During SolidWorks World 2011, I sat down with Asheen Phansey, Sustainability Product Manager of SolidWorks, to find out a bit more about him and what drives him. I’ve enjoyed giving Asheen a hard time about being a tree hugger, among other things, but all of it in jest. For one, I think sustainability is important. Two, the passion that Asheen has for his job, and how it can help make the world a better place, is incredible. About the only thing that makes him even more lively is when he talks about his new-born son.
First off, Asheen is a smart guy. His undergrad is in Chemical Engineering and he spent much of his time in bio-tech, with some time in Aerospace and Software. He came to the realization that while he really enjoyed hi-tech, his values were in sustainability. Having seen all the steps from R&D, through manufacturing and out to market, he wondered about making each of those steps more sustainable. He went back to school, got his MBA and opened his own consultancy business. It’s this sustainability “street cred” that attracted SolidWorks to Asheen. Even though he lacked the CAD background, he is the ultimate sustainability evangelist. With 400,000 commercial customers available, Asheen has his work cut out for him in bringing sustainability to all. They (should have asked for clarification on who ‘they’ are, but I’m a lousy journalist) did some calculations and figured out there are 1,000,000,000 physical objects that are designed (in SolidWorks), manufactured and sold each year. He figures if there was a 5% energy reduction across the board, that would be enough to take a power plant offline. It’s these kind of things that gets him excited.
Delving further into the murkiness that is Asheen’s mind, I discovered that he is an Eagle Scout and it is in his scouting days that his sustainability addiction is rooted. All the nights spent under the stars gave him a love of nature and the want to keep it around. He also sees sustainability as a business advantage, which isn’t hard to understand. With so many people (read: consumers) trying to do their part to help the environment, businesses that can advertise that they’re shrinking their carbon footprint can help increase their bottom line.
It was at this point in our conversation that I had to ask Asheen to give me an overview of Sustainability in SolidWorks, as I haven’t really looked at it. He calmly explained where the data came from and how it was used. He also explained that SolidWorks’ philosophy was that designers wouldn’t want to go elsewhere for the info, it had to be seamlessly integrated. By filling in a few parameters in the Sustainability Dashboard, you can find out the carbon footprint of your design, lifecycle energy, etc, and will then automatically update as you change your design. It will also help you to find alternate, more green, materials. Ones that have the same properties as what you need/want, but that won’t have as much of a negative impact on the environment.
While no one industry appears to be leaning more towards sustainability than another, he has seen more of the companies at the end of the value chain moving towards it. Those companies are the ones that are feeling the consumer pressure to be more environmentally aware. Suppliers of those companies are starting to feel the pressure as well. Wal-Mart actually scores their suppliers and gives the high scorers preferred vendor status. McDonald’s, IBM and P&G were also mentioned.
Asheen loves what he does. His passion for sustainability is almost palpable. Once you get him started on the subject, he’ll talk forever. This, in my opinion, is an excellent quality in a product manager and can only lead to success for SolidWorks Sustainability. He has me convinced, now I just need to convince the powers-that-be.
Last two thoughts: I need to stop interjecting my little sidebars into conversations; I end up sounding foolish. I don’t like the sound of my own voice.
Photo stolen from the SolidWorks Blog.
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