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August 3rd, 2009 | 
Author: It’s past midnight here in Lexington, Massachusetts, and I guess I should be in bed, but after the great time I had today, I really felt like blogging, even if just for a bit.
I’m here as one of DS SolidWorks’ guests. They were so kind to invite yours truly and a few other bloggers to visit their offices in Concord for a couple of days, chat with several of the key people that work here, and take a peek at what’s in store for 2010… plus a few wild guesses at what the future may hold. This is not really a press event. It’s just for us bloggers, a lot more informal and more enjoyable too.
Because we are all under an NDA, I can’t really tell you (just yet) about all that was discussed here today, but the right time will come very soon, and you will probably agree with me that it’s all really exciting stuff.
For now, I’ll leave you with a couple of pictures of the blogger team (I’m not there because I’m taking the picture)…
And one more of all of us at F1 Boston, the racing track. That was really cool, scary, but cool! We all got three races of ten laps each. I came in last place and continuously slammed my kart against the walls when trying to make the curves, but it was fun. Of course, now I’m discovering all these new bruises I didn’t have before. Hmmm…
I’m really glad to be here, very thankful to SolidWorks for inviting me this time and to Nancy Buchino for the amazing job she does in putting this together and making sure we all have everything we need to enjoy a great time… even a pair of shoes. 
Thanks Nancy! You are the best!
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This may be the chance you were waiting for to be able to afford your own seat of SolidWorks! SolidWorks is now giving you an alternative to finance your software AND subscription service, and start reaping the benefits today. That’s right! Instead of paying a big amount upfront, you now have the option of purchasing the software and then make 36 very convenient monthly payments, that also include 3 years (count them, 3!) of subscription service. This offer will expire on December 19th, so head over to www.solidworks.com or call your local reseller and take advantage of it while it lasts.
I had a great time in Spain, but it’s always good to be home. This little trip also served the purpose of a “walk-in-your-shoes” experiment for my husband and me, since it’s usually him who gets to travel the world. I’m glad to report that the experiment was a big success. I was empowered by a deeper understanding and respect for my husband and all the travel that his job requires, and well, my husband tried to take care of everything, but the house was a real mess when I arrived, just like I hoped… err… I mean… My husband also gained deeper understanding and respect for me. Yes, let’s go with that one… Hmmm, you know, this reminds me a bit of something that was said during the presentations on Thursday. I’m not exactly sure, but I think it was Jeff Ray who mentioned that SolidWorks was trying their best to understand the deepest needs of their clients by spending time (as much time as needed) with the client and observing every single detail of their everyday activities (at least as much as they are allowed to observe, anyway), not just talking about SolidWorks products in some meeting room. I guess this is similar to walking in your shoes to see how it’s really like being you. Most of the time, this is the only real way to gain the insight you need to truly understand what the other is going through and what would make their life or work easier. Since companies can’t really trade places with their customers, spending time with them is the next best thing, I guess.
Anyway, I realized that I didn’t say much about the hands-on session at IQS Engineering School, and that was one of my favorite parts of the event, so here goes a little more detail about it.
As I mentioned before, on Friday morning they took us to IQS Engineering School for a brief presentation and a hands-on session using SW2009. IQS is a prestigious private university in Barcelona that has recently adopted SolidWorks as part of their curriculum.
It was really interesting to see how in very little time they were already making the best of SolidWorks, using it to teach the students the fundamentals of Fluid Dynamics and Design of Mechanisms, for instance. Also interesting is the fact that IQS, being a private institution, doesn’t receive any money from government, so it must rely on the money from tuition and the income generated from its collaboration with the local industry. Why is this important? Well, it is because it means that whatever tools they teach their students, these tools must be in sync with what the industry is currently using and/or demanding, in order for the students (and the university as a service provider for the industry) to remain competitive, and apparently there is great demand for SolidWorks skills in Barcelona at the moment.
