At Design Engine tonight we are doing a Pro/E vs Solidworks shootout where Im running solidworks. Except Im known as the Pro/E surfacing expert not the solidworks surfacing expert. In order to accurately evaluate the Modeling software of both Pro/ENGINEER and Solidworks each participant will have a team member in their corner of the ring. http://www.design-engine.com/feature.php?feature=96
I invited several from both Soldworks and PTC however only PTC AE's confirmed.
I pushed the crap out of Solidworks this week to prepare for the shootout so to do some impressive modifications like my one week surfacing students might do in Pro/E. There are a few connections that just fall apart and that frustrates the hell out of me. In SW I expect these connections to work and not like Rhino fall apart. That's frustrating.
Let me explain, that in my experience I have noticed industrial designers want to prove form when developing a product as opposed to simply capture form. I have noticed however many industrial designers are happy to just model a forum (capture form) hence their use of Rhino where they can't leverage strategic advantage of parametric controls nor participate in an intense study of parent child relationships. If we can leverage parent child relationships then we can make 20 modifications in five minutes like we teach ID'ers in my week long Pro/E surfacing intensive. Hence prove the forum in the light reflections.
My techniques for forcing solidworks to swallow twenty slight modifications in rapid fire all in less than four minutes is giving me a problem in a spot or two. Choking on one part and several of my beziar curves will not maintain their parent child relationships. Chris Thompson from Ohio an ME with significant product design experience will be here at three to sit in my corner running Solidworks and will help me through the issues.
My end goal is to make solidworks look great since after such development over the past three years is impressive then share surfacing workflow techniques with the audience. A workflow we at Design Engine are known to teach in our classes. One that I've stated on this forum that some may not have discovered yet.
On the Pro/E side I have two of my past surfacing students both in from Colorado's Karcher Corporation. They are taking a Surface edit workshop. http://www.proetools.com/courses/pro_surface/level8surfaceedit.htm Adam is an industrial designer with two plus years on Pro/E surfacing and in his corner he has Vaughn an engineer with significant product design experience also from Karcher. Vaughn is quite good at surfacing and sits on the surfacing technical committee at PTC on Pro/E. Vaughn is maybe more experienced than Adam who has also taken past surfacing courses. http://www.karcher-usa.com/ Karcher works on some interesting surfacing rotomolded products.
In my corner running Solidworks I have Chris Thomson an ME who is driving from Ohio today. He has significant product design experience using both Pro/E and Solidworks. We both have different modeling techniques and he has not seen the Design Engine workflow for proving form in Wildfire by modifying parts in rapid fire, he has looked at our Pro/E parts and we will have an hour before the event to work out our strategy together.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Future Pro/E Developmnent
Wildfire 6 (assuming that is what it will be called), scheduled for released in 2011, has a lot planned for higher level surfacing! Since I have an affiliation with technical committee, I am not entirely sure what I can discuss however I can say for me it is the most significant release since ISDX made its debut in 2001. So get your credit cards ready to upgrade your maintenance ;). And I'm not just talking about just the new Sub'D modeling module which is significant in is own right.
One thing of note: there is a significant push for quality. As I heard the PLM lead discuss the four points for excellence, one was Quality. I laughed to my self thinking... "define quality". The speaker went on to define quality. Impressive.
"Quality is a road we are on" he said. He went on to describe quality as user experience, productivity, robustness, power, and exchange. PTC has always in the past focused heavy on power hence it is more powerful than other packages that maintain smaller budgets for development like the mid range modelers. The big push next for PTC Pro/ENGINEER development is in the user experience. He stated that ProE's user interface and experience should be "just plain fun to use". The example for this user experience is in the maturity of tools like welding and harness design tools that are all new in WF5.0. The PLM lead also went on to explain that quality is something you never achieve but something you always strive for. I buy that.
One thing of note: there is a significant push for quality. As I heard the PLM lead discuss the four points for excellence, one was Quality. I laughed to my self thinking... "define quality". The speaker went on to define quality. Impressive.
