Report: SolidWorks World 2008, San Diego

By Al Dean

In the world of CAD, January means one thing — SolidWorks World. I’ve watched SolidWorks World grow from a small casual gathering in Palm Springs back in 1999 to a behemoth of a user event. This year’s gathering in San Diego, while not the biggest CAD user event (that distinction belongs to Autodesk University, I believe), is claimed to be the largest in the world tailored to 3D design. With an attendance of 5,500 people, it’s difficult to argue with that assertion.

As with all user events, there is a heady mix of keynote and general sessions where the vendor presents its thought and vision, then there are breakout sessions where the user engages in all manner of activities from learning new areas of the system and seeing how other users are engaging with the technology to wandering the Partner Pavillion looking at the huge array of products that build on and flesh out SolidWorks’ capabilities.

SolidWorks is an organization proud of its founders, but this year was the first that none appeared on the main stage – and rightly so. The ever-enthusiastic VP of Marketing Rainer Gawlick proved to be more than capable of holding the attention of the huge audience, and he quickly introduced the first day’s speaker, SolidWorks CEO Jeff Ray. Ray took the helm following the departure of John McEleney last year, sending the industry rumor mill into overtime. Much of the hearsay centered on whether McEleney’s departure meant a change for SolidWorks and its relationship with Dassault Systemes, its parent company. While SolidWorks executives were keen to emphasize a more co-operative working process between the two distinct organizations, messages from Dassault Systemes in particular, indicated that indeed a change was brewing. The most recent SolidWorks World was the first time that I felt that shift, that change, manifest itself. But this is something of a feeling, and not a provable fact.

If there’s a single message that SolidWorks is trying to get across to both its users and the wider audience, it’s that the company is obsessing over quality. From the press day preceding the event to the main-stage presentations and press conferences throughout, quality was the one abiding message. This was perhaps best reflected in the Sneak Peak at functionality that’s planned for the 2009 release.

Whereas previous events have shown the big fancy new features and functions, this year it was clear that the development efforts have focused on delivering improvements to existing ways of working or extending the intelligence that you can build into your 3D models. From the SpeedPak technology, which filters out components based on size or visibility to make working with large assemblies more efficient, to the updates of core functions such as sketching (with auto dimensioning added as you sketch). Sheet metal got a mention with the ability to take a 3D form and automatically wrap a sheet metal form around it, with full breaks, bends, and such ready to unfold. For those transitioning to sheet metal production, as is common, or those working with tricky forms, this is going to a massive time saver. Other new tools include the ability to automate the creation of lip and groove features for plastic parts (which, as anyone who’s done such work will tell you, is a royal pain in the arse). There’s sensors, which allow you to build design checks directly into your 3D model – so as design modifications are made, you can have the system check specific values, whether that’s the volume of a packaging design, structural strength, or mass calculations for mechanical parts.

SolidWorks World is one of the highlights of my calendar every year, and each year the team impresses me with the scale and scope of the event and the learning opportunities that it presents for anyone involved in the SolidWorks community. I look forward to next year’s event when it’s back to the land of that hideous mouse and his mates, Orlando.

— Al Dean is a contributing editor for Desktop Engineeringmagazine. Search this site to see his many articles and reviews published in these pages.