solidThinking Team Spotlight

Darren Chilton - solidThinking Program Manager of Product Strategy and Development

When not spending time with his wife and kids, mountain biking or golfing, solidThinking Program Manager of Product Strategy and Development Darren Chilton is leading the global solidThinking team in pursuing industrial design needs and trends.

A senior designer with solidThinking since 2008 and formerly the studio lead for transportation design with parent company Altair, the Battle Creek, Mich.-native has come a long way since his days as an industrial design student at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. He specializes in using his knowledge of the industrial design process, product development and technology to create tools that enable designers to work more efficiently.

Click here for the full article and to learn more about Darren Chilton.

New! solidThinking Tips & Tricks

Whether you are new to the solidThinking community or a veteran user, every software tip and trick can add up to make a world of difference when working on a design. In an effort to offer our loyal customers useful information and foster collaboration, we are offering a featured tip or trick every month.

This month we offer you a brief series of keyboard shortcuts to help you be more efficient when using solidThinking.  We invite you to watch the video below to see these keyboard shortcuts in action.

                Keyboard Shorcuts               
                Ctrl+Spacebar – re-activate the previous modeling tool
                Alt+Spacebar – toggle between Edit Parameters mode and Edit Points mode
                Alt+Left Click – select objects while in Edit Parameters mode
                Ctrl+T  (Command+T)mac – fit selected object to the current view
                H – Hide/Unhide selected objects
                Ctrl+Alt+D – turntable animation

 

solidThinking Team Spotlight

Antonio Flores: Senior Product Specialist

In the spirit of collaboration, we’re giving our loyal visitors and solidThinking enthusiasts insight into the creative minds behind solidThinking by profiling a new key team member every quarter. For our inaugural article we sat down with one of solidThinking’s veteran senior product specialists, Antonio Flores, for a Q&A session about solidThinking, the industry and his creative inspirations.

Click here for the full article and more about Antonio Flores.

Be on the lookout for more on the solidThinking team in future blog posts.

Innovation as a Practice: Dagaa’s Experience

Adolfo Cota, director of development for Dagaa
Ricardo Ponce,
head designer for Dagaa

Dagaa is more than a traditional design studio; it is a company focused on the invention, design and development of new products for clients. For the founders of the company, innovation is not merely an idea, but also a practice. Adolfo Cota and Ricardo Ponce began their business just three years ago, but they have quickly learned many lessons, the most important being that they never stop learning and they can always improve a product through its design.

Dagaa’s client base is diverse, requiring designs for metal-based products, electronics, advertisements and furniture. The company is most recognized for its work in the videogame industry and has adopted solidThinking to aid in the development of its concepts. Using solidThinking, the Dagaa team was the first to create a design for a street-operated videogame machine with an LCD monitor for use in Mexico.

Click here to continue reading this story in our September Newsletter.

Register for solidThinking Inspired Webinar

Register for FREE attendance to solidThinking’s next webinar:

solidThinking Inspired: Morphogenesis for Architects and Designers A live training session describing how solidThinking Inspired and its unique morphogenesis form-generation technology can provide inspiration to architects and product designers.

September 29, 2011 – 1:00 PM EST (Eastern Standard Time)

solidThinking Expands its VAR Network by Adding U.K.-Based Cadsoft Solutions

We are pleased to announce that we have recently signed Cadsoft Solutions Limited to our network of worldwide distributors. As the company’s U.K.-based distributor, Cadsoft Solutions will introduce its creative design and architectural customer base to the extensive design capabilities of solidThinking 8.5 and solidThinking 8.5 Inspired™.

Located in Cambridge, Cadsoft Solutions provides 2D and 3D CAD and design software solutions that enable innovative product development and design. The addition of solidThinking to its product portfolio will further enhance Cadsoft Solutions’ ability to provide its customers with the latest in concept design technology.

solidThinking and Cadsoft Solutions will jointly offer hands-on demonstrations of solidThinking 8.5 and solidThinking 8.5 Inspired™ at the ProductDesign + Innovation Conference in London, May 18-19. solidThinking is a major sponsor of the event, where senior product design and innovation professionals from leading brands, OEMs and consultancies will share ideas and explore emerging sources for growth. Come and meet us!

The Design Competition 2011 has started!

If you are a student of a college or university and you are 18 years of age or older, the solidThinking Design Competition is a great opportunity to express your creativity, use advanced 3D technologies, be evaluated by global design thought leaders and win great prizes.

The Competition has no category restriction. Design something that solves a problem. Any type of product design can be submitted.

Each applicant student will receive a full license of solidThinking Inspired 8.5 expiring on November 30, 2011 for preparing the entries.

Deadline for entries submission is September 30, 2011 (11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time).

Click here to read more. Take your chances to win!

Architosh: Looking at solidThinking Inspired 8.5

Architosh recently covered solidThinking Inspired 8.5. Click here to read the In-depth look.

solidThinking supports Industrial Designers’ Continuing Education Through Program-wide Sponsorship of 2011 IDSA District Conferences

Connect with us at the Industrial Designers Society of America’s (IDSA) 2011 district conferences.

As a comprehensive program sponsor, solidThinking aims to support the continuing education of industrial designers and contribute to the conferences’ ongoing collaborative discussions on technology and the future of industrial design.

During the tour, we will offer personalized previews of solidThinking and solidThinking Inspired and show some of the key product advancements delivered with the just launched 8.5 releases. Mark the dates!

Midwest Conference
St. Louis, MO
April 1-3

 

Northeast Conference
Providence, RI
April 8-9

 

Mideast Conference
Cincinnati, OH
April 8-10

 

Southern Conference
Austin, TX
April 15-17

 

Western Conference
San Jose, CA
May 6-7

solidThinking Essential Videos Now Available in Ten Languages!

With the release of solidThinking 8.5 six essentials videos, which can help users get up and running quickly and independently, are now available in ten languages. Supported languages include English, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish.