I received an email earlier today informing me that registration is now open for SolidWorks World 2010!  SolidWorks World 2010 will be held January 31-February 3, 2010 in Anaheim, California.

To register, simply point your web browser of choice to http://www.solidworks.com/swworld/.  The first early bird deadline is October 9, 2009.  If you register on or before that date, you can save $200 off the regular conference admission.

If you didn’t get to attend SolidWorks World this year, the Technical Summits are the next best thing!  I liken it to a massive user group meeting.

The structure is similar to one day at SolidWorks World, but on a smaller scale; and they are bringing it to you!  There will be representatives of local user groups, VAR’s, and SolidWorks in attendance and presenting at all of these events, as well as user presentations.

What’s In It For You?

There is typically a continental-style breakfast served, followed by a short orientation session.  There are usually two training tracts running simultaneously through two breakout sessions in the morning and three in the afternoon.  Lunch is provided (in my experience, usually a 3- or 4-course meal) during the break between morning and afternoon sessions, and Richard Doyle gives a Tips & Tricks session along with relevant news and information and some nice door prizes.

And the cost for this entire day’s worth of training?  A mere $40.  Now I know in this current economic climate, funds are scarce…  But I think that $40 is a real deal, considering the amount of training and networking to be had.

As of this writing, the 2009 schedule is as follows (please visit the SWUGN Technical Summit page for full details, session schedules, and any changes/updates):

Orlando, FL – 04/28
Atlanta, GA – 05/19
Happy Valley, PA – 06/16
Columbus, OH – 07/21
Vancouver, BC – 08/11
Minneapolis, MN – 08/18
Denver, CO – 09/15
San Antonio, TX – 11/10
San Jose, CA – 12/08

The North Alabama SolidWorks User Group (NASWUG) (my local user group) should be well-represented at the Atlanta, GA Technical Summit.  Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend this year due to a new baby arriving on the scene around that date.  But I hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity to learn something new and meet some new friends!

CUSTOMER PORTAL USERS REJOICE!

In year’s past, attendees used a unique log-in to access the presentations and files from the conference. This year, SolidWorks is making the proceedings site available to all users with a Customer Portal account. If you do not already have a Customer Portal account, you can create one by visiting the SolidWorks Customer Portal and clicking the link under the “Not a member?” section.

MORE SWW CONTENT & FEATURES!

In addition to the standard presentations and supporting files of previous years, SolidWorks captured video of many of the sessions. These videos are available for streaming from the site. There are also pictures of all the exhibitor booths from the Partner Pavilion. (And remember, all my pictures from the conference, including most of the displays in the Product Design Showcase, are available on my Flickr photostream!)

So, be sure to go to SWW09 proceedings site to access all the SWW goodness. If you have any issues accessing the conference proceedings or have further questions, you can get help by emailing swworldinfo@solidworks.com.

***EDIT***

Some clarification from SolidWorks on the SolidWorks World 2009 proceedings site: 

Login access to content:   Essentially the site is open to anyone who has a customer portal login.    Anyone who went to World will see all of the presentation videos that we recorded.   If you did not attend World we are going to add new video content each week.

We check the e-mail you use to login against a database that we have of e-mails from conference attendees.  (So if your customer portal login uses a different e-mail than the e-mail you used to register for world you won’t get full access (but we’ll fix this case by case)).

Last edited on 03/11/2009 @ 5:10PM CDT.

Fielder Hiss, Director of Product Management at SolidWorks, took the stage once again for Wednesday’s General Session.  SolidWorks had another surprise in store for everyone, as Joe Grand and Dr. Mike North from the Discovery Channel show, “Prototype This” took the stage.  At first, it seemed as if they were a no-show, then they made their way through the audience from the back of the room on an apparatus they had designed for firefighters to use to transport gear and personnel.

