This annual event gives users a sneak peek at new features, live training and answers from experienced engineers.
Every year, GoEngineer hosts a free event to unveil Solidworks updates, answer questions and train engineers on new features. Engineering.com attended the Solidworks 2025 Watch Party in Cleveland, Ohio, to learn about the release scheduled for November 15, 2024. The event included local Solidworks users who watched virtual presenters demonstrate the new features.
“We gather as many people as possible to train them on what’s new and upcoming, as well as answer any questions they have,” said Robert Warren, product strategy manager for simulation at GoEngineer. “There are live demonstrations of the software on what’s new, technical features that are coming up, what to look for and how those features change year over year.”
The Solidworks 2025 release has about 200 enhancements that will be delivered throughout next year. GoEngineer covered new capabilities for parts, sheet metal and weldments, assemblies, drawing and model-based definition (MBD), collaboration, rendering, electronic computer-aided design (ECAD), mechanical computer-aided design (MCAD) and manufacturing. Common themes among the new features include improved performance, usability, visualizations and efficiency, and the presenters used Proteus Motion’s designs to demonstrate these. Proteus Motion creates exercise machines for professional athletes and uses Solidworks extensively for design changes, finite element analysis (FEA), and even packaging considerations.
“One of the benefits of Solidworks is every year, users submit recommendations for enhancements, and they listen to 90% of those,” said Warren. “It’s actually a popularity contest, so the more it gets voted on, the more likely they’re going to put it in. But I would say probably 90 to 95% of what is in the ‘what’s new’ came from user requests.”
In addition to the annual event, GoEngineer offers personalized training at its Cleveland location and many others around the U.S. and Canada. They also provide simulation services to help individuals and companies expedite product development, regardless of whether they have Solidworks licenses.
“One of the nice things that we do is if they want to invest in the software later or if they own the software but need an answer quickly, we do a technology transfer. So, not only do we do the project for them and get them an answer pretty quickly, but we also teach them how we did it and why we did it to empower them to do it themselves,” said Warren. “We provide a very detailed report of all the outputs they were requesting, and then also the files, so that they can move forward as quickly as possible.”
Warren has noticed an uptick in their simulation services, especially computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for thermal management on batteries, battery packs and electronics cooling. He and his team have also performed several external aerodynamic simulations to analyze fuel efficiency on vehicles and drag coefficients, for instance, coinciding with the push toward electrification. Warren also noted trends on the design side.
“Light-weighting is a big one,” he said. “Topology — so generated design, although we’re not quite to a point where we can readily use those. You still have to design over top of those, right? Because you can’t 3D print a full vehicle. But they do give a very clear direction, a way of looking at it that you wouldn’t normally see as an engineer. We’re taught to poke holes, not necessarily generate a lattice, and it gives you a new path to go down. It’s pretty interesting.”
Stay tuned as Engineering.com covers more on the Solidworks 2025 release.
