Your Complete Guide To SOLIDWORKS World 2018

We’re less than a month away from the big event, and the planner in us is busy organizing our agenda before SOLIDWORKS World 2018 kicks off on February 4 in sunny Los Angeles, CA.

It will be a much-welcome reprieve from the cold for our East Coast clients, but also a time to network and explore new technologies in 3D CAD, Simulation, Electrical Design and Schematics, Product Data Management and more.

We’ve got your must-know information for navigating this year’s event.

Jump To:

• Football – TriMech Client Appreciation Event
• General Sessions
• Breakout Sessions
• SOLIDWORKS User Group Network Summit
• The Partner Pavilion
• Networking
• Digital Media Awards
• Beach & Brews
• Accommodations

Football – TriMech Client Appreciation Event

Football fans and non-football fans love a good Super Bowl watch party. Some watch it for the game and others may watch it for the commercials and half-time show. Whether you’re watching it for the sport or Justin Timberlake, we are inviting you to our client appreciation reception on Sunday. Join in on the festivities at Public School 213 beginning at 3:30pm PST. 

We’ll even save you a beer!

General Sessions

Each day of SOLIDWORKS will start with a general session to gear you up for the day. These sessions start with everyone gathered together to listen to speakers consisting of amazing engineers, industry leaders and partners. You’ll hear about their visions, perspectives and ideas that you will be able to take back to your company to help expedite innovation and inspire new designs to help grow your business. 

>> We’ll be tweeting about the opening sessions. Follow us on Twitter for live updates.

Not going to make it to LA this year? You can stream SOLIDWORKS World 2018 straight from your home. Add each general session to your calendar, so you don’t miss the webcast! The themes for each session will be as follows:

THINK: Future 

The first general session is focused the future, something that is always on top of everyone’s mind at SOLIDWORKS World. While they have been keeping specifics of the general sessions pretty tight-lipped, we do know the session contain five exciting speakers: Gian Paolo Bassi, Bernard Charles, Kishore Boyalakuntla, Richard Doyle and Neri Oxman. 

THINK: Innovation

The next day starts with something every business is striving for: innovation! With six new speakers, there will be a little something for everyone, personally we are looking forward the talk “Wearable Robots That Help People Walk Again” given by Kyoungchul Kong. The other speakers include Suchit Jain, Michel Jagemann, Suchit Jain, Kishore Boyalakuntla and Brent Bushnell. 

THINK: Next is Now 

The final group session is called Next is Now. This includes a sneak peek into SOLIDWORKS 2019 and wraps up with seven final speakers: Suchit Jain, Kishore Boyalakuntla, Mark Schneider, Joseph Hiura, Robert Andrew Johnson, Kurt Anliker and Gian Paolo Bassi. 

Breakout Sessions

SOLIDWORKS 2018 will feature more than 200 educational breakout sessions where you can learn new skills and discover tricks to overcome everyday challenges. Nine TriMech engineers will share their expertise during sixteen different technical training sessions on injection molding, surfacing tools, templates, industrial design, and more. 

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 There will be more than 5,000 SOLIDWORKS users attending this year. Be sure to sign up before these sessions are filled. You can check out the full session agenda here. 

SOLIDWORKS User Group Network Summit

The SOLIDWORKS User Group Network (SWUGN) Summit is a SOLIDWORKS World staple. In its 19^th year, the summit brings together hundreds of SWUGN leaders, officers, group members and SOLIDWORKS executives to network, share stories and talk about the success of the SWUGs. You may even see the SOLIDWORKS CEO stop by! 

This year’s summit will be held on Monday, February 5 from 4:30pm to 6:00pm. Everyone is invited to attend to see how they can get involved with a local SWUG or form their own group.

>> Sign up for our blog to stay in-the-loop about SOLIDWORKS 2018

The Partner Pavilion

The Partner Pavilion offers you a unique opportunity to meet and ask questions, preview new technology and view hundreds of innovative products by SOLIDWORKS Solution partners, like Stratasys, Desktop Metal, Artec 3D, DriveWorks, solidThinking, CAMWorks, Creaform and more. You can also win cool prizes by getting your passport stamped by different solution partners or even just by being in the right place at the right time.

Networking

Networking is such an important aspect of SOLIDWORKS World, and there are a ton of opportunities to connect with like-minded people. SOLIDWORKS is offering a new networking chance to veteran attendees, as well as get-togethers for people with similar interests. 

Event Ambassador Nomination

SOLIDWORKS has taken note of the kindness and assistance veteran attendees offer to first-timers and wanted to make it official by creating the SOLIDWORKS World 2018 Event Ambassador position. In this role the ambassadors help first time attendees with where to go and introduce them into how things are done at the conference. 

Community Events

There is more than just the love of SOLIDWORKS that helps bring people together at SOLIDWORKS World. While groups sharing the same passion and getting together isn’t unique, this year there is an easier way to spread the word with the Community Event Registration. Anyone can submit a meetup by filling out this form and letting SOLIDWORKS know what your event is about and how others can RSVP. Currently there are two events listed on the website: SOLIDWORKS World Runners/Walkers and 2018 CAD Monkey Dinner. Find out more information on how to RSVP to the events here. 

Bonus! Want to get together outside of the conference? Don’t break the bank with the Show Your Badge program. This allows all attendees to receive discounts and special offers at restaurants, activities, transportation and shopping! 

Digital Media Awards

For the third year in a row, TriMech is participating in the SOLIDWORKS World Digital Media Awards. Last year, Todd Troutt (aka: Techline Todd) entered a CAD parody called Can’t Stop the Modeling and Stephen Petrock entered an educational video about SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation. This year, Todd has another rendition up his sleeve that we think is a real contender. Watch, like and share his 2018 entry: Sweet CAD of Mine.

Beach & Brews

We said this was a complete guide, and our guide wouldn’t truly be complete without everyone’s favorite: the Tuesday evening special event.

SOLIDWORKS is hosting this year’s event, Beach & Brews, on February 6 from 7:00pm – 10:00pm PT at the LA Live Event Deck. Here you can have your fill of California cuisine, drinks and networking with old friends as well as creating new friends. 

But food, drinks and conversation is not all that is in store for the evening! There are going to be mad scientists, artists, inventors and storytellers from Two Bit Circus showing off some of their most popular games. We can’t wait!

SOLIDWORKS will provide transportation to and from the hotels starting at 6:30pm and wrapping up around 10:30pm, freeing you up to enjoy all the food and libations at your leisure. 

Accommodations

Since SOLIDWORKS World is the 3D event of the year and has a jam-packed agenda, it’s important to stay close by so you’re not wasting time in traffic. The SOLIDWORKS World housing reservation website is closed, but all hope is not lost! Hotels are still directly taking reservations, so don’t drag your feet and call today before they’re completely full! 

Omni Los Angeles – 213.617.3300

LA Hotel Downtown – 213.617.1133 

Hilton Checkers Los Angeles – 213.624.0000

Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites – 213.624.1000

Courtyard LA Live – 213.443.9222

JW Marriott Los Angeles at LA Live – 213.765.8600

Luxe City Center Hotel – 213.748.1291

The Millennium Biltmore – 213.624.1011

Residence Inn LA Live – 213.443.9200

Sheraton Grand Los Angeles – 213.488.3500

View our daily recaps from SOLIDWORKS World!