After the presentation, we moved to one of the classrooms for the hands-on session where we were each given the opportunity to use SW2009, while following along a series of “what’s new?” tutorials demoed by Fielder Hiss, Rich Allen, Mark Schnieder and other SW folks, that were always more than glad to give us a hand whenever we got stuck.
This was interesting, to say the least. I think one of the biggest challenges faced by our instructors was the fact that the SW skills of the participants were all over the spectrum, ranging from the confused first time user to the expert, and then those of us in various stages in between. I sat next to a journalist whose name I don’t remember and who, at first glance, seemed to have it all under control. As I was following along the first tutorial on speed packs, I took a quick look to my right and saw that he was busy flipping the model and changing appearances, instead. Later on he confessed to being completely lost and, after some assistance, he was able to catch up with the rest of the group.
Al Dean was sitting a couple of chairs from where I was and I could see that he was just doing his own thing, just exploring what else was in the software and having fun with it, not really following along the tutorials. I saw him playing a bit with the plastics tutorials, as well as with 3DVIA. He was not lost at all, just following his own way, but I think that’s OK too, because the idea of these sessions is also to provide the journalists with the opportunity of experiencing the software, not just to tell them what’s new, if they had no idea what was in the software to begin with. With that idea in mind, I think the hands-on session went really well and accomplished the goal. For me, it meant a great opportunity to learn a few things I didn’t know, since I had the chance to ask a few questions that came to mind while following along the tutorials on speed pack and SolidWorks Simulation. I think I only have a couple of suggestions for the next hands-on session: the first one is please, get a bigger screen for the presenter, or somehow better resolution for the projection, since it was really hard to see what was going on, and the second one is please, give the instructor a microphone… OK, this may be just me going deaf or having trouble processing sounds, but it was really hard to listen to his instructions from where I was. All in all, it was a very enjoyable experience, and one that brought back memories of my own years in college.
And now I leave you with a nice picture of the SolidWorks bloggers for your collection. In the back, from left to right, Matt Lombard, Devon Sowell, Josh Mings, Jason Raak. In the front, from left to right, Mike Puckett, Brian McElyea, and yours truly.
While this has been an extremely interesting week in Barcelona, I’m certainly glad it is now time to go back home to my family in California. I miss my husband and kids terribly, and, to tell the truth, I don’t think I am as extrovert and/or as intensely social as the rest of the bloggers. Unlike me, those guys seem to thrive on social interaction, cool gadgets, blogging and twittering… and sometimes beer. It was all great for me during the presentations and the hands-on session, but the times for mingling and social interaction, well… I guess my natural shyness kicked in even worse than the jet-lag, and, if not for those moments when Richard Doyle would show up to pull me out of my shell a little bit, I found myself hiding away from the rest of the world most of the time, quietly observing from my corner, or simply feeling like the odd girl out. Anyway, I still managed to meet quite a few interesting people (my dream of shaking hands with Marie Planchard finally came truth!), I learned a lot, and, all things considered, it was a great experience, and one that I’m infinitely grateful for also.
Since by now many bloggers and journalists have probably already posted very detailed information on what was discussed during the press event, I think I’ll just go ahead and tell you about what really caught my fancy.
To begin with, a few things I kept hearing over and over, out of the mouth of SW people and their clients alike. First, how using SolidWorks allows them to focus on their design and not the tool (CAD) because SolidWorks is intuitive and easy to learn, plus, since it can be customized to meet their specific needs, they can become productive right away, even if they haven’t been using SW for such a long time, like in the case of the students at IQS, the school of industrial engineering that we visited today for the hands-on session.
Second, how thanks to SolidWorks, they can get the job done faster and save money, thanks to the simulation tools integrated with SolidWorks (what used to be known as COSMOSWorks, COSMOSFloWorks, etc.). An impressive example of this was given by Mr. Domingo Ochoa, from GTA Motor, who explained how his team of designers has been using SolidWorks simulation tools to “test” virtual prototypes of the (very cool) sports car they’re designing. SolidWorks simulation allows them to perform a wind tunnel test without really having one, he said. Of course, I know what you may be thinking, because I thought about that myself: isn’t this dangerous? I mean, all this relying on simulation tools, instead of some good old-fashion calculations and testing… and building a second prototype… and testing again… and more calculations… and another prototype… oops, more testing… OK, you get the idea. Well, the really important thing to keep in mind here, apparently, is that simulation is not to substitute tried and true methods for validating designs, but to save the designer a few steps (and a few bucks along the way), by starting the process with a much better design. With this in mind, it makes perfect sense, don’t you think?
