The theme of SOLIDWORKS WORLD 2019 was “Where Possibility Takes Form.”

The theme of SOLIDWORKS WORLD 2019 was “Where Possibility Takes Form.” The organizers of the event did a terrific job of working this theme into just about every presentation during the general sessions.

Day 1 – Welcome to SOLIDWORKS WORLD

Monday morning started with a warm welcome from SOLIDWORKS CEO Gian Paolo Bassi.

SOLIDWORKS CEO Gian Paolo Bassi welcomes the crowd of enthusiastic SOLIDWORKS users.

Bassi opened with a terrific presentation describing an electric vehicle that was designed in SOLIDWORKS by a mechanical engineer who had been injured in a sporting accident in 1996.

Christian Bagg and his electric off-road mountain bike, the Icon Explore.

Christian Bagg was always an avid outdoorsman and wanted to get back into the world of rugged terrain mountain biking after an accident left him without the use of his legs. He was able to accomplish his goal with the creation of his electric off-road mountain bike, the Icon Explore. This invention is now available for consumer purchase, and several units have been made available as “loaners” at national parks across Canada. By bringing his invention to the public, Bagg has allowed other outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy an experience they may have thought was no longer possible due to injury or disease.

Using SOLIDWORKS to design the Icon Explore.

I thought this was a great way to introduce the conference, and it definitely stuck to the theme of “Where Possibility Takes Form.”

For more info on Christian Bagg’s story, take a look at this short video:

Day 2 – Design to Profit General Session

This year the team at SOLIDWORKS WORLD decided to do something new. They gave attendees a choice of three different general sessions on Day 2. The sessions were R&D Futures, Design to Profit and New Horizons. All three sessions sounded enticing, but I decided to attend Design to Profit.

The Design to Profit session hosted by Igal Kaptsan, SOLIDWORKS vice president of Product Management.

The Design to Profit session was hosted by SOLIDWORKS Vice President of Product Management Igal Kaptsan. He took us through the journey of a typical project, starting from the initial idea and going all the way through the final step of marketing and selling the product. He illustrated that for every step of the process, Dassault Systèmes offers a solution. During each step of the process, Kaptsan welcomed a guest to discuss which solution they use. These guests each shared an actual project they are working on as part of their story.

One of the coolest parts of this presentation was phase 3 – Engineering.

Marie Planchard, SOLIDWORKS director of Early Engagement, introduces the Engineering phase of the Design for Profit general session.

The Engineering phase was introduced by Marie Planchard, SOLIDWORKS director of Early Engagement. She explained that part of her job allows her to work with young college and high school students, helping enable them to pursue their interest in engineering.

SOLIDWORKS xDesign challenge is announced.

Planchard described how in November 2018, SOLIDWORKS challenged any First Robotics Club teams to tackle an xDesign challenge.The challenge was simple:use xDesign to design a moon lander.

Teams from across the country only had four weeks to complete this challenge. The winning team would receive an impressive prize of $10,000.Teams were instructed to use the new xDesign cloud-based 3D CAD software, along with a number of social collaboration tools, to work together to accomplish this task.

Forty-one design submissions were received. The winning team was announced Dec. 21: Team 1902 – Exploding Bacon.

The xDesign challenge winning design was submitted by team 1902.

Planchard welcomed two of the winning team members to the stage to discuss how they were able to use xDesign and the cloud-based collaboration tools to both communicate within their team and share ideas amongst the entire community of teams participating in the contest.

Two members of team 1902 attend SOLIDWORKS WORLD and were welcomed on stage by Marie Planchard.

Nick, a high school junior, and Trent, a high school senior, received a massive ovation as they took the stage. Part of the contest was judged on creativity. Nick and Trent explained that they wanted to find some motivation for going to the moon—beyond general exploration—so they created a story where in their lead designer was captured by aliens. Thus they needed to send a vessel to the moon to pay a ransom and get him back. Very creative indeed.

Nick and Trent explained that their team had a fairly complicated assembly of over 50 parts and 10 sub-assemblies. They used the 3D experience platform for the entire project to create and manage all the files and revisions, as well as continuously share design ideas and inspiration amongst the team. They completed the entire project in the four weeks. This was another great example of sticking to the theme of “Where Possibility Takes Form.”