"Quality is a road we are on" he said. He went on to describe quality as user experience, productivity, robustness, power, and exchange. PTC has always in the past focused heavy on power hence it is more powerful than other packages that maintain smaller budgets for development like the mid range modelers. The big push next for PTC Pro/ENGINEER development is in the user experience. He stated that ProE's user interface and experience should be "just plain fun to use". The example for this user experience is in the maturity of tools like welding and harness design tools that are all new in WF5.0. The PLM lead also went on to explain that quality is something you never achieve but something you always strive for. I buy that.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Learning Pro/E at a community college
I was on mcadcentral the other day and someone was asking where to take Pro/E training in Southern California. Be careful who you learn from or you could end up teaching the class.
Your other option is if you can learn Pro/E on your own. I learned on my own too... And so can you! It just took me at least decade to master Pro/ENGINEER.
When I first began to design the Design Engine Education surfacing course it was in the way I wish I could have learned surfacing. Our class helps students learn from making those mistakes beginners make. Back when I didn't realize I was just a beginner classes were taught from a book and from a video never by challenging me with a real problem. Design Engine does not teach from any of this. We have real world problems for our students to work through using real world applications with top down design. Everyone can follow a step by step book read training tho I would rather not. Instead we allow students to try things on their own, allow them to make mistakes with instructors within questions reach.
If I had that specular highlights surfacing intensive workshop back before 1994, I could have created better models sooner, completed more project on time, modified that one project within two hours instead of 5 weeks, got that one job, kept that one job, been the last one to be let go, satisfied more managers, made more money and all with confidence. I mastered it and anyone can do it. It just took me fifteen years. I cram that experience and passion into a four week intensive.
Oh... and I thought I was an expert after 5 years. In 1997 I 'was' the surfacing expert. Now I look back at how little I knew then.
Your other option is if you can learn Pro/E on your own. I learned on my own too... And so can you! It just took me at least decade to master Pro/ENGINEER.
When I first began to design the Design Engine Education surfacing course it was in the way I wish I could have learned surfacing. Our class helps students learn from making those mistakes beginners make. Back when I didn't realize I was just a beginner classes were taught from a book and from a video never by challenging me with a real problem. Design Engine does not teach from any of this. We have real world problems for our students to work through using real world applications with top down design. Everyone can follow a step by step book read training tho I would rather not. Instead we allow students to try things on their own, allow them to make mistakes with instructors within questions reach.
If I had that specular highlights surfacing intensive workshop back before 1994, I could have created better models sooner, completed more project on time, modified that one project within two hours instead of 5 weeks, got that one job, kept that one job, been the last one to be let go, satisfied more managers, made more money and all with confidence. I mastered it and anyone can do it. It just took me fifteen years. I cram that experience and passion into a four week intensive.
Oh... and I thought I was an expert after 5 years. In 1997 I 'was' the surfacing expert. Now I look back at how little I knew then.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Surfacing Training at Design Engine: How did they benefit?
Sram: The industrial designers at Sram, makers of Grip Shift and Rockshoks, have always used Rhino and Alias to make product to hand over to Engineers to either import or remodel. Now with Pro/ENGINEER training their industrial designers can work on engineering models and offer engineering a 3D Pro/E deliverable. Since Sram's engineers took the same class they now know how to manage any modifications to the model as they see fit. The industrial designer can now manage ribs on the front forks as ribs are visible to the consumer they should be handled directly by industrial designer and not necessarily the engineers. Industrial designers using Pro/ENGINEER instead of Rhino saved 30 hours per product and streamlined the process so engineers don't have to be tied to the static IGES data.
Rubbermaid: From one engineers' new found skills for "proving form" the engineer can make live modifications on the screen in front of CEO and other engineering managers saving weeks of revision circles.
Knoll: After taking Surfacing training at design engine Knoll engineers can now create more accurate lead times.
General Atomics: After taking the surfacing week long intensive, they don't have to hire outside consultants to handle the complex surfacing of their Aero forms.
Nike: Nike sent industrial designers and engineers together in the week long surfacing class, where they both discovered a unique work flow of capturing form and proving form. This cut 40 hours out of their design process. This forty hours saved six weeks lead-time for one specific product to hit the market.
Fisher-Price: After some Fisher Price Engineers took a surfacing week, their entire design process changed, work flow from conception to production. Because Industrial designer and engineers both took the class together, they worked together to formulate a written process that enabled industrial designer to maintain control to a specif point and passed off the development to engineering at another point. The engineers can take a Rhino or Alias model and reformulate the design using Pro/ENGINEER with a new process. The collective team shaved off 19 weeks out of a 10 month design to tooling process.
Grayhill: An engineer from Grayhill stated that his new skills with Pro/ENGINEER and surfacing (Johnathan is a degree d industrial designer taking the specific seven day class to ID'ers) helped foster a collaborative environment where he can now work on engineering models more efficiently. Reinforced brand identity through all involved parties speaking the same mathematical language.
Call Design Engine today to speak to a instructor about our surfacing class
312.226.8339
Rubbermaid: From one engineers' new found skills for "proving form" the engineer can make live modifications on the screen in front of CEO and other engineering managers saving weeks of revision circles.
Knoll: After taking Surfacing training at design engine Knoll engineers can now create more accurate lead times.
General Atomics: After taking the surfacing week long intensive, they don't have to hire outside consultants to handle the complex surfacing of their Aero forms.
Nike: Nike sent industrial designers and engineers together in the week long surfacing class, where they both discovered a unique work flow of capturing form and proving form. This cut 40 hours out of their design process. This forty hours saved six weeks lead-time for one specific product to hit the market.
Fisher-Price: After some Fisher Price Engineers took a surfacing week, their entire design process changed, work flow from conception to production. Because Industrial designer and engineers both took the class together, they worked together to formulate a written process that enabled industrial designer to maintain control to a specif point and passed off the development to engineering at another point. The engineers can take a Rhino or Alias model and reformulate the design using Pro/ENGINEER with a new process. The collective team shaved off 19 weeks out of a 10 month design to tooling process.
Grayhill: An engineer from Grayhill stated that his new skills with Pro/ENGINEER and surfacing (Johnathan is a degree d industrial designer taking the specific seven day class to ID'ers) helped foster a collaborative environment where he can now work on engineering models more efficiently. Reinforced brand identity through all involved parties speaking the same mathematical language.
Call Design Engine today to speak to a instructor about our surfacing class
312.226.8339
Thursday, December 10, 2009
My personal Record of Improvement
I always look for ways to better myself. Physically mentally and emotionally. (less emphasis on emotional haha) For me it's not just to read self help books but to implement an aggressive attitude to learn. Simple as consistency of constant aggressive learning.
In 1992 my push was to learn telephone/internet related tools such as FTP, modems, Archie and Gopher. I taught internet classes in the evenings at Motorola. In 1994 my mission was to learn Surfacing. In 1995 my mission was to learn HTML and Perl. In 1996 my mission was to learn Alias Studio. In 1998 my push was to learn CDRS the Evans And Sutherland Surfacing tool used by GM and Ford. (they were using CDRS at Caterpillar Cab group in 1998) In 1999, my mission was to teach Alias Studio. In 1998, my focus was on public speaking, so I could present at Pro/E user conferences with confidence. In 2001 I made a push to learn ISDX so I could teach it. In 2002 my focus was on learning Maya and Pro/CONCEPT in order to teach them. In 2003 I taught myself Maya well enough to teach a Design Engine four-week Maya comprehensive class. In 2004 I designed plastics classes and made a push to organize so I could teach a two day class. Another year, 2005, I taught myself Pro/CABLE. By 2006, I had learned Pro/CABLE well enough to teach it. In 2007 I taught myself Routed Systems Designer and made several Pro/E user presentations and made other preparations to teach that. In 2008 my focus is to hone my training skills.
I have made up my goals for 2009. I made a serious effort to learn Mechanism and Animation.... and video editing software. I am open to suggestion for my learning path as 2010 rolls near. Remember consistency is important. Like making a commitment to working out in the gym every day. I go on on vacation and trips teaching on-site classes with no access to a gym so I do push-ups in the morning in the hotel room. Learning in Pro/ENGINEER should be just as consistent. And who better to invest in but yourself?
Each year I give myself a swift kick in the pants (attitude kick) so I can learn something new that will make me more in demand as an instructor. I hope others can take my lead and push themselves each year like me to learn something new at a high level each year.