They gave an interesting talk about some of the projects they have worked on for the show, including a “poo” scooper, a 30-foot tall waterslide simulator (a five week project!), and a 6X6 ATV that looked more like a bug than a vehicle.   The most interesting part of their presentation to me was when they were talking about themselves and the producers butting heads over what to actually show.  They said that when the show first started, the producers were more concerned about building something, when in reality, there is a lot of background design work, prototyping, and testing that has to occur before you get a finished product.  The guys really wanted to show that process, and that “prototyping is worthwhile, even if it fails”.  So in the beginning of the show, it was focused on building, but towards the end of the season, they had gravitated more to showing the design process.

TOP TEN ENHANCEMENT IDEAS

Next up was Bruce Holway, Manager of Product Definition at SolidWorks, to introduce the top ten enhancement ideas for SolidWorks.  Of course, this year, everyone already had access to this information through Brainstorm (Customer Portal log-in required), SolidWorks’ new customer enhancement request site.  Bruce also gave some recent examples of the top enhancement implementation in SolidWorks 2009:

• Slot tool in sketch
• Clearance-check in assemblies (similar to interference detection)
• Retain dimension in drawing views of mirrored parts
• Propagate assembly features back into parts as part features
• Title block wizard

The actual top ten enhancement ideas were read to the crowd one by one by SolidWorks User Group Network (SWUGN) user group leaders.  They are:

10. Excel behavior in tables
9. Abort any running command by pressing ESC
8. Add Lock Point for model rebuilds
7. Dual Monitor support
6. On-the-fly equation creation and editing
5. Faster rebuilds on complex models
4. Ability to rename configurations while referenced
3. SolidWorks backward compatibility
2. Clear memory when a file is closed

And the number one enhancement idea is:

1. Increase program stability

SWUGN AWARDS

The next speaker was Richard Doyle, who introduced the current SWUGN representatives.  Then the SWUGN Awards were handed out:

• 2008 User Group of the Year – Tom Cote of the Central MA/Northern CT SolidWorks User Group
• 2008 User Group Leader of the Year – Rob Jenson of the Southern Minnesota SolidWorks User Group

Two Lifetime Achievement Awards were given:

• Gerald Davis of the Colorado SolidWorks User Group
• Dan Bertschi of the Northeast Ohio SolidWorks User Group

MODEL MANIA 2009

Mark Schneider, Product Manager at SolidWorks, was next on stage to announce the SolidWorks World 2009 Model Mania contest winners in the Customer and Reseller categories.  (Please click the inline graphic to view the names.)  This was the first year that I competed in the Model Mania contest; I got the part modeled and the simulation set up, but I was unable to get the drafts applied correctly.  This is an area where I need to work on, as the parts I designed are usually machined prismatic parts or sheet metal, and require no drafts.  Mark was also going to demonstrate how to model the part, but unfortunately there was some sort of error and the model shown in his presentation was from last year’s SolidWorks World conference.

WHAT’S NEW IN 2010

Next up was what everyone was waiting for – What’s New in SolidWorks 2010!  SolidWorks usually does an elaborate skit to add some levity into the What’s New presentation, but they changed things up this year.  Ian Hogg, Product Marketing Manager for SolidWorks, joined Mark on stage, and they brought up a couple of customers on stage and showed their designs, and then proceeded to demonstrate some of the new and improved features of SolidWorks 2010 that would help in their design efforts.

The first customers were Samuel Schweighart and Gregor Cadman of Terrafugia, creators of the Transition®, which is a “roadable light sport aircraft” or, a flying car with foldable wings.

To help Terrafugia, they suggested the following new or updated tools:

• New View Mate tool
• Updated Mirror Components tool
• Updated Design Study Optimization tool that will enable users to run an optimization or design scenario and review the result plots of any configurations run by using a slider-bar interface.
• Multi-bodies in the sheet metal environment, with each body able to be flattened independently
• Ability to mix sheet metal and weldment features
• Better DXF output for sheet metal flat patterns

Next, Jeremy Regnerus and and Neil Cooke, Product Marketing Managers for SolidWorks, took the stage and introduced the next customer, Matthew Wilkins of Magenn Power, creators of the Magenn Air Rotor System (MARS).  MARS is a portable lighter-than-air tethered wind turbine that can reach altitudes of 1000 feet.

