Mitch Bossart, Industry Writer for GoEngineer Mitch is a professional writer for GoEngineer, a company that provides SOLIDWORKS, Stratasys 3D printing, and other best-in-class engineering and manufacturing solutions. Mitch is a technology enthusiast, and he loves writing about people and companies that are shaping our world. You will find Mitch at various coffee shops throughout the Minneapolis/St. Paul area--writing, socializing, or dreaming about the next great American screenplay. « Less
Mitch Bossart, Industry Writer for GoEngineer Mitch is a professional writer for GoEngineer, a company that provides SOLIDWORKS, Stratasys 3D printing, and other best-in-class engineering and manufacturing solutions. Mitch is a technology enthusiast, and he loves writing about people and companies that are shaping our world. You will find … More »
May 23rd, 2018 by Mitch Bossart, Industry Writer for GoEngineer
GoEngineer sponsors the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) in competing against international university teams.
The Formula SAE® Series competitions provide opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to conceive, design, fabricate, and develop short-wheelbase formula-style vehicles. The challenge is to develop a vehicle that can successfully compete in all the events described within the 175-page FSAE rules document. All teams entering the competition must meet strict requirements pertaining to performance and driver safety.
For example, failure during a technical inspection means a team is not allowed to operate their vehicle under power, which means they can’t compete against other teams in the dynamic events.
The Rigors of Product Development
“This is the real deal,” says Dave Schaller, Education Manager at GoEngineer. “Formula SAE pulls no punches. University students get to experience the rigors of product development—the successes and failures.” Requirements include vehicle configuration, driver’s cell, minimum material requirements, main and front roll hoops, bracing, safety equipment, fasteners, and much more.
However, there are few restrictions on overall vehicle design, so students can express their ingenuity and take innovative approaches to vehicle design. The competition provides an opportunity to demonstrate engineering know-how among similar peers from around the globe.
GoEngineer Continues Its Legacy of Supporting Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math
GoEngineer is stepping up again to encourage the involvement of girls and women in STEM careers by supporting the Female Researchers Chapter (FRC) of the International Association of Computational Mathematics (IACM), which aims to promote gender balance in STEM-related careers. “I have daughters in school right now that I would love to see them more involved in science and engineering activities,” says Brad Hansen, president of GoEngineer.
The chapter chair and founder is Professor H Alicia Kim, Professor of Structural and Material Optimization at the University of California San Diego. She leads the group with a number of other committee members. “In computational mechanics, women tend to be the minority,” says Kim. “Our goal is to promote gender balance and provide a supportive network for female researchers.” The FRC chapter started about two years ago as a networking group within the IACM. There are currently about 100 members who attend various international events.
Increase Efficiency & Productivity with SOLIDWORKS PDM
SOLIDWORKS PDM was designed to help users be more efficient and more productive in their day to day work. To help achieve this goal, SOLIDWORKS PDM was created to look and work the same as any regular Windows folder. What’s extra are the features added in to enhance the user’s capabilities.
Accessing a PDM vault is as simple as clicking on the PDM folder icon. This action opens up a standard Windows Explorer window; upgraded to provide extra PDM features and capabilities. File functions, such as copy/paste and drag n’ drop work in the same familiar way as for any average Windows folder. This allows SOLIDWORKS PDM to look and feel just like the Windows environment you’re already used to. The goal? To make it easier to learn and more convenient to work with.
Happy New Year! Last year, we hosted design engineering webinars produced by GoEngineer. If your goal is to learn more and grow in your design role, check out our top 10 most viewed engineering webinars to get a jump-start on your goals!
1. SOLIDWORKS 101 – Best Practices For Creating Your First Part
Learn best practices on basic fundamentals of sketching and creating your part in SOLIDWORKS.
November 27th, 2017 by Amee Meghani, Applications Engineer
SOLIDWORKS 2018 Enhancements
Every year, SOLIDWORKS releases a 200+ page document with all of the enhancements for the new release. If you’ve been to one of GoEngineer’s 20+ Launch events, we are JUST SCRATCHING THE SURFACE on all that SOLIDWORKS has to offer that’s new!
I have a favorite, what about you?
So one of my favorites? SOLIDWORKS CAM! I’m not even a machine shop kinda girl. But 2.5 axis CAM is included in EVERY SEAT OF SOLIDWORKS. CAM you believe it? (Aren’t I sooooo hilarious?)
