What happens when you pit a 400-pound sumo wrestler against a little pink scooter?  Well, SolidWorks has a pretty funny interactive demo that allows you to see!  This is a recreation of the Simulation skit with the infamous pink scooter and the Sumo wrestler from the Tuesday General Session at SolidWorks World 2009.  There is actually more to see on this page than what they did on stage.

See how the scooter handles the real-world stress, drop, motion, and airflow tests (after all, it IS entirely within the realm of possiblity that a 400-pound Sumo wrestler will want to “borrow” your little pink scooter to ride around the block).  Also, see how you can save time and money by using the full gamut of SolidWorks Simulation tools to simulate the real world cases on your computer, thereby protecting your precious pink scooter from any sumo-inflicted damages.

The only thing missing is Jeff Ray and his pink helmet!

The free sheet metal certification exam offer ends this coming Tuesday, September 30.  The code to get the free exam was originally emailed out to all Certified SolidWorks Professionals (CSWP’s), but it was also posted in the last (September 23) issue of SolidWorks Express (under NEWS and EVENTS).

Don’t think you have what it takes?  Work through the tutorials and take the sample exam.  I don’t really do much sheet metal, a part here or there, but I ran through the sample exam before taking the exam, and I just passed it!

I had to go to the Help a couple of times and experiment a little, but you get two hours to complete the test, and there is an extra credit problem worth a few extra points.  You need to get at least 75% correct to pass.

My advice for taking this exam (as well as any of the other certifications)?  READ THE DIRECTIONS, AND THEN READ THEM AGAIN!  Double-check all your dimensions, and don’t make assumptions.  Most of the electronic exam questions build on the previous ones, so if you make a mistake early on, you are pretty much hosed.

So, what are you waiting for?  You have nothing to lose…what the heck, it’s free (as long as you sign up by Tuesday!).

Rob Rodriguez has posted an excellent interview with Kamesh Pemmaraju, VP of Quality Engineering for SolidWorks.  They discuss the steps SolidWorks takes in getting a new release ready for public release.

They also talk about the "Technology Adoption Lifecycle", and how that drives how new technology and software is adopted.

It’s a very interesting read!  If you are an administrator or power user, I highly recommend it, as it will really give you some insight on the SolidWorks development process.