A Community Champion

Cutaway of Trakka Motorhome by Michael Lord 

Surprise Guest!

It's always interesting to me to see other people's perspectives, and so with this post I've invited a guest blogger - a person for whom I have great respect. Michael Lord is a long term Engineer and Designer at the well-known and respected brand Trakka (manufacturer of Motorhomes and Caravans). He is also the Sydney SOLIDWORKS User group leader. 

Of course, coming from a SOLIDWORKS background myself, I wanted to know (and thought others might also like to know) about what Michael does, and how. It's interesting to note, that being a User Group leader is not a paid job.

Take it away Michael.....

How it Happened

When Alex asked me if I would like to guest blog for his site I was honoured. I first meet Alex Henry a couple years ago: He was at the time in his role as Territory Technical Manager - SOLIDWORKS at Dassault Systemes for Australia and New Zealand. And me, in one of my roles - this time as Coordinator of the Sydney SOLIDWORKS User Group.

 The Sydney User Group (SWUG) on the SOLIDWORKS User Group Network (SWUGN) webite

Cloak and Dagger...

My day time role is one of Design Engineer for Trakka, an Australian manufacturer of Motorhomes and Special Purpose Vehicles [Alex: at night he is a cloak and dagger Blogger J]. Over the many years we have changed dramatically how we design and developed our products: From the early years of physically building prototypes, modifying, rebuilding and producing templates (and the list goes on!). Next we incorporated 2D CAD but still with the need to produce multiple prototypes. 
Then, in 2005 we moved to 3D CAD - SOLIDWORKS - which changed everything!  Not just in the way we designed, but how we interacted with the likes of large global companies (Mercedes-Benz, Fiat, Volkswagen etc.), right through to how we manufactured.

One of Michael's Photo-real Images for Trakka

Guest Blogging Veteran

The guest spot on this blog was a similar request to five (5) years ago, when I was invited to write a post on using photoview 360. (I hadn't looked at it since I wrote it - It's nice to see my rendering has improved since then). That was the start of me becoming more involved in the SOLIDWORKS Community.

Michael's as Guest on Solidsmack's Blog

It sounds strange to think that there is a “Community” based around a Mechanical Design Software.   Yet there is!   My first interactions with this community came about seven years ago. First, whilst looking for help on the internet and with the discovery of many of the SOLIDWORKS Blogs, leading me to the start of Twitter - the new “social media” platform (at that time)! (You can still find me on Twitter at @ml13ml).  It was through social media that I now know many great people from around the world who are SOLIDWORKS users (as well as many other great people who use other CAD programs. But you can’t hold that against them J).

We have a Winner!

However, it was winning the SOLIDWORKS World 2011 Internet Correspondence Contest that got me noticed inside of SOLIDWORKS Corporation.

The SOLIDWORKS Blog Page

You can see my winning entry half way down in the comments section.   I hadn’t read that either since I wrote it all those years ago and I still crack myself up!

Michael's winning Comment for the Competition

Things kind of escalated from there.   Over the next couple of years I got a little more serious with my own blog: michaellord.me and decide that it was time that I should give a little more back to the SOLIDWORKS Community itself.  Which takes me back to the first paragraph in this blog and my role with the Sydney SOLIDWORKS User Group.

Michael's Blog page

A Community of Like-Minded Beings

The Sydney SOLIDWORKS User Group at the time had been dormant for a few years until I gave it a kick start, in July of 2012 (in a bloodless coup) [Alex: ha ha].    SOLIDWORKS User Groups are quite unique: They provide their members' access to a wide range of the SOLIDWORKS community both in regards to skill sets and also to a far greater diversity of industries.  As the meetings are normally in a relaxed atmosphere, the members are far more likely to share information relating to their technical skill, and also in regards to networking.

Also, as the user group is so diverse, there is greater variety of input and everyone has something to offer -  it doesn’t matter if you have had 12 months or 12 years of experience [Alex: I think even those with days of experience with SOLIDWORKS is relevant] - everyone uses the software in different ways.   With access to those "resources", there is the ability to learn additional skills and along the way, connect with a far greater range of people and companies that you’d otherwise may not have the chance to do so in normal working life.

A Modest Leader

   I try and avoid the term “Group Leader” because the role is really one of organisation.  My role within the Sydney SWUG is one very much that of a Coordinator.  Which sees me arrange to have people present content at the meetings, mainly on various elements of SOLIDWORKS or associated products.   However, it is not restricted to just the software; it may be hardware or a product, which I believe may benefit our members or how they do their job.   We always try to have two presentations at a meet, along with updating the group with news of what has been happening around SOILDWORKS (Beta release, SOLIDWORKS World and the like).

The Sydney SOLIDWORKS User Group (SSWUG) is very fortunate that we have the support of both this (NSW) States' SOLIDWORKS Resellers.  I can always call on either Intercad or Cadspace, who are always willing to provide one of their Application Engineers to give a Technical Presentation.   This, along with Dassault Systemes Australia or Asia Pacific South employees who have made themselves available to present in the past!   (It’s been a while since Alex presented!) [Alex: it’s true, it's been a while but my role has changed...]

Frequent Contact

We try to have at least four to five meetings per year.  These are held in a variety of locations around the Sydney suburbs to give as many people as possible the opportunity to attend.   I would like to be able to have more “site” visits/ meeting and have the group member present on how the SOLIDWORKS product is used in their business.   Personally I like to see other people’s factories especially in industries I have little knowledge of! The Sydney SOLIDWORKS User Group now has a database of over a 100 names and we see an average of around 30+ people attend the meeting.

SWUGN Website

If the Sydney SOLIDWORKS User Group sounds of interest to you then contact us - details of our next meeting are on the SWUGN website.   You can also connect via the Sydney SOLIDWORKS User Group on LinkedIn Group for regular updates.

The LinkedIn group for Sydney SWUG 

Part of Life

My involvement in the SOLIDWORKS Community is now just part of my daily life and personally I still feel that I gain more from my involvement with the SSWUG than I give!

With that, let me hand back Alex’s own Blog back to him ……. Thanks.

Thank you and Contact 

I am very grateful to Michael for sharing this post with us - thank you for giving us a little insight into your role at Trakka and for working so hard to keep the User group going.

As Michael mentioned, although he can get help from the resellers, this is about new products or how to use them.   Sometimes this content isn't enough and Michael will often stand up and share a presentation. And he's done a several for this group.   Seeing SOLIDWORKS used in a "real-world" environment is always exciting - I've seen several and recall a session on the basics of surfacing by Mike Puckett from SOLIDWORKS Certifcation team. In another session we saw how to built a full tug boat and the modelling techniques around modelling the hull of a sailing boat.  In my previous role, I made a presentation on how to use the "flatten surface" feature at the Melbourne user group in late 2014. I then created a subsequent 3-part post due to the interest it received.

 As there are so many tool sets in SOLIDWORKS to help with different tasks, users will find the ones that do their job the best way they know how - the way you use the software is likely to be different to someone else and will be interesting to others, prompting questions and also further developing your knowledge. Presenting at a user group is something that everyone can do and Michael I'm sure will welcome something you can show about the way YOU use SOLIDWORKS.

Also having a Site visit or a Company to host the User Group meeting, are a great ways to make the meetings even more interesting by understanding a bit about other industries. If you are able to provide a site visit, or want to contact Michael, you can do so through the user group, or the LinkedIn Group.

  

Hope to see you at the next SWUG meeting!