To help Magenn, they suggested the following new or updated tools:

• New Assembly Visualization tool
• New Property Manager Builder
• New Drawing Annotation tools, such as the ability to attach GD&T frames anywhere to dimensions, drag and drop notes into others to combine them, an option to show quantity next to balloons, and Excel functionality throughout all tables, including BOM’s
• New Drawing Productivity tools, such as a new heads-up display for changing dimensions, ordinate dimensions can span to detail views, and stacked dimensions will move when adding new dimensions to keep the proper alignment
• New Direct Editing tools that allow users to use Instant 3D to drag faces on imported parts and will recognize hole patterns (features are created in the FeatureManager tree using these tools)
• New Enterprise PDM (EPDM) functionality that will allow EPDM to manage and replicate all Toolbox components, and you can manage certain processes (such as file conversion) by spawning them to the EPDM server
• Sage, a new sustainable product tool developed in collaboration with PE International that can help designers and engineers pick alternate materials and do design comparisons to help lessen the environmental impact of their designs.

Jeff Ray took the stage and announced that Sage will be available in an “Xpress” version with every license of SolidWorks.  The add-on will actually be available in the coming months prior to the release of SolidWorks 2010 at SolidWorks Labs.

SOLIDWORKS 2010

Jeff Ray announced the dates and location for SolidWorks World 2010.  The next conference will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA on January 31-February 3, 2010.  I wonder where the offsite event will be? 

Jeff then introduced Dr. Dave Gossard, who was SolidWorks co-founder Jon Hirschtick’s CAD instructor at MIT.  Dr. Gossard was in attendance, and they showed this early video clip of him demonstrating the CAD system they had developed.  (I tried to find a link to the video, but had no luck; I have seen it online before though.)

Next up was a short video showing full machine simulation running inside of SolidWorks with the integration of National Instruments LabView.

SOLIDWORKS ENGINEERING STIMULUS PACKAGE

Jeff then made an announcement that SolidWorks will be offering an “Engineering Stimulus Package” that will provide out-of-work engineers and designers with free SolidWorks software, free training, and a free try at the CSWA exam.  SolidWorks is partnering with it’s reseller channel to offer this generous service.  It will initially be rolled out in North America, and then world-wide.

SOLIDWORKS AND EDUCATION

Next, Jeff talked education, and mentioned that there were 25,000 schools worldwide using SolidWorks.  They have delivered 18,000 seats to 900 schools in Ireland and are working to help “develop master instructors to go out and train others”.  He also mentioned the University of Florida (UF) and how they were using SolidWorks on their SAE Mini-Baja team.

The team had a display in the Partner Pavilion, and I took the opportunity to speak a while with one of the students (sorry, can’t recall your name!) on duty at the booth on Monday.  I was really impressed with the amount of design, analysis, and prototyping that they do and the quality of the completed buggy.  I participated on the Mini-Baja team when I was at UAHuntsville, but I believe that we were really disadvantaged compared to these students!

I was really struck at how the student said that they had started using SolidWorks…they actually went to the school and demanded SolidWorks so that they would be able to get relevant jobs when they graduated.  He also said that local companies were really supportive of their team and involved with mentoring the students, as they were vying for candidates with the skills needed in their industry.

SUMMARY

In Jeff’s words, “Engineering design will be the new global language.”  With that, the SolidWorks World 2009 wrap-up video was shown.  In his closing comments, Jeff reflected back on Monday and the car ride over with Sir Richard Branson from the General Session at the Dolphin to the press conference at the Swan.  He said that as busy of a man as Sir Richard was, the only thing he was concerned with was how he could get his hands on the incubator from Design That Matters that was shown in that day’s (Monday’s) General Session.  He wanted to get that into Africa as quickly as possible.  Also mentioned Monday was that MicroWind Technologies, Inc. was looking for funding for their low-cost windmills; Sir Richard gave them a call on Tuesday!

