SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 375 - February Tech News & SWW12 Rundown

February Tech News & SWW12 Rundown:

This podcast covers the SolidWorks and CAD-related tech news that broke since mid-January covering the SolidWorks Blog, various tech alerts and a recap of SolidWorks World 2012. Topics covered:

SolidWorks Blog:

- Dassault Systemes acquires Netvibes

- Many posts on SolidWorks World 2012 

Tech Alerts:

- 3DVIA Composer V62012x is available for download

- SolidWorks 2012 SP2 is available for download

- Toolbox 2012 Upgrade Instructions when managed in EPDM (S-058099)

- SolidWorks Enterprise PDM 2012 SP2 is available for download

- Important fix (part of SW2012 SP2) for missing entities in part/assembly FeatureManager (S-058181)

SolidWorks World 2012 Roundup:

- Day 1:

- Kickoff by Bertrand Sicot

- Speaker:  Mike Rowe, Dirty Jobs -  "Engineers are the space between white and blue color"

- Bernard Charles interviews Maia Hoeberechts from Project Neptune, digital underwater observatory

-  Speaker: Tony Fadell, CEO of nest - "We don't crowd source the start of a design, we use it to fine tune. In design we trust our GUT!"

- CSWP Event at the Midway

- Day 2:

- Fielder Hiss announces the CSWP event will now be the CSWE event

- Richard Doyle announces the SWUGN awards

- Speaker: Geoff & Mike Howe, Howe & Howe - "If we shake on a program, it gets done or we die!"

- Fielder announces Beta Contest Winners

- Speaker: Ben Kaufman, CEO of Quirky - "Invention is a reflex, we are born with it!"

- Day 3:

- Fielder Hiss thanks Dell for their Platium Sponsorship

- Mark Schneider announces Model Mania Contest winners

- Fielder talks about the Green Design Contest winner, Russell Donovan

- Marie Planchard talks about the 1.25M EDU seats and the 2.5M experienced students per year

- Marie interviews Bruno Maisonnier, CEO of Aldebaran Robotics, makers of the NAO robot

- Top 10 List

- "Back to the Feature" - Skit to reveal SolidWorks 2013 sneak peek

- Bertrand Sicot announces SWW13 - Swan & Dolphin Hotel, Walt Disney Resort, Orlando, Florida January 20-23, 2013

Wow what a week! This year was my 11th SolidWorks World in a row and the great speakers, awesome breakouts and perfect venue made SWW12 a very successful event. This year I found myself struggling to pick breakout sessions since there were so many that I wanted to go on that were at the same time!  This happens a lot but it allows you to leave one that is not going well and still catch another one in process to make up for it.

Overall the week was filled with great speakers, although it is pretty hard to beat last year's keynote by the Apollo 13 guys but I think this was a good runner-up! I thought the topics inspired design and engineering and the events and conference location were one of the best I can remember.  Although only a mention of the elusive "SolidWorks V6" did not take the stage this year, it was commented to be shown in the summer of 2013, per Bertrand Sicot on Day 1.

Since the tech news show and the culmination of SolidWorks World hit on the same weekend, this cast is a bit longer but I wanted to combine the two since they are related.  

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD!