The Alexandria SOLIDWORKS User Group has completed the first major SWUGN event of the 2024. Nearly 100 people took part in a full-day event that that included technical presentations, networking, and giveaways. They were even able to incorporate their culture, further connecting their members. Leader of this group, Mohamed Hussein, wrote a beautiful recap of this event with lots of great pictures.
My name is Kirby Downey. I am a Senior Production Technician at 3DPRINTUK. I am a maker, a creator in my spare time, and also a SOLIDWORKS User Group Leader and a SOLIDWORKS champion. These last two titles I have 3DEXPERIENCE World to thank, because if I didn’t attend these events since 2017, then I would not be so involved with the SOLIDWORKS community.
There are over seven million SOLIDWORKS users across the world. A number that big can be hard to visualize and comprehend. SOLIDWORKS users could fill 116 NFL stadiums or 1,000 of the world’s largest cruise ships! As an active SOLIDWORKS user, you probably want to network with other users.
SLUGME (The SOLIDWORKS Largest User Group Meeting Ever) has become one of the cornerstone yearly events for the SOLIDWORKS community. If you want a detailed history of how this event came to be, you can check out this SLUGME – Through the Years blog. Todd Blacksher dreamed up this event in 2016 and fast-forward to this year as we are preparing to deliver the 8th iteration. When I joined the planning team for this event as part of SLUGME5, I never imagined the wild ride that SLUGME would afford
A few months ago I had the opportunity to sit down and interview two incredibly well-known, high digital cred SOLIDWORKS users: Todd Blacksher and Deepak Gupta. Both Todd and Deepak have been using SOLIDWORKS for years and truly are experts when it comes to knowing so many details about how to maximize one’s usage of SOLIDWORKS and have a very deep well of knowledge when it comes to the little tips-and-tricks and shortcuts that make everyone’s usage of SOLIDWORKS even better. Todd Blacksher,
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?” -Martin Luther King Jr. Jose Saldana is an engineering manager by day, but in his free time he serves as a SWUGN group leader on the U.S. West coast, as well Central and South America. Jose has a passion for helping to expand the use of new design technologies into South America as well as helping companies there to increase innovation. in.
I am exceptionally pleased to unmask the 6th Super User of SOLIDWORKS – and this is a first in our series – as you can probably tell by the intro graphic. Say hello, everyone to: Betty Baker! I had the opportunity to sit down (virtually) with Betty and chat as to how she got into all-things SOLIDWORKS as well as how she has taken what she has learned along the way of her long-time love of and parlayed that into a User Group Leader, teacher, mentor and inspiration to many young kids starting
At SOLIDWORKS, we are honored to have so many long-time SOLIDWORKS users who are always ready and willing to lend a hand to other users so they can continue to grow and succeed. It is for this reason that we started this blog series to shine the light on a few of these tireless SOLIDWORKS Superheroes. Our first feature in this series was an interview with the man who seems to sleep fast so he can get back to work and help SOLIDWORKS users around the world: Eric Beatty. You can read that blog
Joe Lance - Born to Design Podcast “By facing our challenges and overcoming them, we grow stronger, wiser, and more compassionate.” ― John Templeton Joe Lance is a very well-known and integral figure in the SOLIDWORKS community, so I was overdue to interview him, and found the opportunity to sit down with him at 3DEXPERIENCE World. Joe is the leader of the Houston SOLIDWORKS User Group, a SOLIDWORKS Champion, and has been a mentor to engineers for decades. He is also an avid Marathon runner. In
First off, if you are unfamilar with IRON SWUG, let’s do a little recap. Back in 2020 and 2021, the SOLIDWORKS User Group Network (SWUGN) was unable to meet in person due to restrictions put in place during the pandemic. As the world re-opened, in-person SWUGN meetings were back in full swing, but one that deserves a special mention is IRON SWUG. IRON SWUG was actually a series of events that took place in late July, 2022.
When it comes to SOLIDWORKS, it’s all about community – one that has a shared passion, mutual interests and frequent interaction. Those who were fortunate to attend this year’s recent 3DEXPERIENCE World event in Nashville have said over and over: the chance to get together and engage with each other, sharing and swapping SOLIDWORKS stories, tips, tricks, best practices, was an inspiring experience. That community “esprit” doesn’t end with the close of a 3DEXPERIENCE World event or at a
Over the last several years our lives have changed significantly and abruptly. We all collectively fully understand the realities of not being together as a result of pandemic-related changes. How we live and work, has changed forever. A lot of us pivoted to remote work, adapting to new ways of engaging with our respective teams and finding best practices to remain productive.
