(Time, three-dimensional) space, the last frontier

After an introductory video frankly fun, starring Jeremy Luchini, known here for his initiative to Let's Go Design, Jeff Ray has initiated the General session of today's SolidWorks World. It has done it in Texas, its State, and in San Antonio, his city.

Jeff Ray has praised the virtues of all those who contributed to the rescue of Chilean miners who were buried for 69 days. He has made special mention of some American companies, customers of SolidWorks, who participated in the rescue. He himself, it has been called 'the emotional payroll': is not only doing things to have a better or higher standard of living, at times, is saving lives.

Jeff Ray, for his presentation today, explaining some of the designs to save Chilean miners.

Jeff Ray, however, was not the driver during the whole session: has ceded his position to Bertrand Sicot, who is now director (CEO) of SolidWorks, when Jeff was promoted to Executive Vice President of geographic operations. What this post is left to the imagination of the reader. Jeff Ray is now an American in Paris, and Bertrand Sicot, a Frenchman in the USA. After a career spanning almost pioneering in SolidWorks (only is an employee in Europe before him) is now the 'sheriff in the city'.

With a clear French accent, he has explained to us the good situation of the company and its dealers during 2010, despite the context of crisis. Us has reaffirmed, denying some misunderstandings of the past months, SolidWorks will be kept always installable versions locally in their programmes, web and mobile applications will always be options, but in no case will come to the point of forcing the user to choose between one or the other.

Bertrand Sicot takes over to Jeff Ray as director of SolidWorks.

In the so-called 'partner Pavilion', yesterday we had opportunity to see (and test) a call cubicle design with motorised wheelchair. Design, in this case, means intended for who designs. Of course, intended also for those who design. It is a hexagonal cell with a seat suspended from a gantry, controlled from an iPhone, and allowing its 'passenger' to move between a workstation with three superpantallas, a station of 3D printing, and a couple of things. The design, by means of 'crowdsourcing' in the program Let's Go Design, directed by Jeremy, showing today virtually a potential client, using Post3D (www.)Post3D.com/SolidWorks). The seller, which, it is today was Bertrand Charlès, CEO of Dassault Systèmes, SolidWorks French matrix. Post3D is one of the tools within 3DVia, Dassault Systèmes '3D communication' package.

On the left, the virtual representations of Jeremy Luchini and Bertrand Charlès with the supersilla. On the right, the actual version being tested by one of the visitors of the partner pavilion.

The ground always have their feet on the ground (or almost). Put another way, although we are moving in a three-dimensional world, normally only we decided on two. I think that divers and airplane pilots are better able than the rest of feeling really the three-dimensionality. In addition to moving back and forth, from left to right, they can move really up and down, although attractive land makes the vertical dimension is not exactly like the others.

Imagine now how it should be the three-dimensionality to those who have really been in space (capitalized). That is, for those crazier than the making crazy: the astronauts. The story of Jim Lovell, Gene Kranz has kept us all in silence and expectation, admired, making that the presentation will last for half an hour more than expected. No one has complained about, all we found fantastic.

Gene Kranz, director of the Apollo 13 Mission Control, while told us that it happened.

At the opening of SolidWorks World 2010 Conference, Jeff Ray made evident and clear the number of attendees. Today, no. I have the feeling that Texas is big. But California is California. And there are more engineers than here. In any case, the number of attendees is not small, I would say that it is comparable.

If last year was the year that 'everything was going through the roof', this is (really) a day sunny and magnificent. There has hardly been of clouds, and when it did, it has been to say that always we keep both feet on the ground, if we so wish. Continence in relation to the subject seems to indicate that the announcements of the previous edition were perhaps a bit precipitated. Broke the tradition of not to mention products until the third 'General session'. This year, has not been the case. We will wait two days to find out 'there will be new'... and will ask you some things in the meantime.