SolidWorks

gaussian and mean curvature

So I’ve been doing some fancy surfacing lately and spent a few minutes digging into the math behind the surface tools. The math itself is a little esoteric, but I also came across a really nice, digestible description of gaussian and mean curvature. These are the types of curvature (along with maximum curvature) that CAD packages like [...]

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pro|engineer (or creo, or whatever): a few more things

A bit over a year ago I wrote about problems I was having with pro|engineer (now creo) and SolidWorks. It was one of my more popular posts and inspired some passionate responses. (I also copied the image from that post even though I’m primarily going to talk about pro|engineer…lazy) Well I’ve been doing some heavy [...]

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robust CAD models

I’ve been thinking lately about what makes a robust CAD database. I considered writing down a checklist, but as projects differ I find the checklist to be overkill or incomplete, both of which render it useless. Instead I asked myself: What principles are always true when building a CAD model? Take note of my use [...]

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Thumbnail image for Dear SolidWorks and Pro|Engineer:fix these problems

Dear SolidWorks and Pro|Engineer:fix these problems

Everyone has their preferred CAD package, and most look down their nose at all the others. The Solidworks guys rag on the Pro|Engineer guys, a few yucks are had, and you go back to work. But isn’t what we really want for one of these CAD programs to really get their act together?  To decimate [...]

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Thumbnail image for CAD job trends: or why I pity students that learn Unigraphics

CAD job trends: or why I pity students that learn Unigraphics

There is an interesting thread over at eng-tips regarding current CAD job trends. The content itself isn’t so groundbreaking, but the recommendation of Indeed.com’s Job Trends tool made it worth the read. “Finally!” I thought. “Some objective data to prove that Unigraphics is dying!” I wasn’t disappointed: (note: I think the “inventor” is inflated, as job [...]

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