What are you doing to improve yourself or your situation? Send me an email bart@designengine.com
Design Engine Education
Bart Brejcha
120 N Green St. Ste 605
Chicago, IL 60607
ph: 312.226.8339
bart@designengine.com
www.proetools.com
In 1992 my push was to learn telephone/internet related tools such as FTP, modems, Archie and Gopher. I taught internet classes in the evenings at Motorola. In 1994 my mission was to learn Surfacing. In 1995 my mission was to learn HTML and Perl. In 1996 my mission was to learn Alias Studio. In 1998 my push was to learn CDRS the Evans And Sutherland Surfacing tool used by GM and Ford. (they were using CDRS at Caterpillar Cab group in 1998) In 1999, my mission was to teach Alias Studio. In 1998, my focus was on public speaking, so I could present at Pro/E user conferences with confidence. In 2001 I made a push to learn ISDX so I could teach it. In 2002 my focus was on learning Maya and Pro/CONCEPT in order to teach them. In 2003 I taught myself Maya well enough to teach a Design Engine four-week Maya comprehensive class. In 2004 I designed plastics classes and made a push to organize so I could teach a two day class. Another year, 2005, I taught myself Pro/CABLE. By 2006, I had learned Pro/CABLE well enough to teach it. In 2007 I taught myself Routed Systems Designer and made several Pro/E user presentations and made other preparations to teach that. In 2008 my focus is to hone my training skills.
I have made up my goals for 2009. I made a serious effort to learn Mechanism and Animation.... and video editing software. I am open to suggestion for my learning path as 2010 rolls near. Remember consistency is important. Like making a commitment to working out in the gym every day. I go on on vacation and trips teaching on-site classes with no access to a gym so I do push-ups in the morning in the hotel room. Learning in Pro/ENGINEER should be just as consistent. And who better to invest in but yourself?
Each year I give myself a swift kick in the pants (attitude kick) so I can learn something new that will make me more in demand as an instructor. I hope others can take my lead and push themselves each year like me to learn something new at a high level each year.
What are you doing to improve yourself or your situation? Send me an email bart@designengine.com
Design Engine Education
Bart Brejcha
120 N Green St. Ste 605
Chicago, IL 60607
ph: 312.226.8339
bart@designengine.com
www.proetools.com
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
The Dream Job is NOT Impossible
In the united states as recent as 1975, parents would pay an employment agency tall cash to assist their 22 year old son (recent graduate) a job. Dad's paid that fee to conclude and get the kid out of the house as they say (after college). Those 'employment agency' advertisements could not guarantee a job legally but if they had good success rates and client testimonials then people paid the fee. They would manage resume with their customer, pool from the employment agency contacts, coach the candidates and actually assist their clients into obtain a job.
The culture changed to where the hiring manager pays the fees. The later came in the form of a percentage or margin paid out from an hourly rate or a yearly salary depending upon if the job is full time or contract. With the current climate for job acquisitions... manufactures like to try before they buy and opt to hire a candidate for contract first then make an offer after six months.
On a past business plan for design engine I specified that design engine would take a fee in exchange for training, utilizing design engine database, resume building, coaching to assist customers to obtain their dream jobs. In a sense we resorted back to before the 70's where people pay a group for job placement.
It just looks like a Pro/E training class and we call it a four week comprehensive ... in a sense you pay us to get a job but there is a month of work and it usually takes 8 weeks before candidates get their job. And in our case many times it's the dream job candidates want, like Harley, NASA or General Dynamics.
http://www.proetools.com/courses/pro_engineer/comprehensive_wkshp.htm
Design Engine has assisted thousnads into obtining their dream job.
The culture changed to where the hiring manager pays the fees. The later came in the form of a percentage or margin paid out from an hourly rate or a yearly salary depending upon if the job is full time or contract. With the current climate for job acquisitions... manufactures like to try before they buy and opt to hire a candidate for contract first then make an offer after six months.
On a past business plan for design engine I specified that design engine would take a fee in exchange for training, utilizing design engine database, resume building, coaching to assist customers to obtain their dream jobs. In a sense we resorted back to before the 70's where people pay a group for job placement.
