SolidProfessor is an online learning platform that is included in enhanced subscriptions with TriMech. While there’s no substitute for working with our instructors in an in-person or digital classroom, there are plenty of topics that have excellent high-level overviews on SolidProfessor. There are even training paths for engineering fundamentals outside of SOLIDWORKS that can serve as beneficial refreshers when your new project has you searching your old notes. Where are some great places to start? Here are some courses that I’ve been catching up on in my spare time:
Inside the Design
Inside the Design is a series that examines complex or unique SOLIDWORKS models to provide practical guidance on the techniques required to model or make them in the real world. Whether it’s a high-level look at a design for blow molding or understanding the mate structure to create a Wankel Engine Assembly, you can find it in this course. This is a sort of “How It’s Made” but for CAD, and I think it is well worth your spare time if you’re looking to pick up new design strategies. Better yet, lessons include both 3D models of the parts/assemblies and reference guides that will inform you how to make your own version of the file as practice.
Brodie Neill’s Cowrie Chair downloaded from Inside the Design on SolidProfessor
Surfacing for Industrial Design
Surfacing is one of the most common tools industrial designers use in SOLIDWORKS. This nearly five-hour course dives deeply into not just surface creation, but the evaluation tools that many designers need to know in order to confirm that all those sweeps, lofts, and boundaries meet the required curvature constraints for the forms you’re making. This course not only goes over the theory of creating splines with curvature continuity in mind but also has practical examples for you to complete at your own pace.
Design for Manufacturing
SolidProfessor’s courses on design fundamentals. particularly their courses on DFM, are good refreshers for veterans or entry points for onboarding interns who may be designing parts that will be fabricated for the first time. Beyond the introduction course, you can take a design for machining course and a design for additive manufacturing course. Both of these courses also provide certifications through SolidProfessor and help you to understand how to optimize your design for those downstream processes of manufacturing and assembly.
Live Sessions
The SolidProfessor library also has a section called “Live Sessions” which are archived recordings of events they have hosted. This is basically a series of archived webinars with topics ranging to best practices for businesses and building training curriculums for onboarding to optimizing sheet metal designs and creating quick animations in Visualize Pro. If you’re looking for on-demand lunch and learn content, this is a great place to look. As another benefit included in your subscription, you can also reach out to us for a Client Care Visit (CCV) for a “lunch and learn” on topics your team is interested in learning more about. Learn more about what else is included in your subscription benefits.
