Wow,

Over the last 24 hours I cannot tell you all how much I have enjoyed the http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/solidworks/! online group. My 2nd semester class was able to get much needed information on how to spec out a helical gear on a CAD print in a matter of minutes (About 78) and Matthew Lorono–one of the fine person’s moderating the group with me–recently launched the SolidWorks Legion blog site. There is currently a post from him about Design with intent and Horizontal Modeling which I found to be fantastic. I will question him on a couple of his points, but his intent in this post is loud and clear. Use best modeling practices to ensure changeability, ease of creation and an overall stable CAD database for all to use.

Chris

As you are working through the Engineering program here at NTI, note that you will run into instances where you are just stumped on how to do things or even where to get more information to solve problems.

When it comes to any CAD modeling system students should begin to use the many online user forums for help.

There are many reasons to do this:

· Tech Support has the potential of taking a long time

· The people on these forums are using the CAD systems every day. They not only understand how to solve the problem but also provide great heads up info.

· The many solutions the members offer help you to look at SolidWorks solutions from many angles.

· This is a way to expand your industry network worldwide.

· …the list goes on.

Below is a great launching pad to the virtual world of SolidWorks. It has a forum, links to other forums and engineering tools as well as links to the ever growing blog & podcasts community. As a member you can set your profile to send daily digests of the community’s activities for the day. It also has a calendar that members can post Local User Group meetings, conventions, seminars, etc.

Members are encouraged to post at will. I still find that responses on this forum are generally faster that technical support and I have generated some pretty useful contacts.

I encourage the NTI engineering program students to sign up and make it a routine of visiting the site, posting questions and adding to the many areas. By making this routine now you will be building a fantastic habit that will no doubt serve you well in industry.

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