Groundbreaking 3D Skills Program introduces non-users to SolidWorks

Groundbreaking 3D Skills Program introduces non-users to SolidWorks

A bold new program and industry first from SolidWorks, the 3D Skills Program was developed to introduce record numbers of non-users to the power of SolidWorks software. The program provides thousands with a no-cost, no-obligation opportunity for career advancement, whether they seek to work more effectively with other organizations, gain a promotion, or simply increase their awareness of 3D capabilities.

Learn more about SolidWorks 3D Skills Program at
http://www.solidworks.com/pages/news/3DSkills.html

Program participants receive a free seat of SolidWorks Personal Edition.

The program, which was released in March, gives you everything you need to get up and running in the popular 3D mechanical design software program, including training, online support, and a free version of SolidWorks Personal Edition.

The program
3D Skills seminars are offered worldwide by participating SolidWorks resellers. Once you sign up for a seminar, you'll attend a three- to four-hour training session. Then you'll be handed a copy of SolidWorks Personal Edition to take home and hone your skills on.

SolidWorks Personal Edition, available in 11 different languages, is not commercial software. It doesn't allow you to exchange files with commercial systems, but it does include the core features of SolidWorks 2003. You can use it to learn how to sketch a design, model a part, and manage assemblies. The program also allows you to email and share designs with non-SolidWorks users via eDrawings. You have 90 days to use Personal Edition once you've registered the program. If you need more time, you can extend the license in 90-day increments at no cost.

Additional support is only a mouse-click away. A manual is available for download on the SolidWorks web site, where you'll also find tutorials, FAQs, and links to a discussion forum, where you can interact and exchange ideas with other users.

Open enrollment
The 3D Skills program stems from the success of the SolidWorks Retraining program, which was designed to help those who had lost their jobs. Over the course of a year, more than 10,000 people applied to the popular sessions, which ended in February.

It's no surprise that Retraining attracted such interest, says Paul Mazur, who heads the 3D Skills program. "If you look at monster.com and other job search engines, the majority of engineering companies are looking for people with SolidWorks experience." But many who did not qualify for the Retraining program still wanted to learn SolidWorks. "So we streamlined the process and made it available to more people," says Mazur, explaining the birth of 3D Skills.

Tom Bryk is someone who benefited from 3D Skills' open-door policy. He wanted a career to fall back on at a time when many companies were downsizing. So before he started Dytec Tool Design (Peabody, MA) as a side business, he signed up for the 3D Skills Program through reseller Computer-Aided Products (Manchester, NH). "Tool and die design uses complicated tools for forming and stamping," he said. "Just having a 3D package will allow me to see things better."

Different strokes
Resellers vary in the training they offer. Some use tutorials while others rely on instructors to lead the class. At 3DVision Technologies (Cincinnati, OH), a certified engineer leads the classes, which usually consist of six or eight students, while a sales rep strolls the aisles offering assistance to anyone who gets stuck.

3DVision president Todd Majeski says that most of the people who sign up for his classes in Dayton and Cincinnati, OH, are in the mechanical design industry but have been eyeing SolidWorks as a way to move away from 2D.

"It's a step-by-step process," says Majeski, describing the training his business offers. "We take them through building a part, making a drawing, and building an assembly. They learn all aspects of the software." The training usually takes three hours from the time students get their coffee to when they walk out the door.

Majeski stresses the shoe-in-the-door aspect of this fast-track training, as opposed to the more intensive weeklong course his group also offers. "If people feel they want to take the next step and use SolidWorks in a commercial environment, then they need to come back to us for a full training course," he says. "We give them just enough to whet their appetites."

Reseller CADimensions (Syracuse, NY) uses a combination of tutorials and lectures to teach its students. "The tutorial is easy to use, easy to understand, and you can get in and start creating 3D geometry right away," says CADimensions owner Pete DiLaura. He hands students a printed manual of the tutorial before they leave, so they can review the material again later.

"The response to the class is strong," says DiLaura. "Users say it's a great idea, a great concept."

To enroll in the 3D Skills Program:
Learn more about SolidWorks 3D Skills Program at: http://www.solidworks.com/pages/news/3DSkills.html