Mike Puckett's Blog

Solidworks Labs Launches A New Product...

The mad scientists over in the Solidworks Labs have launched a new application titled "Sliderule".  Here is the description:

"Sliderule is a new web application that helps you find and communicate
with custom manufacturers and service providers. Our goal is to provide you with
                    the easiest to use and most comprehensive tool to find and work with suppliers
                    so you have more time to spend designing great products."

Much similar to the ever popular Manufacturing Network, it looks as if Solidworks is once again trying to help companies that use their software, to connect up with companies that are looking to source out work. 

Take a quick visit over to the Labs, and register your company today!

Back From COSMOS World...

Don't get too excited, its not a new annual conference!  What I meant to say is I'm back from training in what is a whole different world!  First off I want to extend a big thanks to the Solidworks COSMOS team at the Santa Monica office.  The knowledge they have of the software is tremendous!  They told us that about 95% of the COSMOS software is codded on site, so I'm sure that contributes heavily to the amount of insight they have for how the software functions.

So was it worth it?  Every minute, and every dollar!  Ever since I first started to play with COSMOS Express a few yeas back, I have always wanted to lean more about it.  The analysis side of what we do is a whole different ball game.  The formulas and the expertise required to interpret results in COSMOS is huge.  However using the software isn't.  I would be interested to know what the ease of use of COSMOS was just before Solidworks bought them.  Right now, it functions just like you would expect a Solidwroks product to act.  They have done a fantastic job integrating one into the other.

First thing this morning I was able to use COSMOS to confirm that what we believed was a potential issue with a part, in fact was ok.  I remember trying to solve this issue a month or so ago, and getting frustrated that I couldn't get it set up correctly, and get it to run.  This morning it was a 5 minute process, and seamless.  My boss was extremely happy that I made it look like my time away was worth it.  Hopefully we can continue to use it enough to justify an upgrade to Professional in the near future.

COSMOS is what I would term a 'peace of mind' package.  As engineers, we can use past experiences, and book knowledge to confirm that something is right, or wrong.  But we always have that shred of doubt in the back of our minds.  COSMOS helps to eliminate those doubts.

Again, I want to thank the staff at the Santa Monica office for their training, and hospitality while I was there.  So if John McEleney reads this, make sure to give those guys a good pat on the back for a job well done!  I look forward to meeting them again in the future if we ever get the opportunity to upgrade our seat.  It's nice to be back in the office and see just how much your missed for even two days!

COSMOS Designer Training Day 1

For those that don't know L.A. very well, traffic is a huge issue here.  In the planning of my two days of training I decided it would be easier to just get a hotel room near the Santa Monica training center.  In order to keep my budget good, I ended up about 13 miles away from there.  Not bad, or so I thought.  So this morning I head out 45 mins before class starts thinking I can find someplace close to grab a quick bite to eat.  It ended up taking me just over an hour to go those 13 miles!  So needless to say, it was a pain in the butt way to start the day.

When we first upgraded to Solidworks Professional about 6 months ago, it was with the hope of using COSMOS to improve our designs.  But due to how busy we have been the past year, I never really got a chance to play with it much.  I signed up for the class thinking if I was away from the office, I would have no choice but to finally learn it.

I was a bit gun shy as class started, and I was being introduced to lots of new terminology such as Von Mises, Sigma, Tao, and all sorts of structural engineering terms.  But as the class got underway, I really started to get a feel for what COSMOS was all about.  I started to feel like I was back in the days when I was learning Solidworks, and I felt the same sense that the software was designed and written to work just as one would expect.  The functionality of COSMOS is exactly the same as in Solidworks in terms of how its structured to allow the user to expect it to act a certain way, and then it does!

The class is being taught Jindrigh Novak who even with a pretty good Chezch accent did an excellent job explaining every step in a manner even I could understand.  As the day went on, I started to see many different uses for COSMOS once I get back to work.  And for me, that is the essence of training, how can I apply what I learn in in class, into my work!

By the end of the day I was applying loads and constraints, and meshing with the best of them!  Now I'm certainly no Vince Adams, but everyone has to start somewhere right?  So tomorrow is the second and final day of the Designer portion.  The class continues on for a 3rd day on Friday, but we only paid for the two.

Hmm, maybe they will let me stay and sit in as a observer who will then write about it in his blog?  LOL.  Anyhow, if anyone ever gets the chance to attend training at the Santa Monica office, its a very nice place, and the training room is exceptional!

Off To Train...

About 8 months ago our company upgraded one of our Solidworks seats to Office Professional.  Included in that of course is COSMOS Works.  So since we have been so busy, we have never had a chance to actually get any training on it, so we can start using it.  But the day has finally come!  Tomorrow I start a 2-day COSMOS Designer training course at Structural Research & Analysis in Santa Monica, CA.

The course will give a pretty good outline of the designer portion, and hopefully give us another tool to help us develop even better products.  This training course, as well as other courses can be found by visiting the Training Site at the  Solidworks web site.  I will provide an outline of the course after each day in case anyone is considering attending one of the classes.