In a very short time, the biggest event for SOLIDWORKS and 3DEXPERIENCE users will take place in Dallas, Texas. I am, of course, referring to 3DEXPERIENCE World.
The annual event attracts SOLIDWORKS users from around the world.
Last year’s 3DEXPERIENCE World was a hybrid event, which had both virtual sessions as well as live sessions. The year before, 3DEXPERIENCE World 2022, was initially planned as a hybrid event but eventually became an all-virtual event because of COVID.
This year it seems as if Dassault Systèmes has returned to form, making it an all-in-person event, which means that none of the sessions will be broadcast live. However, they will be recorded and available on demand later.
But what should you see while there? In this article, I will share some of the sessions that I am looking forward to seeing at 3DEXPERIENCE World 2024.
Currently there are 365+ sessions to choose from, and it can be very overwhelming to know where to start. This is especially true if this is your first time attending.
Monday, February 12th
Most of the sessions that I am looking forward to are on Monday, the first day.
The best way to kick off 3DEXPERIENCE World is in the company of Joe Lance. Joe will give his tips on how you can have a great experience at this event.
Joe is a well-known face in the community and if you need some help in any way, he is your go-to guy.
At the time of this writing, space was still available to see Andrew Bonica and Umar Ahmed’s hands-on session “Hands-On Experience Personalizing Your 3D Dashboard for Maximum Productivity”—but you had better move fast!
I have been fortunate enough to be on some of Andrew’s sessions. They are always worth the time.
After lunch, I really don’t have any options. I have my own session, “3DEXPERIENCE Made Simple.”
It is not about how you use the platform but a different take on the concepts of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.
And while I would love to see as many people as possible, it is very hard to compete with Betty Baker, Joe Lance and John Matrishon, who have joined forces in what can only be a truly epic tips and tricks session. I’ll be sure to catch it in reruns.
Do not miss Kevin McCleery’s session “Off-Label Weldment” if you are working with weldments. Knowing Kevin, I’m sure you will learn a lot from his session.
After my own session, I am hopping over to sit in on Daniel Deoreo’s and Sarah Idemoto’s hands-on session “SOLIDWORKS Connected and xShape Interoperability,” as this subject is something that I am very interested in.
If you are not into the platform, my recommendation is to attend Alin Vargatu’s session “Healing Imported Geometry Errors – The Ultimate Guide 2024 Edition.” Alin is well known to EngineersRule.com readers.
Alin is a legend when it comes to handling large assemblies and imported geometry. Take notes. I guarantee you will learn something from him.
For those curious about the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, I highly recommend “Beyond Data Management – What Can you Do with the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform” with Andy Rammer.
Andy has done a lot of presentations previously and you can always be sure to learn something from him.
And after all these sessions, be sure to take the rest of the day off enjoy what Dallas has to offer.
Tuesday, February 13th
The second day of the event will be a day to learn and relax—my first presentation is over, and I don’t have another until Wednesday.
After the General session, I will be joining the session “101 Things Your Mother Never Told You About Mates.”
This sounds like an awesome opportunity to get under the hood with mates.
If you are more interested in the platform, there is still room at Jody Stiles’ “Lofty Aspirations: Hands-on with Loft in xDesign,” which will give you an introduction to loft in the xApps.
Jody’s experience will make for a very exciting presentation, I’m sure.
After lunch, I am very much looking forward to Brad ’Tank’ Meador’s “Tank’s Top Tips and Tricks.” He is a legend in the SOLIDWORKS community.
But if you’re into PDM—or curious about it—you will want to attend Jeremiah Davis’ “SOLIDWORKS PDM Tips and Tricks” instead.
Jeremiah has been training some of the best PDM people I know, so it will be exciting to see what he will be sharing.
And afterwards, I am really looking forward to spending some time in the company of Eric Beatty and his “Taming that Other Guy’s Model” which will show you capabilities of FeatureWorks that are not in the documentation.
I have attended this one before and I highly recommend it. You will learn how to repair a model using FeatureWorks—among other things.
The best way to finish off Tuesday will be to drop in on Alin Vargatu’s “Ultimate Import Geometry Optimization for Large Assemblies.”
Wednesday, February 14th
The last day of the conference is always bittersweet. You’re so full of information, but you still don’t want the event to end because it will be a whole year before you see all these people again.
Better make the best of it.
For the first session, I am going to recommend Artem Taturevych’s session on custom properties.
Artem is very experienced and has a good understanding of the different custom properties.
Then it’s time for my second session, “Tinndahl’s Troubleshooting Techniques.”
I will give an overview of some of the techniques I use when I troubleshoot, as well as show some of the tools you can use when contacting support.
If you want to join a meetup session instead, I recommend joining Danute Petrova-Nikolova’s “Freelance – A World Without Borders for Design and Innovation.”
I have been in contact with Danute for the past three years and not only is she a very talented SOLIDWORKS and xApp user, she also has a lot of insight on how to become a successful freelancer.
Besides missing Danute’s session, I will also be missing Brad Meador’s “Motorcycle Mayhem.”
This session sounds like a good way to finetune your SOLIDWORKS workflow.
After lunch, it is time for the third general session. Tradition has it that they will announce where next year’s 3DEXPERIENCE World will be located.
After the general session, I will be hard pressed to make a decision. On one hand, I really want to go see Danute’s presentation on “SOLIDWORKS Mastery: Importing and Proficiently Working with STL Files.” She really knows her stuff.
On the other hand, there is John Matrishon presenting “Getting a GRIP on Surfacing,” which ought to be a real treat for those doing surfacing on SOLIDWORKS.
Oh, well. I can’t be two places at once. Thankfully, the sessions will be available on demand.
I hope that this article has provided some useful guidance. But no matter what, I am sure that you will be spending these three days learning new stuff, meeting new people and having a blast.
See you in Dallas!