Back in early December, I reported that SolidWorks Labs had unveiled Treehouse, an app that lets you set up a file hierarchy for new assemblies using your templates.  But based on the comments to my article and the responses I saw on Twitter and the app page itself, users were hoping for more functionality, such as opening and modifying existing assembly structures or inserting existing parts or assemblies.
While at SolidWorks World 2009 in Orlando earlier this month, I was able to meet William Doll, Director of SolidWorks Labs.  I …

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 …

Tuesday’s General Session opened up with Fielder Hiss taking the stage.  I missed a little of the opening comments, as I had left my camera battery up in my room.  When I returned, there was an awesome Neo Shifters video playing.  Everyone who attended the CSWP Event Monday night got a Neo Shifters set.
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 …

SolidWorks is investigating the future of technology and the CAD interface.  In the Partner Pavilion, they have a Microsoft Surface table set up with a basic 2D sketcher and eDrawings running on it.  I spent a little time this afternoon playing around on it and talking to Kirk Haller, Director of Research at SolidWorks.
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 …

Monday night is the night of the CSWP event.  All those users who are certified are eligible to attend.  This year’s event was held at Disney’s Sorcerer’s Apprentice at Fantasia Gardens.  The event this year was sponsored by Mega Brands, who provided all the iCoaster sets for the contest of the night.

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 …

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 …

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 …

Well, the day’s festivities are coming to an end.  The reception at the Partner Pavilion was packed, and there was lots of great food and drink there!  Josh already has lots of great photos from the Partner Pavilion up.
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 …