Day 3 – Artists, Students, Makers

Day 3 is always bittersweet. SOLIDWORKS often invites an outstanding keynote speaker to Day 3, and this year was again terrific. The speaker was NASA Astronaut Leland Melvin. He shared the amazing story of his life and the various challenges he faced throughout his career, which ultimately led him to the international space station. It was really good stuff.

But Day 3 is also the final day, which means everyone is going home. Sometimes the general session is the last time we get to see all our SOLIDWORKS World friends until next year, hence the bittersweet element.

Suchit Jain, SOLIDWORKS vice president of Strategy and Business Development, introduces Day 3.

This year Day 3 started with an introduction by Suchi Jain, vice president of Strategy and Business Development. Jain used a theme of “Artists, Students, Makers” for his presentation.

Artists, Students, Makers was the theme for the Day 3 general session.

I really enjoyed this format and found myself getting more and more interested as the session went on. I liked the section on Artists. I really liked the section on students. I LOVED the section on makers.

During the last section, Jain introduced Joel Telling, shown above on the far right in the Makers section. Telling has a YouTube channel called the 3D Printing Nerd where he takes on various 3D-printing challenges and shares tips and tricks with other 3D-printing enthusiasts.

Joel Telling, the 3D Printing Nerd, using xDesign.

Telling recently started using xDesign as his 3D-modeling software. One of his first challenges using xDesign was to recreate the required part to fix a baseball practice net. In the video, Telling was able to show how easily SOLIDWORKS xDesign can be used to quickly create solid models to be output to a 3D printer.

I am a big time 3D-printing guy, so I’m sure my opinion is biased here, but I really liked this section of the general session. I was excited to get home and watch the full video. Of course, this one again sticks to the theme of “Where Possibility Takes Form.” He had an idea of how re-create a broken part and turned it into a reality using SOLIDWORKS xDesign and a 3D printer.

Conclusion

The annual conference for SOLIDWORKS USERS is a great place to catch up on the latest news and technology going around the industry. The three days of breakout sessions are a great place to pickup some nice time-saving tips.But the morning general session is where the overall tone for the conference is set. The organizers of the conference did a terrific job of sticking to this year’s theme, “Where Possibility Takes Form,” throughout the entire event.

About the Author

Toby Schnaars is a Certified SOLIDWORKS Expert from Philadelphia, Pa. He has been working with SOLIDWORKS software since 1998 and has been providing training, technical support, and tips and tricks since 2001.

Screenshot of 3D print preview from MakerBot's slicing software MakerBot Desktop. (Image courtesy of Advanced Technical Services.)

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM), has become fairly well known. The industry, however, is still young and evolving. New methods and uses are still being discovered. Improvements in both hardware and software have increased accuracy, resolution and speed in 3D prints. This also has helped broaden the market in both the commercial and private sectors, making it easier to 3D print. Having tools within CAD software to quicken and simplify the 3D printing process definitely gives designers, engineers and architects an advantage when it comes to seeing their vision and designs come to life.

The 3D Print Workflow

To get a better understanding of how the incorporation of a 3D print feature within a 3D CAD program can affect the traditional 3D print workflow, let’s look at what a traditional 3D CAD program does and doesn’t do. Through the modeling process, CAD software stores a lot of data about your model. It knows the shape and size of the object. It knows where corners, fillets, holes and other features are. It knows where those features should be in relation to other features and even how those features interact if you modify the object. It can even tell you the weight of your part if you have assigned a material property to it. While the CAD software contains all the data needed to represent your part accurately in a visual representation on screen, it normally does not know how to tell a 3D printer how to print that part. A 3D printer needs specific instructions to do that. Typically, to 3D print a part, you would model it in your CAD software as mentioned above and then export that model to an STL (stereolithography) file. Most of your major 3D CAD packages will allow an export to STL.

Slicing

A slicing preview from MakerBot's slicing software MakerBot Desktop. (Image courtesy of Advanced Technical Services.)

Once you have your STL file, it still needs to be prepared for your specific 3D printer. This is typically done with add-on software separate from your CAD software and is often referred to as post-processing or slicing. This is the part of the workflow that gives your 3D printer the specific instructions it needs to print your part. Many 3D printer manufactures include their own slicing or post-processing software with the purchase of a 3D printer, but there are also third-party STL file processors out there. This part of the process is important. Most experienced 3D print users would agree that the post-processing or slicing process has the biggest impact on your print quality, so even though it’s an entirely additional step, it is accepted.

