Case Studies and Videos
Central Lakes College
A team of students used SolidWorks on this 1/6 scale toy chopper as part of an introductory design course. The models were later printed on a prototype machine and assembled.
The Results
- Experienced less student/user frustration
- Much easier to teach
- More affordable than Inventor, which is important in order to continue usage
- More posted jobs in the Twin Cities require SolidWorks
"With SolidWorks we can see that students enjoy learning and the teachers enjoy teaching. It's a win-win."
- Dave Bissonette, Instructor
VAR: Symmetry Solutions
The Challenge
Central Lakes College is a vocational and technical school located in Staples, Minnesota. The school needs to be aware of the tools that its graduates will use upon graduating and entering the job market. Parametric modeling is the future, and the college needed a 3D CAD system that was widely used throughout its coverage area.
The Solution
The selection of SolidWorks for this project was made by analyzing the job market in the Twin Cities area. We have found SolidWorks near the top in popularity. This design project involved designing a motorcycle chopper with a theme and was used to introduce CAD software and promote teamwork. We built four choppers in the class, each with a minimum of 20 separate parts, with our 3D printer.
- Industry: Education
- Previous CAD: AutoCAD,Pro/ENGINEER
- Products(s) Used: SolidWorks Education Edition