It’s been three years since the SOLIDWORKS community was in-person for a physical 3DEXPERIENCE World event. It seems fitting that we are headed back to Nashville to celebrate and get back together. On the SOLIDWORKS Community and User Advocacy team, our job is to create networking opportunities for SOLIDWORKS users. If you are joining us in Nashville, one of the best places to meet other SOLIDWORKS Users is The Hive.
In 2021, The SLUGME Committee had a wild idea to hold a 24-hour event and deliver technical presentations from around the globe. This seemed like an insurmountable task, and it was very far outside everyone’s comfort zone. With the help of many people, in August of 2021, we pulled off an epic event known as SLUGME6. You can watch a highlight video of that event here.
I spent many years working in the SOLIDWORKS reseller channel doing tech support and teaching SOLIDWORKS classes. This afforded me the opportunity to work with thousands of individual SOLIDWORKS users across the U.S. One of the things I always looked forward to each summer was the release of the Beta version of SOLIDWORKS. Beta is your chance to try the next version of SOLIDWORKS before it launches later in the year. It’s an opportunity to explore the new features and possibly identify any bugs,
3DXW23 Save the Date ~150 days to 3DEXPERIENCE WORLD 2023 Are you ready to attend a spectacular event, one where you can reconnect with old friends, network with your peers, learn something new, and see what’s happening in the technology world? Then join us at 3DEXPERIENCE WORLD 2023! The event will be held February 12-15, 2023 in Nashville, TN; but, if you are unable to attend in-person, it is not a problem.
This summer has been jam-packed with some amazing SWUGN events. The SOLIDWORKS User Group Network was unable to meet in person for the majority of 2020 and 2021. As the world re-opens, in-person SWUGN meetings are back in full swing. One event that we need to highlight is IRON SWUG.
SOLIDWORKS and BattleBots teams HyperShock and Witch Doctor join forces to bring you a first-ever SOLIDWORKS LIVE episode all about how BattleBots teams design and test their bots—live from a SOLIDWORKS user group network (SWUGN) meeting in Miami, Florida. This SOLIDWORKS LIVE episode gives you a behind-the-scenes look at what it is like to be on a BattleBots team and what it means to compete, design, and build bots with a passion for excellence. You’ll meet Witch Doctor team members Andrea and
3DEXPERIENCE World is the single most important event of the year, as it relates to the SOLIDWORKS User Group Network (SWUGN). It is our chance to collect as many people as possible and help our community learn more about our products. It also offers a chance for SOLIDWORKS users everywhere to network and collaborate with each other. This event has taken us all over the continental US, including Boston, LA, Orlando, San Diego, Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix, and Nashville.
Are you tired of staying at home and ready to attend a spectacular event, one where you can reconnect with old friends, network with your peers, learn something new, and see what’s happening in the technology world? Then join us at 3DEXPERIENCE WORLD 2022! The event will be held on February 6-9, 2022 in Atlanta, GA; but, if you are not quite ready to attend an in-person event, it’s not a problem.
SLUGME6 was an epic event, to say the least. Let’s break down this one-of-a-kind, 24-hour User Group Meeting and examine some of the mind-blowing stats. Earlier this year, Kam Smith, Todd Blacksher, and Eric Beatty approached me with a crazy idea for SLUGME6. After SLUGME5 went on for about 4 hours, they wanted to push SLUGME6 all the way to 24 hours.
Get more with your SOLIDWORKS experience by accessing and engaging in two online communities 24/7: SOLIDWORKS User Forum Community SOLIDWORKS Connect Community What is the SOLIDWORKS User Forum Community? The SOLIDWORKS User Forum Community is where users can learn, engage, discover and share knowledge with other SOLIDWORKS users about 3DEXPERIENCE Works – desktop, cloud-connected, or pure cloud. In this community you can find answers to questions you may have related to using SOLIDWORKS. To do
Note: this blog post was written by Eric Beatty, the leader of the Seattle Area SOLIDWORKS Power Users Group, and Senior Mechanical Designer at OMAX Corporation. Early March, 2016. Todd Blacksher sits watching Alin Vargatu, one of THE preeminent presenters in the SOLIDWORKS user community, deliver his world-class “Large Assembly Tips” presentation. As one would expect, Alin drops knowledge bomb after knowledge bomb.
One of the traits I have admired most about SOLIDWORKS, even when I was an Autodesk employee, was their very passionate customers. Nothing illustrates this more than SWUGN, the enthusiastic SOLIDWORKS User Group Network. Recently SWUGN celebrated an impressive milestone. The very first user group, SASPUG (Seattle Area SOLIDWORKS Power Users Group), started by the amazing Eric Beatty, celebrated its 25th anniversary!
