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Deciding that you need or want to learn something new is the easy part. Next, you have to figure out a way to do it. If you are a college student, SolidWorks may be already offered to you as part of the curriculum.  But college is not the only place to learn SolidWorks, there are many resources available: books, tutorials, video and online classes, training centers and community colleges, on-site training at work,  blogs, websites, and on-line discussion forums,  to name a few. 

I didn’t have a big budget, so  for me, the small workshops and “Introduction to SolidWorks” classes that are often offered at community colleges and that are still among the reasonably priced, seemed like  a good place to start. That kind of training, however, is extremely brief and basic, it’s a mere introduction. Lucky for me, SolidWorks  has a student edition available, and for an insignificant fraction of the price of the retail version. True, the license lasts only two years, but I figured that was plenty of time to do some serious learning. After all, what better way to learn than by getting as much practice time as possible? By having access to SolidWorks beyond the walls of a classroom or training center, I can practice as much as I want to and learn at my own pace.

I found it extremely helpful that SolidWorks includes interactive help files and a few on-line tutorials to help you get started. It also provides you with useful tips, and a brief description of what each of the icons in the toolbars are for, that appears every time you put your cursor on top of them.   I went through the tutorials and also tried a few sample video lessons offered by The Solid Professor. This is a great resource, but it can be a bit pricey.

I decided now I needed to go “deeper”, so I went and got myself a few good books:   “SolidWorks 2007 Bible”,  by Matt Lombard (excellent book),  the “Official Certified SolidWorks Associate CSWA Exam Guide”, by David and Marie Planchard (it’s perfect for practice),  “Engineering Analysis with COSMOSWorks Professional 2007”, by Paul M. Kurowski,  and  “Analysis of Machine Elements using COSMOSWorks 2007”, by John R. Steffen,  to begin with.

Much to my delight, I’ve also found that there’s loads of information on-line. In particular, I  like to visit the  SolidWorks Discussion Forums. It’s a huge site with dozens of forums, each of them about a different category related to SolidWorks. It’s always very active, full of experienced users willing to give you a hand with any problem or doubt you may have. Even during those times when I’m not exactly in need to ask a question, I can still learn a lot by reading other people’s questions and what the more experienced ones have to say.

Another favorite is the Solid Mentor, that includes news, forums, links to websites, blogs, and podcasts related to SolidWorks. Take some time to visit the SolidWorks users blogs, as they are often full of very valuable information.  Another place to go whenever I need some quick help is the SolidWorks Tips and Things. I  have a few folders full of sample files that I’ve downloaded from the 3D Content Central. Mike J. Wilson’s SolidWorks Techniques is another awesome website where I like to go for samples. I learn a lot by carefully examining parts and assemblies that were created by others. Mike also has some terrific examples of the use of equations and macros to simulate animation, and while I’m still not very familiar with macros for SolidWorks, it’s fun to watch.

So, that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing so far. I’m finding a few stumbling rocks along my way that I’ll tell you about some other time, but for the most part,  I’m having lots of fun and learning even more.

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