned to have some paintball shooting ranges set up that would allow people to shoot a paintball gun at some stationary targets.  That process began a few weeks before the event with the making of some safety cables to make sure the guns could only be pointed at the targets, and not the attendees:

Of course even the best laid plans sometimes fail.  It was discovered on Monday just after general session had ended that the shipment of paintball guns we were expecting on the Friday before the event, had been even further delayed and would not arrive until the morning after the CSWE/CSWP event!  So what could we do?  Improvise!  We took a trip to a local Toys R Us and walked out with two shopping carts full of Nerf Dart Guns:

Lucikly we had plenty of celebrity stand-ins to shoot the Nerf guns at:

The venue itself was picked by our wonderful event staff ahead of time and they took care of all the decorations, food, and drink choices.  We also once again had the guys from A/V Images set up two giant projection screens so we could show off a bunch of designs from CSWP's around the world:

Some additional shots of the venue during set up:

The last detail was to unbox 500 Nerf Dart Guns: (thanks Jenny)

And then all that was left was to welcome nearly 550 guests, and have a good time:

What a site it was to see hundreds or Nerf Darts being shot all over the place!  The event as usual seemed to end just as fast as it started.  Our goal was to have a fun party where everyone would get a chance to interact with some cool products designed in SolidWorks, and we think we were pretty successful.

So what's in store for next year in San Diego?  Well all I can say is that planning is already underway and we're always looking for fun SolidWorks customers to feature, so let us know if you have something you think we could use!



 


 

 

Behind The Scenes At SolidWorks World 2011: General Session Stage

I remember back to 2006 when I attended my first SolidWorks World in Las Vegas.  Everybody that had already been to one told me I would be blown away at the general sessions that are held each morning.  I was not disappointed!

The general session 'set' design is always fun to see each year, and it's fun to see what new stuff they have in store.  This year at SolidWorks World 2011 in San Antonio, the production company came with the big toys!

Take a look at the following image, this is what SolidWorks World attendees will see when they litteraly come running into the venue on Monday morning at 8:30am:

 

With seating for well over 5,000 people, the venue will be rocking when SolidWorks C.E.O. Bertrand Sicot walks out onto the stage on Monday morning.

But this sort of production does not suddenly appear out of nowhere!  It's actually planned many months in advance, and construction begins four days before the first seat is filled with a SolidWorks World attendee.

Here are a few pictures of the progression:

 

It begins with what's called ''truss', and lots of it.  In the case of SolidWorks World 2011, over 1,600 feet of it!  The truss carries stuff like lights, projectors, the audio system, screens, and even curtain, very long black curtains.  The truss is lifted into place by over 60 drop points which are the motorized hoists that lift everything over 50 feet into the air.  As you can see in the following image, all the truss is bolted together and is hanging low so the techs can get everything bolted to it:

 

These screens are front projected screens that hang towards the back of the venue so that people sitting in the back have a great view of the show as well.  The projectors are fed by a fiber optic cable that insures there is no lag in the video screens, and will make sure they are in sync with the video screens in the front.

 

Speaking of cables, there is a lot of it!  Over four miles in case you were trying to count!

 

By this time the front screen is starting to be erected as well:

 

It's the largest screen ever used at SolidWorks World, and it's impressive.  Approximately 20 feet tall, and nearly 80 feet long, it's massive when you stand in front of it!  It hangs from the truss as well and is rear projected:

 

Three sets of projectors create the video for the main screen.  If you are wondering why there are six projectors, well it's done on purpose.  The screen is actually divided into three zones, and each zone is fed by two projectors.  The dual projectors for each zone has two benefits.  One it doubles the brightness, and second, if one of the projectors fail, there won't be a missing portion of the screen.

All that projection power combines to create a resolution of approximately 1920 X 5400!  Folks, we are way beyond HD at this point!

By Saturday afternoon things are hung, the stage is being set, and it's starting to look finished:

 

See the guy looking up at that grid pattern?  Well what he is doing is he is adjusting the projection image itself and getting all the projectors lined up.  He aligns all the grid patterns and thats what makes six separate projectors capable of projecting one giant image.  One more cool thing, he is adjusting the projectors from the Mac laptop via a wireless network!

Of course once the show gets underway it's produced and executed by a great team of people at Cramer whose sole passion is to put on the best show possible.  Many of them sit behind the stage in the command center:

 

I'm very fortunate to have seen them in action while waiting to go on stage last year, and it's fun to watch the magic happen.  I'm also fortunate to even be able to get a peek behind the scenes of one of the best parts of SolidWorks World, and I always look forward to seeing what the production team has in store! 

Stay tuned to more behind the scenes stuff from SolidWorks World including the many rehearsal sessions!