It just looks like a Pro/E training class and we call it a four week comprehensive ... in a sense you pay us to get a job but there is a month of work and it usually takes 8 weeks before candidates get their job. And in our case many times it's the dream job candidates want, like Harley, NASA or General Dynamics.
http://www.proetools.com/courses/pro_engineer/comprehensive_wkshp.htm
Design Engine has assisted thousnads into obtining their dream job.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Downturns become Upturns
"Living in this kind of economy is often intimidating; I see success at this Design Engine: job placements, new product designs and ideas, new business sects formed. Downturns become upturns and here at Design Engine we prepare people for when that inevitable upswing comes" - Bart Brejcha, Principal Engineer, Design Engine
Design Engine believes that ones mind should always be engaged versus taking training courses with a step by step book in front of you. Participants at Design Engine learn to solve engineering problems like a puzzle. They are given a specific problem to solve and are shown specific tools to use to solve the problem. Students develop what Design Engine likes to call a toolbox. Their toolbox is full of processes and work flows that can be used to find solutions to innumerable amount of problems that engineers are faced with daily. And just like a puzzle, after solving it students are left with a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction that generates confidence which drives creativity. The confidence also lets engineers have fun with their jobs and then they cannot wait to have the next problem to solve. Armed with this process, designed by Design Engine, our participants feel freedom and confident to find new jobs, solve complex problems, estimate projects, capture form faster or design with more confidence. This is quite unlike other technical schools as they give a book to the student and the student only has one way to go- failure. Design Engine's most popular class is their four week Pro/ENGINEER Comprehensive Course that covers everything from basic modeling to routed cable design, plastics, surfacing and much more. After the class, students have over 160 hours of Pro/ENGINEER training and are ready to be competitive in the job market.
Design Engine Education is a technical vocational training center located in the West Loop of Chicago. Design Engine focuses on teaching industrial designers, engineers, and mechanically inclined individuals how to design and engineer products using 3D software. Design Engine Software: Pro/ENGINEER, Maya, Alias, Rhino, Photoshop, Adobe Flash, among others. When an unemployed individual participants in a course at Design Engine, the Design Engine staff being well trained to help participants locate job as soon as possible runs the participant through a specific process for locating a job. From day one participant resumes are reviewed, revised, and then entered into an online websume database available to hundreds of hiring managers across the country. Students are also allowed to look through Design Engines database of over 10,000 contacts many of which are hiring managers that learned their trade at Design Engine.
Design Engine Education
Bart Brejcha
120 N Green St. Ste 605
Chicago, IL 60607
ph: 312.226.8339
bart@designengine.com
www.proetools.com
Design Engine believes that ones mind should always be engaged versus taking training courses with a step by step book in front of you. Participants at Design Engine learn to solve engineering problems like a puzzle. They are given a specific problem to solve and are shown specific tools to use to solve the problem. Students develop what Design Engine likes to call a toolbox. Their toolbox is full of processes and work flows that can be used to find solutions to innumerable amount of problems that engineers are faced with daily. And just like a puzzle, after solving it students are left with a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction that generates confidence which drives creativity. The confidence also lets engineers have fun with their jobs and then they cannot wait to have the next problem to solve. Armed with this process, designed by Design Engine, our participants feel freedom and confident to find new jobs, solve complex problems, estimate projects, capture form faster or design with more confidence. This is quite unlike other technical schools as they give a book to the student and the student only has one way to go- failure. Design Engine's most popular class is their four week Pro/ENGINEER Comprehensive Course that covers everything from basic modeling to routed cable design, plastics, surfacing and much more. After the class, students have over 160 hours of Pro/ENGINEER training and are ready to be competitive in the job market.
Design Engine Education is a technical vocational training center located in the West Loop of Chicago. Design Engine focuses on teaching industrial designers, engineers, and mechanically inclined individuals how to design and engineer products using 3D software. Design Engine Software: Pro/ENGINEER, Maya, Alias, Rhino, Photoshop, Adobe Flash, among others. When an unemployed individual participants in a course at Design Engine, the Design Engine staff being well trained to help participants locate job as soon as possible runs the participant through a specific process for locating a job. From day one participant resumes are reviewed, revised, and then entered into an online websume database available to hundreds of hiring managers across the country. Students are also allowed to look through Design Engines database of over 10,000 contacts many of which are hiring managers that learned their trade at Design Engine.
Design Engine Education
Bart Brejcha
120 N Green St. Ste 605
Chicago, IL 60607
ph: 312.226.8339
bart@designengine.com
www.proetools.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
