TriMech Blog

You're on a roll, focused and in the zone and then you click on an icon and nothing happens. So you sit and wait, and wait until finally, the dialog box pops on screen. But just like that, you lost your groove. We have good news for you... there is a way to end this stop and go waiting game in SOLIDWORKS PDM and we're going to share it with you!

Sometimes switching software can seem daunting. With the right path and the right state of mind, making the change is definitely achievable. Switching between two 3D CAD programs isn’t nearly as hard as switching from 2D to 3D, and we’ve made that leap already! 

SOLIDWORKS 2019 includes a new ability for extended reality. Extended reality is an export from SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD Standard, Professional and Premium. It provides a much richer experience to view designs that are typically consumed on a flat monitor or image. With the new export option, users are immersed in a virtual environment via virtual reality headsets. The benefit is seeing an interaction between your product and the environment in such a way that was not possible until now. It is currently not available in Service Pack 0 (SP0) but will be included in future service packs.

For years, you’ve been languishing in the darkness of 2D CAD. That black background felt so familiar, but now you’re starting to see the 3D light. It can be difficult for your eyes and mind to adjust but have no fear, I’m here to guide you on your new journey into SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD.

It's finally fall! For everyone who was dying in the summer sun, we finally made it and get some relief from the heavy heat! To me, fall is the time for watching leaves change color, eating my share of turkey on Thanksgiving and my favorite, riding my motorcycle through the mountains! Every year I cram as many weekend rides into the Blue Ridge Mountains to see the trees and enjoy the crisp air as possible. Like many riders, I have a camera to capture all the great scenery, as well as any road hazards. I typically mount my camera on the motorcycle itself, however, that’s only because I can’t find a mount that perfectly fits my helmet. 

As I mentioned in my other post, I was fortunate to have the opportunity as a high school student to learn engineering and architecture through a program similar to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). So in honor of National STEM Day for the young minds we’ll take a peek into some kinetics (motion). 

I was fortunate to have the opportunity as a high school student to learn engineering and architecture through a program similar to STEM. I used this as a stepping stone to go to college for mechanical engineering. Then I found a great career with a large automaker and started really learning about practical applications. 

I LOVE HALLOWEEN, I am a giant child! So, I decided to play around with some of the different technologies that we offer here at TriMech.

It's probably needless for me to say that technology is ever evolving. It’s amazing to see where we’ve come in the last 20 years when looking at the computers we work with and how we communicate, play and work. In the past five years, we've seen two areas that have been gaining a lot of traction: virtual and augmented reality technology (VR/AR). It’s fair to say that we’ve seen huge leaps in VR/AR when comparing even the last five years to the last twenty. Certainly, the underlying technologies like high-speed graphics, high-definition mobile displays and high capacity batteries have contributed to this boom, but also the diversity of applications the technology has brought to users. CAD seemed like a natural fit for VR/AR applications. Let’s take a look at what SOLIDWORKS has done with VR/AR over the years and where it looks to take it into the future.

With every new release of SOLIDWORKS, there are hundreds of enhancements. Some are brand new tools, while others are improvements to the already powerful SOLIDWORKS toolset. Along with the new functionality, you’ll find a lot of improvements to both the system and modeling performance that will amount to huge time savings. Here are some of my personal favorites in SOLIDWORKS 2019, which offer compelling reasons for why you should upgrade sooner rather than later to this version.

These days more and more consumer products are made with the ability to connect to the internet. Some common home appliances that you’ve always used, might now be able to connect to other devices. Refrigerators, microwaves, doors, coffee makers, lights – all these items are part of a category called IoT or the Internet of things.

Engineers often need to answer questions regarding heat transfer in their designs. As with many other things, the specific task or question being asked will determine what tool to use to get the best result. Here we look at answering the question of when to use Finite Element Analysis (FEA) vs. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in heat transfer problems.