By observing how your peers use SolidWorks, you can pick up a lot of techniques.

This time we are doing something different and I think Awesome!.  Come join us for the second SolidWorks Louisville User Group meeting of 2011.  We are going to the University of Louisville again for this  presentation.  Three of our users will be giving short presentations on  how they use SolidWorks every day in their respective jobs.  This is  great because everyone accomplishes the same task differently.  We know  that there are nuggets of information that each of us possess that we  take for granted.  By observing the workflow of other's, we get down to  the nitty-gritty on how they accomplish these tasks.  It's sure to be a  great presentation that we can all learn from.  Some of our own very  talented members - Scott Calvert, Norm Boulard and Bryan Ray will talk about specific projects and work  flows.

Scott Calvert of Design Network is  a practicing Industrial Designer and a member of the SLUG board.  He  has been involved in appearance and mechanical design for a wide range  of products from refrigerator handles and shelves, to exterior cabinetry  on blood analyzers and composite hoods for heavy trucks.  The basic  steps of the design process remain the same but use of design tools like  SolidWorks have made the process quicker and more efficient.  Scott  will demonstrate how he uses SolidWorks in the design of a locomotive AC  unit for Dayton Phoenix.

Norman Boulard of Boulard Designs is  industrial designer specializing in designing with a strong emphasis on  materials and processes, technology, with a focus on "design for  manufacture". He has a strong mechanical design background and has done  work for GE Appliances, ARE Truck Cap & Tonneau Covers and several  Medical Device companies to mention a few. He also has developed many of  his own products such as the Nomadic Sport Automotive roof rack system.  He is going to take us through the design steps of a hybrid water  heater. He will show us a design concept he developed for the GE hybrid  water heater in Adobe Illustrator and then show how he translated that  into SolidWorks. He will highlight and show us how he worked through  some of the design challenges he faced on this project and show us some of his  favorite tools and design methodology.

Bryan Ray of Samtec, INC is  kind of a Jack of all Trades at Samtec.  He’s been drafter, a designer  in several departments, he’s helped craft the design and drafting  standards for Samtec, he’s been to Costa Rica and China to train Samtec  Draftsmen and lately, he’s been doing renderings for the Samtec online  catalog.  He is a CSWP and has trained many at Samtec to become CSWP's.   He is going to show how Samtec uses equations and linked values to  automate their configurations.

This promises to be one of our best meetings yet!

Get your mouse sharpened, you could be next.

We  want to know how you do what you do.  We would love to discuss how you  use SolidWorks and give you the opportunity to show it.  We are not  looking for that quantum physics top secret project you are working on.   We don't expect you to flash your degree in Rocket Science around  either.  We just want to understand how you work through some of your  design challenges.  Have you recently (or not so recently) accomplished a  task that is really cool, that stretched you?  Have you developed a  technique that streamlines your work flow?

Why  do we want to know this?  Well we are CERTAIN that your knowledge can  help other's in the group.  In the spirit of User Groups, we are all  about sharing and helping the group get smarter, better, faster.  Shoot  me an email and let me know if you'd be interested.  Especially after  our next meeting when you see how these guys are gunna rock it!

Please RSVP to paul.mccrorey@insightbb.com so that we can get an accurate count for food purposes.

Meeting Details:

Date:   Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

Time:  6:30pm - 8:30pm

Food:  Something good and FREE!

Place: University of Louisville

Henry Vogt Engineering Center
3rd  and  Eastern Parkway
Louisville, Kentucky  40292

The SLUG Guarantee:  Everyone will learn something new about Solidworks or they will get their money back!