SolidWorks Launches Donation Program To Raise Awareness of Sustainable Design
Donates $1 for Each Download of SolidWorks SustainabilityXpress Solution to Hybrid Auto Design Competition
CONCORD, Mass., USA, Nov. 4, 2009 – Dassault Systèmes (DS) SolidWorks Corp. has launched a donation program to promote environmental sustainability among designers of products as simple as water bottles and as complex as industrial machinery.
SolidWorks will donate $1 for every download of its SolidWorks® SustainabilityXpress solution, up to $10,000, to Formula Hybrid™, an international competition of university engineering students based at Dartmouth College's Thayer School of Engineering. The students compete to develop high-performance fuel-electric hybrid vehicles. SolidWorks SustainabilityXpress is professional-grade software providing advanced functionality that aids engineers in determining a product’s carbon footprint, energy consumption, air and water impact. By downloading SolidWorks SustainabilityXpress, engineers and designers will help educate the next generation about environmentally friendly design while gaining a tool to help them create “green” designs today. SolidWorks’ goal with this new program is to spread the idea that any product can be designed with the lowest possible environmental impact.
“Environmentally sound principles apply to every product, not just those we automatically think of as ‘green,’ like wind turbines and solar cells,” said Rick Chin, SolidWorks director of product innovation. “A water bottle can be designed around environmental principles if the engineer considers the material they use, how much of it they use, how and where it’s manufactured, and what happens when the bottle isn’t useful anymore. Is it made of injection-molded plastic? Or formed aluminum? Those are the kind of basic decisions that any product designer can make to reduce the environmental impact of their designs, given the right tools and the right mindset.”
SolidWorks’ donation will help offset the cost of Formula Hybrid’s annual May competition, where students from North America, Europe, and Asia test their designs for speed and fuel economy in a professional-style race. Last year’s winning team, from Texas A&M University, used SolidWorks to design its vehicle. Formula Hybrid Deputy Director Wynne Washburn said “Putting sustainability tools like this into the hands of engineers/designers at the earliest stages of the design process is innovative, forward thinking, and vitally important for the future of all product and process design.
“SustainabilityXpress will aid in student’s decision making process regarding sustainability and life-cycle of any one component and/or material that is used in building their plug-in hybrid or electric vehicles for the Formula Hybrid Competition. This product gets students thinking, from the very beginning of the process, about where their resources are coming from,” Washburn said. “If they know a certain material is created through a process that’s not environmentally sustainable while an alternative material is sustainable, they can decide to use the sustainable material. Today, issues of sustainability are critical; this tool sheds light into an area where, previously, there has been very little information.”
About SolidWorks Powered by the Dassault Systèmes 3DExperience Platform, SolidWorks 3D applications help millions of engineers and designers succeed through innovation. SolidWorks delivers an intuitive experience in product design, simulation, publishing, data management, and environmental impact assessment. For the latest news, information, or an online demonstration, visit our Web site (www.3ds.com/solidworks) or call 1-800-693-9000 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-800-693-9000 (outside of North America, call +1-781-810-5011). About Dassault Systèmes Dassault Systèmes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, provides business and people with virtual universes to imagine sustainable innovations. Its world-leading solutions transform the way products are designed, produced, and supported. Dassault Systèmes’ collaborative solutions foster social innovation, expanding possibilities for the virtual world to improve the real world. The group brings value to over 150,000 customers of all sizes, in all industries, in more than 140 countries. For more information, visit www.3ds.com. CATIA, SOLIDWORKS, SIMULIA, DELMIA, ENOVIA, GEOVIA, EXALEAD, NETVIBES, 3DSWYM and 3DVIA are registered trademarks of Dassault Systèmes or its subsidiaries in the US and/or other countries. SolidWorks is a registered trademark of Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation in the US and other countries. 3DVIA is a registered trademark and 3DVIA Composer is a trademark of Dassault Systèmes in the US and other countries. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective owners. © 2012 Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp.
