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What's new in Creo Parametric 11.0?

Creo Parametric 11.0 is packed with productivity-enhancing updates, and sometimes the smallest changes make the biggest impact in your daily workflows. Mark Potrzebowski, Technical Training Engineer, Rand 3D, runs through the newest functionality -- from improved surface modeling tools to smarter file management and model tree navigation. Videos provide extra instruction.
Read the full article.

SOLIDWORKS 2025: Sheet metal design top features from an expert

Find out what's new in SOLIDWORKS 2025 when it comes to sheet metal and weldments, and learn some valuable tips and tricks along the way from TriMech. Topics covered include copying cut list properties, bend notches, tab and slot enhancements, groove beads (a new type of weld bead), performance enhancements, and more. When you're done, check out TriMech's full YouTube channel filled with educational material.
View the video.

Tech Tip: How to create high-quality STL files for 3D prints

Have you ever 3D printed a part that had flat spots or faceted surfaces where smooth curves were supposed to be? You are not alone, and it's not your 3D printer's fault. According to Markforged, the culprit is likely a lack of resolution in the STL file used to create the part.
Read this detailed and informative Markforged blog.

Can SOLIDWORKS run on a Mac in 2025?

According to SOLIDWORKS experts at TriMech, there's good news and bad news when it comes to the possibility of running the popular product development solution on a Mac. This video covers the possibilities and the limitations, including tweaks that may be helpful. Check out TriMech's full YouTube channel for tons of helpful tips.
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Supercar of the skies: Autodesk Alias design

Learn how Hill Helicopter is using Autodesk Alias to design the innovative HX50, the "supercar of the skies." The next-gen, private copter marries high-end automotive and aero design and materials to create a futuristic flying five-seat SUV for a discriminating clientele. A neat insider look.
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What's new in MATLAB and Simulink?

Release 2024b from MathWorks offers hundreds of new and updated features and functions in MATLAB and Simulink including several major updates -- including 5G Toolbox, Simulink Control Design, System Composer, and more -- that streamline the workflows of engineers and researchers working on wireless communications systems, control systems, and digital signal processing applications.
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SOLIDWORKS catch up: What's new in Assemblies?

The last couple of major releases of SOLIDWORKS each introduced significant new Assembly modeling features and workflows. Want to know what's new? Catch up on what you might have missed out on since your last upgrade -- and get a first look at highlights from the upcoming SOLIDWORKS 2025. Some very useful changes!
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SOLIDWORKS Tips: 3 easy ways to focus on your model

SOLIDWORKS Elite Applications Engineer Alin Vargatu demonstrates his top tips for focusing on your model: finding planes the easy way inside your assembly with the Q key, breadcrumbs, and a better way to use the component preview window. Very helpful. Lots more tips on the SOLIDWORKS YouTube channel.
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3D model sharing at Brother Industries cuts rework

When Brother Industries, maker of printers, computers, and computer-related electronics, deployed Lattice Technology's XVL Player as a viewer for sharing 3D models throughout the processes of product design, parts design, mold design, mold production, and QA of molded parts, they reduced rework significantly -- especially from downstream departments. XVL Studio with its Difference Check Option helped address the rework in mold design, for example, by always keeping everyone informed of design changes.
Read this real-world case study.

SOLIDWORKS: FeatureManager tips for assemblies

Discover tools to make your SOLIDWORKS assembly Feature-Manager design tree display easier to view and use. Learn options to limit the amount of information in each component listing, combine multiple instances of a component into a single listing, and separate fasteners mates into a new folder. Lots more tips on the SOLIDWORKS YouTube channel.
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Measurement shortcut in SOLIDWORKS

Unlock the full potential of the Measure tool in SOLIDWORKS. Franco Rotoli from SOLIDWORKS reviews how to obtain measurements for edges, faces, vertices, and more quickly -- with just a click. Users can also access edge lengths instantly and calculate angles between edges or faces effortlessly. There's a unit conversion shortcut too.
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hyperMILL 2024 CAD/CAM software suite

OPEN MIND Technologies has introduced its latest hyperMILL 2024 CAD/CAM software suite, which includes a range of powerful enhancements to its core toolpath capabilities, as well as new functionality for increased NC programming efficiency in applications ranging from 2.5D machining to 5-axis milling. New and enhanced capabilities include: Optimized Deep Hole Drilling, a new algorithm for 3- and 5-axis Rest Machining, an enhanced path layout for the 3D Plane Machining cycle, better error detection, and much more.
Learn more.

Find test data issues faster: AI Anomaly Detector

It can take months of manual engineering time to detect test data abnormalities. Now the task can be performed in a flash. Artificial intelligence software provider Monolith has developed the industry's first AI-powered Anomaly Detector software that can discover a broad range of issues in test data fast -- measurement or sensor errors, user errors, system malfunctions, or incorrect usage of the system during testing. It does this by automating the process of raw test data inspection to look for potential errors or abnormalities across hundreds of test channels.
Learn more.

Loss-free conversion of 3D/CAD data

CT CoreTech-nologie has further developed its state-of-the-art CAD converter 3D_Evolution and is now introducing native interfaces for reading Solidedge and writing Nx and Solidworks files. It supports a wide range of formats such as Catia, Nx, Creo, Solidworks, Solidedge, Inventor, Step, and Jt, facilitating smooth interoperability between different systems and collaboration for engineers and designers in development environments with different CAD systems.
Learn more.

Top 5 reasons for solder joint failure

Solder joint reliability is often a pain point in the design of an electronic system. According to Tyler Ferris at ANSYS, a wide variety of factors affect joint reliability, and any one of them can drastically reduce joint lifetime. Properly identifying and mitigating potential causes during the design and manufacturing process can prevent costly and difficult-to-solve problems later in a product lifecycle.
Read this informative ANSYS blog.

Daimler completes worldwide CAD software migration project to Siemens NX

German multinational automotive juggernaut Daimler has officially made the switch to Siemens NX CAD software. The large-scale project, known internally as PLM2015, had company engineers worldwide moving away from their CATIA V5 design software, which had been used for many years, to Siemens NX.

Reasons given for the switch were the improvement of efficiency and sustainability -- and the desire to integrate the product data management software currently used by Daimler, which forms the IT framework for all the development and product planning processes, with the CAD system.

Dr. Michael Gorriz, CIO Daimler, called the move "our biggest IT migration project in recent decades" and hailed company employees for sticking to the planned schedule.

"The introduction of the new design and product data software not only means that we are well prepared for the future," said Gorriz. "We have also taken the opportunity to bring our engineering processes in line with the highest standards in the automotive industry."

Since 2012, more than 6,200 users throughout the company have received training on the Siemens NX product line. Some 33 role-based training modules were made available in German and English, and special courses were offered in Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, and Turkish.

In peak periods, over 300 employees from the research and development office in Bangalore, India, were working on the migration of data from CATIA V5 to NX. In total, more than 235,000 CAD objects were migrated to the new software.

All relevant suppliers either already use Siemens NX or have switched to Siemens NX in response to the software migration at Daimler. Close communication with all the relevant suppliers has safeguarded this important point in the supply chain.

Daimler and Siemens will continue to work together closely on the further development of NX.

Source: Daimler

Published May 2015

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