So there you have it!  SolidWorks World 2009 has come to an end…  Be sure and check out my Flickr photostream for all the pictures I took from the conference.  I have pretty complete coverage of the Product Design Showcase from the Partner Pavilion, with pictures of just about every product that was on display and it’s information card.  I hope that in some little way I helped give those that were not able to make it to Orlando some feeling for the excitement and energy that was SolidWorks World 2009!

(Sorry for the delay in posting my Wednesday General Session wrap-up; I had to rest a little, catch up on several things at home and work, and spend some quality time with my family.)

Last edited on 04/14/2009 @ 3:15PM CDT.

TRANSFORMING ROBOT CSWPS

After the video, Jeremy Luchini took the stage and he talked with Yanick Tremblay, Design Manager for Mega Brands.  Yanick quickly walked us through the design process for creating a transforming robot.

Jeremy then talked about the SolidWorks Certified Professional exam and the changes to the program.  The test can now be broken up and taken into one-hour sessions and there are also tools available for managers or whomever to check a users test status:

JON HIRSCHTICK KEYNOTE

Then Jon Hirschtick, co-founder of SolidWorks and the company’s first CEO, took the stage.  Jon had nothing but good things to say about the current management team, going so far as to say that, while taking nothing from previous management teams (including himself), it is the best ever.

He also stressed that he wished for SolidWorks and it’s extended community to continue to change and evolve and move SolidWorks forward.

Jon’s keynote centered around current and future technology trends and customer visits.  He caveated his presentation by stating that he was merely speculating on the future of CAD and that he was not making any kind of new product announcement.

TECH TRENDS

The 4 technology trends he spoke about are as follows:

TOUCH/MOTION UI

Jon talked about the evolution of the touch screen interface.  He pointed to products such as the Apple iPhone, Nintendo Wii, automobile GPS units, and computer peripherals such as Wacom tablets and the 3Dconnexion products.

SolidWorks has also got some research going on with the Microsoft Surface table.  A video  was shown showing the possibilities of using a touch interface with CAD and there was a unit in the Partner Pavilion available to attendees to play with.  Please read my article on this to learn more.

Jon also believes that CAD will become a hardware business again.

ONLINE APPLICATIONS

Jon mentioned that many applications are currently moving “to the cloud” online, such as mail, documents, and banking.  He also pointed to two applications from SolidWorks Labs:  Drawings Now and Blueprint Now.

VIDEO GAME TECHNOLOGIES

The best graphics used to be generated by CAD applications, but now games hold that honor.  SolidWorks has been looking at games and performance and implementing things to help give us great-looking, but light-weight graphics.  Jon mentioned two technologies that is available in SolidWorks, ambient occlusion and PhysX by ageia.

3D PRINTING

Jon talked of the improvements in 3D printing in the last few years and the high rate of adoption.  Both of the customer’s that Jon visited (mentioned below) use 3D printing as critical parts of their design process.

FUTURE CAD SYSTEM?

Jon finished off his talk on technology trends by showing a clip of Iron Man where Tony Stark is designing his suit in a holographic CAD system.  I think that is every designer’s dream!

CUSTOMER VISITS

Jon then showed videos of two customer visits he recently went on, one to New Balance and one at Sony Ericsson.  He encouraged all SolidWorks employees to go on customer visits, as that is one of the best ways to learn how users use the software.

NEW BALANCE

First up was Matt Dunbar, Senior CAD Designer for New Balance.  Matt talked about how they use SolidWorks and 3D printing in their iterative design process for shoe soles.  He said that they run approximately 100 3D prints per month.  Their sole shoe files generally run around 1300 features, but they have had files with as many as 1800 features!  With five widths for each shoe size, that means that they have 176 different size for each style of shoe.  And they have 1000 molds and dies driven off of one SolidWorks part!