Third, it was also mentioned again and again how SolidWorks improves the communication with suppliers, manufacturers, clients, and even between employees working at the same company. This is specially true for big companies, such as Martifer, that have a large variety of projects going on all over the world, but it’s also valid for the smaller companies that simply need a way to better communicate with their clients on any changes done to their design . SolidWorks then becomes like a new universal language, one that everyone understands. Particularly helpful for the communication with clients and other designers in the team was PDM Enterprise, as well as the rendering and simulation tools, that allow users to get a feeling of how their product will behave in real life, before even building a prototype. Interestingly, Bernard Charles had talked about how one of the trends or goals for the future was to provide the user with an even more lifelike experience, making it as real as possible, and then some, so that the user can “play” with the product and make sure that what they are designing can also be made in real life. An also important goal was the search for new platforms that release the users from the limitations of laptops and desktops and provide new ways for sharing and collaborating online.
And speaking of better communication of ideas, I’m not sure what I thought 3DVIA was, that kept me from taking a better look at it, but I’m certainly glad I got to see it in action during this event. What a clever tool for creating product documentation with next to zero effort! An “anonymous” voice, probably coming from among the bloggers in the back row of the room even suggested it could be used to create SolidWorks documentation… The idea was received with much joy and enthusiasm by the rest of the group.
Anyway, I guess the only other thing I want to mention really quickly is how impressed I am by the examples of what others have done or are doing in SolidWorks, more particularly students, such as David Flores, winner of the design challenge, who, in his own words, found in SolidWorks “a bridge between dreams and reality”. He also found himself with a brand new car and, most likely, an awesome cool job. Wow!
OK, so this is it for now. I have an early flight to catch tomorrow, and it’s almost 1:00 am here in Barcelona. Time to finish packing my things and try to sleep for a couple of hours.
Wednesday night’s dinner at the Xalet was amazing and a whole new experience for me. I must confess that I was feeling a bit out of place, among so many strangers, and that includes my fellow bloggers, since I had never seen them before in my life. Even more intimidating for me was the fact that, for some strange reason that I still don’t understand, I was sharing the same table with Bernard Charles, CEO of Dassault Systemes, as well as with Jeff Ray, CEO of DS SolidWorks. I was nervous at first, almost expecting that people of their stature would look down on the little people, such as me, but instead I found that, despite their power and (I guess) wealth, they were the nicest, most humble of all people you could ever meet, and that in every aspect of their life they are genuinely driven by an unselfish desire of improving the life of those around them, of generating change and progress for the community through their products. I’m glad I had this rare opportunity of spending time in their company, just having dinner and sharing a nice conversation, away from presentations and conferences, since those are the times when you learn the most about people.
Here you can see Bernard Charles. I apologize for the bad quality of the picture.
From left to right, Al Dean and Jeff Ray.
Also in the table were Al Dean, who is extremely nice and funny, Kenneth Wong (Executive Editor, Cadalyst), and Jeff Rowe, with whom I had a delightful conversation and a great time.
That night I was also introduced to several people I had only met before via email or phone, such as Matthew West, Laura Kozikowski, Marie Planchard and Kerri Dunne.
Here you have Matthew West, Devon Sowell and Brian (CADfanatic).
I’m sorry my pictures aren’t exactly great. I took a few other ones, but they turned out too dark. I tried to capture the magnificent view of the city at night, as it is seen from the peak of the Montjuic, where the restaurant is located, but, sadly my camera didn’t cooperate with me. That doesn’t take away from the experience, though.