New File Formats

The STL file format strains to keep up with advancements in both hardware and software. An STL file only contains information on the surface geometry of an object. There are new file formats that can provide additional information or instructions to your 3D printer about the part you are trying to print, including the position of your model relative to the print bed for your specific 3D printer, orientation, color and material. New file formats can mean no post-processing or slicing is needed.

• 3MF — If you have SOLIDWORKS and Microsoft Windows 8.1, you can print directly to a 3D printer using the 3MF format included. You can set your desired print options in the Print3D PropertyManager. A preview of the print bed and the model's location within the print bed lets you modify settings before starting your 3D print job.

SOLIDWORKS 3D print dialog box. (Image courtesy of Advanced Technical Services.)

• AMF — SOLIDWORKS also lets you export part and assembly files using the Additive Manufacturing File Format (AMF), an XML-based format designed to support additive manufacturing processes like 3D printing. In addition to the model geometry, an AMF file can contain information about the color and material of objects for 3D printing.

SOLIDWORKS 2016 Print Enhancements

Photo of support material on a 3D-printed bottle. (Image courtesy of Advanced Technical Services.)

A couple of enhancements to 3D printing in SOLIDWORKS 2016 include being able to use the Preview tab to give you a preview to evaluate the current print job. You can display striation lines to see if your print resolution is correct and if you have the minimal layer thickness required for your desired output.

A preview within SOLIDWORKS showing striation lines for a 3D print. (Image courtesy of Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS.)

It will help you identify which parts of your print may require supports. 3D printers need something to print on. All 3D printers start printing on some sort of platform, often referred to as the print bed. However, a lot of prints have parts that need to be printed above the print bed. In this event, support material is printed that will build up to the actual elevation of the part. The support material is much more delicate than the actual print and is then removed after the print is complete. The ability to review these areas and control where you need support structure and where you don’t will greatly enhance your final print output.

3D Print Partners

Sindoh 3Dwox 3D printer, being called the first 3D printer to be integrated into SOLIDWORKS. (Image courtesy of Sindoh.)

An example of the company’s commitment to the 3D print industry and improving the 3D print process workflow was evidenced at SOLIDWORKS World 2016 by announcing Sinhoh as a Solution Partner working toward becoming a Gold Product partner. A Certified Gold Product partner is the top level of the SOLIDWORKS Partner Product Program for software companies. Only products that offer fully-integrated “single-window” functionality within SOLIDWORKS can attain Certified Gold Product status. It also means that SOLIDWORKS has tested and certified the solution.

Sindoh is a South Korean 3D printer manufacturer that has been using SOLIDWORKS since 1996, so the partnership makes sense. The 3Dwox DP200 3D printer from Sindoh has been labeled as the first 3D printer to be integrated into the SOLIDWORKS software, allowing you to send prints directly to the printer. It also allows you to monitor your print after you’ve sent it to the 3D printer. You’re able to do so from your computer, which is huge if the printer is in a different room, or you can monitor it from the comfort of your smartphone. You can even check the amount of filament remaining before you send your print to ensure there is enough to complete the print job. All this can be done directly within the SOLIDWORKS user interface. This is great news for those of us who have to weigh the spool of filament when it nears the end and "guess-timate" if there will be enough to print the actual finished part.

Stratasys is a Minnesota-based manufacturer of 3D printers and 3D production systems. Stratasys was founded in 1989, so they definitely have some experience under their belt. They have been a SOLIDWORKS partner for several years now, and have continued to work on making the workflow from design to 3D print more seamless within SOLIDWORKS.

Conclusion

As with any workflow, being able to simplify or even eliminate steps without compromising the end result, gives you a big advantage. Not having to run an exported STL file though post-processing or slicing means that one can get from modeled part to print quicker. Being able to orient your model on the print bed, scale it up or down and add support structures all right there within SOLIDWORKS, is a game changer. Giving you the correct tools within your CAD software gives you more control over the print process and final output. One argument against this advancement is that users may have to worry about things that a post-processing or slicing program would take care of for you, taking the focus away from true design intent. SOLIDWORKS seems to be ahead of the curve in the implementation of “push button” printing. I’m confident that by evolving with the industry and listening to consumer feedback, SOLIDWORKS 3D print features will allow users to 3D print easier, faster and with more control.

About the Author