SONY ERICSSON

Next, Tom Waldner, Senior Design Manager for Sony Ericsson took the stage.  At Sony Ericsson, they use 3D printing as more of a daily design tool, printing more than 4000 3D models per year.  Tom said that they only perform about two to three hours of engineering design on a new phone design before they 3D print the first simple model prototype to see if they are going down the right path.

PINK SCOOTERS AND SUMO WRESTLERS

Next up was Stephen Endersby, SolidWorks Simulation Product Manager, who kept trying to talk about Simulation.  But every time  he would get started, he would be interrupted by this booming announcer’s voice announcing the Will It Break? game show.  Then, a sumo wrestler walked out on stage, and then…Jeff Ray drove out on a little pink scooter; wearing a pink helmet!

To see if the scooter would break under the load, the sumo wrestler proceeded to sit on the scooter and drive around the stage!  Then Stephen showed how Simulation could be used to test the strength of the frame to verify if it would withstand the load.  The sumo wrestler was once again utilized to perform a drop test; he literally picked the scooter up, shoulder-pressed it, and threw it on the stage.  Then Stephen showed how Simulation could perform the drop test without actually have to destroy something.

SUMMARY

The future of CAD technology looks bright.  You know what they say about how movies can predict the future…  Scientists have actually teleported electrons, so one day I hope that there will exist such a CAD experience as that shown in Iron Man.

Last edited on 02/23/2009 @ 2:51PM CST.

Kirk and his team at SolidWorks wrote the code for the sketcher in 3 weeks.  For the eDrawings implementation, they worked with IdentityMine Inc. and stripped out the eDrawings UI, replacing it with a Surface UI.  The code is written in C# and based on the Microsoft Surface SDK.

This is very exciting to see, and it is easy to visualize the many uses for this technology, such as working collaboratively and design presentation and reviews.

The Microsoft Surface table uses 5 infrared cameras to track user’s fingertips.  The camera array will track up to 100 different contacts.

I jokingly made the comment that now they should investigate extruding out of the table (ala Iron Man), Kirk responded, “We’re just now getting to Minority Report…”  Seriously though, seeing this technology in action, prototype or not, really gets me excited about what the future holds!

At this point, the Surface software is only a research project for SolidWorks.  There are no plans for development or release.  They are simply thinking ahead.

Does this get you as excited about the future of CAD as I am?  What do you think about it?

There were many intriguing designs.  This is the kind of toy that any engineer/geek would love to have on their desk!

There was roast turkey and beef and some buttery mashed potatoes that were the bomb!  A good time was had by all.  Most folks looked like it was Christmas morning trying to build these complicated and intricate roller coaster designs.

Some of the bloggers tried their hands at designing a coaster, but there were several design issues…or maybe it was the alcohol? 

Jeremy Luchini and the whole certification team always does a nice job with this event, and this year was the best yet!  Be sure to check out my Flickr stream for complete pictorial coverage of the CSWP Event, along with images from the rest of the conference.

SolidWorks treated the journalists of the press to a dinner event at The Great Hall of China in Disney’s Epcot China Courtyard.  It was a beautiful setting and the weather was perfect!

During the opening comments, Jeff Ray announced that there were over 150 journalists attending SolidWorks World 2009; the most ever at the event.  He also recognized the journalists who had traveled the farthest to the event, including one from Australia.

Jeff also mentioned a few interesting tidbits regarding Sir Richard Branson.  Sir Richard almost NEVER accepts speaking engagements for personal reasons, so it was a real honor to have him agree to speak today.

After the morning’s General Session, they moved Sir Richard over to the Swan hotel for the press conference.  It was quite a walk (approximately 15 minutes with the crowd), but they drove Sir Richard over in a car.  Sir Richard is quite a busy individual, and was slated to be in Boston (I believe) tonight.

