Latest News from SolidSolutions.co.uk

Haughton Design Cultivate Style

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:28:10 UTC

Haughton Design, a long standing customer of Solid Solutions and established users of SolidWorks have been working alongside Simba, to help them create a fresh aesthetic for the new line of tine cultivators.

The final design was featured on the front cover of Develop 3D...Read the full article

SolidWorks 2012 has arrived!

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 09:57:06 UTC

SolidWorks 2012 is now available to download from the SolidWorks Customer portal (http://customerportal.solidworks.com)

Want to see what's new? Register for a Solid Solutions Launch Event by clicking the banner above or if you can't wait until then... take a look here

SolidWorks 2012 DVDs have not been produced yet. As soon as we receive the shipment from SolidWorks Corp, you will receive them automatically as part of your SolidWorks subscription with us.

Not on subscription? Send us an email at sales@solidsolutions.co.uk for a quote to get you back up to date.

Solid Solutions featured in Eureka Magazine

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:09:41 UTC

The September issue of Eureka magazine featured a double page spread of Solid Solutions, including an interview with Solid Solutions Managing Director, Alan Sampson. To see the article click here.

Eureka has a unique blend of innovation, technology and engineering applications stories that make it the magazine of choice for design engineers.

It covers the latest design components and techniques – from 3D software to the latest materials – in industries ranging from automotive to medical. As a magazine of ideas, it inspires engineers to improve their own designs. At the same time, the magazine continues to highlight important design trends – such as sustainable design. http://www.eurekamagazine.co.uk

SolidWorks 2012 Launch Events: Register now!

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 00:12:59 UTC

Registration for the SolidWorks 2012 Launch events are now open! Solid Solutions are proud to announce registration for the SolidWorks 2012 Launch events is now open. This year we are pulling out all the stops to make the events for the 20th release of the 3D MCAD package our best yet. Click the image below to register now!

Want to be a part of our customer showcase? Email mrushton@solidsolutions.co.u k

Enterprise PDM on iPhone and iPad

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 12:06:36 UTC

Access all your critical Product Information anywhere, at any time, using the new EnterprisePDM apps from mobilePDM.

NOW IT IS OFFICIAL !!! Enterprise PDM on iPhone / iPad available !!!!!

Please go to….

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mobilepdm/id434153463?mt=8#

http://mobilepdm.com/en/overview

Solid Solutions Working with the RNLI

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:31:52 UTC

The latest Solid Solutions Customer Event is titled "Get the Most out of SolidWorks" and is proving highly successful.

Attendance is at an all time high, and rightly so as it is a free event aimed at all ranges of abilities with the intention of allowing you to get more from the CAD tool used by millions every day.

The latest event was held at the offices of the RNLI in Poole. A Solid Solutions and SolidWorks Customer! There was a very good attendance and some great feedback from one of the attendees made it on to their company blog.

Click here to read for yourself what Catwards thought of the event.

Want to go to one yourself? Go to our Events Page to see when one is coming to a location near you.

Take a Virtual Tour of our new Leamington Spa HQ

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:16:28 UTC

How about taking a look around our head office without leaving your desk?

A new product coming soon to the SolidWorks suite is Post3D which has come about from 3DVIA Scenes. A customer of ours, and famous design company, Tom Dixon was featured in Develop3D Magazine using this technology for an online exhibition.

Since our new head office was designed with SolidWorks, we decided to upload it so people could have a virtual tour. Just use the arrow keys on your keyboard and your mouse to have a look around!

http://www.solidsolutions.co.uk/Products/Scenes.aspx

SolidWorks 2011 Discs

Wed, 08 Dec 2010 12:27:43 UTC

SolidWorks 2011 has arrived!

The SolidWorks 2011 DVD packs for all eligible Solid Solutions Customers have just arrived from SolidWorks Corporation in the US. We are currently preparing for them to be despatched to all 3500+ of our customers.

It is a big logistical task, so it will take time for all the DVDs to be shipped. They will be with you over the course of the next couple of weeks. However, if you cannot wait until then for 2011, it is available to download from http://customerportal.solidworks.com

If you have not received the DVDs by the end of January, please contact us on 01926 333777.

To allow us to maintain a high level of service support, we recommend giving us a call prior to installing, to check whether we are experiencing an exceptionally high volume of calls, and also to run through the recommended procedure if you are unsure.

From all of us here, we wish you a very happy holiday over the festive period, and a successful New Year in 2011, with SolidWorks 2011.

