On 2/22 and 3/8, IDSA Chicago, together with the University of Illinois at Chicago Industrial Design Department, held the first of two SolidWorks workshops with content developed for the novice 3D CAD modeler in mind. Ed Honda and Bob McGaughey from CATI (Computer Aided Technology, Inc., a leading reseller of SolidWorks), engaged the full crowd with demonstrations of the principles of the software. For the second session on March 8, Mr. McGaughey led the visual presentation and exercises which focused on complex surfaces, surface continuity, and lofting, while Ed worked 1 on 1 with students to answer individual questions during the exercises.

Regarding the events, John H. Gaden, IDSA, commented that "It was encouraging to see so many students and more seasoned designers interested in Solidworks" while Yoshie Kinnan, IDSA, agreed that it was a very useful event. The last session is on March 22 and will focus on Complex Problems. The session is only open to UIC students and IDSA Chicago members. IDSA members can register for the workshop here.