I’m just so impressed with what this tool can do for zero added cost. Just stay on active subscription to get this feature. For turning capabilities, ask about CAM Professional.
3D printing solution makes it all possible – one step at a time
Imagine an automated way to feed your pets. Think of the time you’d save. Think of the hassles you’d eliminate. My kitties need to be feed twice daily, so I set out to make the process easier using both CAD and 3D printing.
For the manual method of food delivery to my cats, I have to measure out 1/3 cup of kitty kibbles with a measuring scoop and then deliver the food into each respective dish.
I have two cats, so I have to do this for each bowl, twice a day.
It would be easier just to turn a handle, and in a matter of seconds, deliver the proper amount of food to each kitty at the same time – at least, that’s what I hoped.
Are you a new SOLIDWORKS user and looking for best practices to get started? We’ve done the heavy lifting for you and created a series of videos to help you along the way. In the video series below, we will cover tips & tricks and best practices. You will find that this information will help reduce design time, increase efficiency and keep frustration low.
Part 1: Getting Started
In this video, you will learn the basics of SOLIDWORKS. The topics covered will include sketching, sketched features, applied features, modes, and more. Enjoy!
It might be the most commonly asked question during my years at GoEngineer, and it was easily my least favorite question to answer. “Do you print in metal?”
It may surprise you to learn, but having to answer “no,” or more commonly “not yet,” isn’t actually why I disliked that particular question. Over time I’ve become adept at fielding the question in ways that kept their interest and channeled their excitement toward tangible options.
It wasn’t saying “no” that killed me, it was admitting that what they wanted didn’t yet exist.
Our users didn’t just want metal printing technology – they wanted metal printing that was as simple, affordable, safe, and easy to use as plastic printing. But it simply wasn’t available.
And then along came Desktop Metal…
If you haven’t heard by now, Desktop Metal is a 3D printing startup based in Burlington, Ma. The company formed in 2015. They have spent the last two years in quiet development of their hardware and software. And, they managed to draw about $97 million in funding from Google, BMW, Lowe’s, and Stratasys to name just a few of their high-profile investors. Read the rest of Do You Print in Metal?
In Flow Simulation, a vortex is a region in the fluid domain which causes a swirl in a region where there is asymmetric drag in the flow field. The vortex itself is an expected phenomenon which itself is not problematic. When that vortex is allowed to generate across a theoretical boundary within a CFD analysis that can cause the results to deviate from reality in the immediate vicinity of the boundary or also cause the solver to fail to produce results at all. For that reason, it is important to note where this is happening in an analysis and take steps to avoid it.
How can this be fixed?
The vortex itself is generating because of the local solid geometry near the pressure boundary of a CFD setup. If the flow through the boundary is not symmetric, a low-pressure region can generate in front of the boundary allowing fluid to pass the wrong direction through the boundary as intended. The fix for this is to “build out” the model geometry. What does this mean? The solid model needs to have more real life geometry added to the setup so the flow field can be allowed to have the vortex and then transition into a unidirectional flow.
Solution 1: Add Geometry
An example of a vortex across a boundary would be directly from the first Flow Simulation tutorial in SOLIDWORKS.
(The tutorials can be found under ‘Help’, ‘SOLIDWORKS Simulation’, ‘Flow Simulation Online Tutorial’ once the Flow Simulation add-in is turned on). The ball valve, as it is setup in the tutorial, has two lids that are positioned closely to the ball of the valve. In situations where the ball valve is not set completely open the flow through the valve is forced to be asymmetric as it passes through the pressure outlet.
March 29th, 2017 by Mitch Bossart, Industry Writer for GoEngineer
Human beings seem helplessly attracted to moving pictures and light, the closest example being the smartphone in your pocket. But also think about television, movie theaters, and even concert light shows — all examples of our moth-like fascination with light.
Painting with Light
“Video mapping is becoming the largest part of my business,” says Tim Burnham, president of Tempest, the world’s premier manufacturer of specialist outdoor enclosures for digital projectors and conventional and moving lighting instruments. Video mapping essentially “paints” a building with video and light, usually from multiple projectors at multiple angles.
Figure 1: Tempest products in action – twelve Cyclone enclosures along the Atlantic City Boardwalk survived Hurricane Sandy without a scratch.
I have a favorite, what about you?
And then along came Desktop Metal…