So one would expect such an individual to be on the phone making big-money deals and such, but instead, Sir Richard was only concerned with 2 things (as I mentioned in my earlier post):

1. Why are there so few women engineers/designers, and
2. How he could get his hands on the incubator for use in Africa immediately.

Several SolidWorks folks asked me how I enjoyed the presentation today, and I had to reply that it was one of my favorites (along with seeing Woz in New Orleans in 2007).  It was very inspirational!

Unfortunately (for us), there is SO MUCH to do at SolidWorks World.  The bloggers are SolidWorks users first, and we are all Certified SolidWorks Professionals (CSWP).  We all wanted to be able to attend the CSWP event too, so Nancy worked it out so that we could leave the press dinner early and catch the end of the CSWP event.  Unfortunately, the dinner started a little late, and we had to leave to catch our bus during the middle of Jeff Ray’s talk.  I hope he understands…

I will have another post soon on the CSWP event, so be sure to check back!

The first General Session of SolidWorks World 2009 began with an impressive 3D rendered animation of the Mega Brands Inc. iCoaster.  Then, SolidWorks CEO Jeff Ray took the stage.

A SURPRISE FOR SOLIDWORKS

The first order of business was to announce the number of attendees.  Jeff mentioned that in the current state of the economy right now, their expectations for attendance was around 3000; as of this morning, they had 4313 registered attendees!  (Maybe that’s why I didn’t get any hot food items for breakfast this morning…)

He specifically mentioned two guys who made the trip on their own:

• Rod Hall, a SolidWorks User Group Leader from North Carolina, was recently laid off in the past few weeks, but made the trip on his own; and
• Joe Lance, who has been a religious attendee of SolidWorks World in years past, whose company this year told him that they could not get him here.  He decided to pay his own way and take vacation to attend SolidWorks World.

I suspect that there are many more who may be in the same predicament, but made the choice and sacrifice to attend.  The networking and knowledge gained makes attending SolidWorks World worthwhile, even in our sluggish and faltering economy.

Jeff also mentioned that Dassault Systèmes (DSS) has a big presence at the conference this year, with several booths for 3DVia and their other products.

THE FUTURE OF SOLIDWORKS

Jeff mentioned three core things that SolidWorks is working on for the future:

1. Installs – The current installation procedure is complicated and discourages new users.
2. Upgrades – The current upgrade process disrupts design; he wants to “obliterate the upgrade process”.
3. Managing Design Data – Make finding data across the enterprise and beyond as simple as possible.

Jeff also showed a report card, rating themselves on 3 criteria: customer service, performance, and user experience.  As can be seen in the image to the left, they still have some work to do! 

But seriously, he reported that overall customer service satisfaction improved 91%, and the very satisfied rating improved to 43%.  The Customer Portal received 1.2M visits and 10M hits.

Performance in SolidWorks 2009 is REPORTEDLY 65% faster than in previous versions, resulting in an 8X time savings.  I haven’t ran any tests personally, but 2009 definitely feels faster.  I do know that one NASWUG user ran a test creating a 3-view drawing of a large assembly consisting of 4942 parts, and the results were 3min 30sec in SW2008 vs. 45 sec in SW2009.  If did my math right, that’s almost 80% faster…

Jeff then talked about Brainstorm, SolidWorks’ new “Top Ten List” (accessible through the Customer Portal).  This site will allow community votes throughout the year and makes the top ten list transparent to users, as you can see the ratings for each suggestion.

RECESSION & SPAM

After this, Jeff mentioned that although things may look bleak, we should remember that many important things were developed or invented during the Great Depression:  nylon (first synthetic fiber), the car radio, and Spam.

