Jeff's Tool Shed

18 Minutes with Bertrand Sicot

As all of you, my loyal readers, know, I went home to the Boston area back in August. As has become my habit, I arranged a visit to SolidWorks with the hope of interviewing some of the employees, as well as getting a glimpse of 2012. How surprised was I when Kristen informed me that …

SolidWorks 2012 – My Favorites

When I ventured back to Boston on vacation a couple of weeks ago, I made my annual pilgrimage to SolidWorks headquarters in Concord, Mass. I’d gone with the hope of meeting up with a few friends and doing a few interviews. However, Kristen Wilson, PR Manager for SolidWorks, managed to wrangle me a two-hour preview …

A Visit to Z Corporation

This past Friday, I spent the day at Z Corporation and SolidWorks. It was my first time actually visiting Z Corp, and I was excited for it. So much so, that I got my days messed up and actually went down Thursday. Sucks getting old…Anyway, Julie Reece, Z Corp’s Director or Marketing Communication, was kind …

Deelip Menezes – Goa’s CAD Cop

Deelip Menezes, of deelip.com, started out as an Mechanical/software engineer who wanted to use his domain name for good. Unfortunately, he fell a bit short of his goal… I kid, of course. Deelip’s blog is widely read and he is a well respected member of the CAD blogging community. How did he get to this …

SolidWorks 2011 – A Training Manual

A couple of months ago I got the opportunity to review a new SolidWorks training manual. This one is called “Beginning to Advanced SolidWorks 2011 Modeling, Assemblies and Drafting from Machined Parts to Blobjects”. Quite the mouthful. It’s put out by Design Visionaries, a group of highly intelligent engineers who are involved with a ton …

Joy Garon – She’ll learn ya a thing or two

If you were to close your eyes and imagine what the stereotypical New Englander sounds like, there's a good chance you'd hear a voice similar to Joy Garon's.

Design Green, go to Belize

SolidWorks wants to send one lucky award winner to Chaa Creek Resort in Belize. All you have to do is redesign a chair. Ready? Go! Ok, so it’s not quite that simple. First, there are rules for this contest. Next, there are three separate categories for SolidWorks commercial designers, Students and resellers. Each one has …

Richard Doyle – The Man Behind the (SWUGN) Curtain

You know him, you love him, you wish he’d retire so you could have a shot at his job. SolidWorks’ own Richard Doyle is my latest interview victim. For the one or two of you who don’t know who Richard is, allow me to enlighten you. Richard’s official title is User Community Manager. I hardly …

Al Dean – Develop3D’s Master Scribe

It wasn’t until I joined Twitter in July of ’08 that I first became aware of Alistar Dean. How this was even possible is beyond me. Al is one of those people who, upon meeting him for the first time, you know you will never forget. If asked to describe him, I would say he’s …

Matthew West – SolidWorks’ Social Guru

Upon first glance, Matt West comes across as a quiet, unassuming guy. Perhaps even a bit geeky. These, I believe, would be apt descriptions, even if a bit contradictory to his current role. There’s more to Mr. West than meets the eye, however. He’s also an avid music lover (indie rock anyone?). In the two …