Solid Solutions Management Ltd

CAD in Schools Promoting Engineering Careers

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 11:04:43 UTC

Young blood
Putting CAD in schools is a promising way of encouraging young people to look again at a career in engineering. By Ben Sampson (Taken from http://www.profeng.com)

There is an accepted problem that the education system does not produce enough people who are interested in engineering careers. Most educators would admit that a main reason students avoid engineering-related subjects is because there is a misconception about what an engineer does. Perhaps that is because the term covers such a broad spectrum of jobs, from the person who comes to fix your washing machine to the person who designs the engines of the aircraft that take you on your holiday.

Many professional engineers suggest that the term should be protected by law, as doctors are, to improve the profession’s image. But there are other ways to promote the appealing aspects of the job to attract young people. The use of Computer Aided Design (CAD) in schools could provide one of the biggest recruitment boosts to the engineering sector yet.

All major engineering software vendors provide their software free or at heavily discounted rates to students. Traditionally, these were university students who had already chosen an engineering-related subject. But increasingly, says Joe Wilkie, education business manager for SolidWorks in Europe, CAD software is being used in classrooms before university level. “We’ve had a lot of success at getting our product into schools,” he says.

He adds that he knows of teachers who have given the software to five and six-year-olds with no problem. “We’ve yet to find an age of student who can’t use it,” he says. “Older teachers are always amazed at how quickly students pick it up. People who are young today have grown up with things like social networking and 3D gaming. When they get our software it’s not such a massive learning curve.”

The natural place for CAD to be taught in a secondary school is the design and technology classroom, where it can be presented as the kind of tool most engineers use in their workplace every day. SolidWorks’ software is installed in about 2,000 schools throughout the UK and Ireland, with more than 400,000 licences installed in schools across all of Europe. The package is fully functional and includes the modelling software, mechanical analysis and stress testing. It is sold at a discounted rate of £700 per classroom. Students can get a home licence free.

Teachers have a couple of options to develop classes that involve SolidWorks software, suggests Wilkie. They can use the tutorials supplied with the software or download free material from the teaching community website, which is constantly developing teaching guides, tests, quizzes and PowerPoint presentations. Students (or teachers) can take an online exam for a certificate showing proficiency in the software.

SolidWorks also sponsors the F1 in Schools project, an educational programme that capitalises on the allure of F1 racing to tempt students into engineering. Students use SolidWorks to design an F1 car, then analyse its drag coefficiency using Computational Fluid Dynamics software (CFD). They then use the software again to evaluate the best way to manufacture the gas-powered car, make the model out of balsa wood, physically test the car in wind and smoke tunnels and race it in a global competition. Students also assess the environmental impact of their design using SolidWorks.

Wilkie says the programme continues to grow in popularity and gets children using complex software components. “When 10 to 12-year-olds begin to question why they have to learn maths, they do this and realise that engineering isn’t just solving maths problems but designing as well and can lead to careers as entrepreneurs or in big corporations,” he says.

“The schools find it liberating and the children get to work with the same software that commercial companies use and produce some top-quality designs that could pass as produced by someone fresh out of university.

“Getting CAD in schools tackles the misconception that engineering is a profession where you have to wear grimy overalls. It’s a gradual process – you don’t change minds overnight but this helps get the message across that doing engineering means you will be earning a good wage in good surroundings.”

“We know it’s possible to get more people into engineering this way,” adds Wilkie. “It’s our number one motivation in this market and it’s a motivation shared by education authorities worldwide. People in governments are concerned about the number of students pursuing technical careers.”

Read the full article at http://www.profeng.com/archive/2010/2316/23160058.htm

New Solid Solutions Management Headquarters

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 14:45:42 UTC

We are proud to announce that we have moved to a larger support center in order to better support our ever-growing SolidWorks customer base. We have a prestigous new Customer Area where training and seminar attendees can intermingle and exchange ideas. Multi-media screens show rolling product demonstrations. The training suites are fully air-conditioned, 1Gb networked and internet enabled for customer use. Trainees also have access to our fully staffed cafe. We have a specialist Webcast room where we conduct our “Webcast Wednesday” free online training sessions. See http://www.solidsolutions.co.uk/SolidWorks-Training/Webcasts.aspx for details.

We also have a new computerised phone system to enable us to better manage and respond to your support calls (the new number - which can also be used for non-support calls - is shown below). Please bear with us as we familiarise all staff with the new system. Rest assured that we have not installed a computerised answer phone system though! We will still endeavour to answer your call directly.

Please Note Our New Address & Number – 01926 333777

The Solid Solutions Support Team
Solid Solutions Management Limited | Olympus House | Olympus Avenue | Leamington Spa | CV34 6RJ
Office: 01926 333777 | Fax: 01926 333778
support@solidsolutions.co.uk | www.solidsolutions.co.uk