Jeff then mentioned several companies that were currently developing technologies that are making a difference in the world today:

• MicroWind Technologies, LLC, a very small windmill that can generate 3kW of power and has a payoff in 3 years; compare that to the big, modern windmills you currently see today – no one wants them in their backyard, and they are very expensive.
• Regenerative Technologies Inc., a company involved in processing human tissue for allogenic grafts used in orthopedic, oral maxillofacial, urinary and cardiovascular surgeries.
• Trojan UV Technologies, a company utilizing ultraviolet light technology to purify drinking water in countries that have poor-quality water. 
• Design That Matters (DTM), a nonprofit organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts that help design an incubator for babies that is made from recycled car parts, runs on electricity or a motorcycle battery, and only has one moving part – the switch.  This enables communities to be able to repair the incubators with materials that can be easily found.  The price point for these incubators is approximately $1000.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER, SIR RICHARD BRANSON

Then, keynote speaker (or interviewee, as the case may be), Sir Richard Branson of the Virgin Group and Virgin Galactic joined Jeff on stage for a interview, which included several questions taken in advance from bloggers/Twitter users.

After the introduction, Jeff had Sir Richard Branson sign his LP copy of Tubular Bells.

Jeff asked Sir Richard what led him to create Virgin Airlines, and his response was that he was dissatisfied with the current airlines, from the seating, lighting, decor, food, and the way they treated people “like cattle”.  Sir Richard told a very funny story about when he first called up Boeing to order his first 747.  They asked him what company was he with and he responded, “Virgin.”  He expected them to just hang up, but instead, they said, “…with a name like Virgin, will the airline go all the way?”

He mentioned some of the racy ads that Virgin had run against British Airways, including flying a plane over B.A. with a sign saying, “B.A. Can’t Get It Up”.  He also told of a Sun story with the headline, “Virgin Screws B.A.”

He said for companies to get ahead and succeed, they need to have the courage to stop doing something, meaning sometimes you have to step back and see if things need to be changed.

Jason Klein asked the question, “‘Irreverence’ and ‘Sex Appeal’ are important to the Virgin brand… 1. How have you tailored these traits to different cultures, and 2. What’s your rule of thumb to prevent going over the line?”  Sir Richard responded simply by saying that if it makes people smile or laugh, then it’s ok.

Jeff said that SolidWorks pays the keynote speakers a fee, but that Sir Richard was adamant that his fee will go to his cause, The Elders.

The interview then turned to Sir Richard’s newest business, Virgin Galactic.  Sir Richard said that Space Ship 2 and it’s Mothership were currently being constructed.  He likened the state of space travel today to trans-Atlantic travel in the 1920′s, and hopes that people will be traveling to Mars and beyond within the next 30 years.

Jeff asked if he had any advice to companies during this recession.  Sir Richard said that if a company was looking at layoffs, that they should sit down with their workforce and try to explore alternatives, such as job sharing or working part-time, in order to avoid laying off anyone.

In the press conference immediately following the General Session, one of the things Sir Richard said that really stuck in my head was that as he looked out over the crowd this morning, he saw an “alarming lack of women”.  He said that companies should try to recruit more women into engineering and design, as women bring a different approach and product set to the table and that will expand a company’s engineering and product development into many other areas.

SUMMARY

Sir Richard left us with the thought that designers not only have the power to create things and make more money, but that by that power, we can make an impact and save the world.

I must say this was one of the most interesting General Sessions I have attended at SolidWorks World.  This was a great start to the conference and from the folks I have talked to and overheard, this keynote has pumped people up!

Updated 02/10/2009

I have heard rumors that the attendance is down slightly this year, but that is expected given the state of the economy right now.  But there is definitely a big crowd here!  We should hear actual numbers tomorrow at the First General Session.

Speaking of tomorrow’s General Session, I am very much looking forward to it!  Jeff Ray will be interviewing Sir Richard Branson of the Virgin Group live on stage!

Well, I hear tell that there are some Blackjack lessons of some sort going on somewhere here in the Dolphin hotel with one of the original players from the MIT Blackjack Team depicted in the movie 21…  So I am off to see if I can learn a thing or two!

(last edited 2/9/09)