Well, another COE Annual Conference is over and the value of bringing together USERS has been proven again.  In these days when online communication is so accessible, it is great to see how users respond to hearing advice and ideas from their fellow users as much as they do to the experts from Dassault Systèmes and other partners.  Perhaps it is the dedicated time, instead of snatching a few minutes while at work, or it is the opportunity to interpret the body language, vocal tone and crowd reaction that makes the presentation of experience more effective at a physical event?

From a Dassault Systèmes’ perspective, it is always an interesting occasion because the focus of discussion moves from the sales people to the technical, training, support and development teams.  Many of these meetings have been taking place for many years, (Philippe Laufer, CATIA CEO, has been discussing with COE members for  years since his time as an R&D product manager).  So the planning and thinking that takes place in these 3 days can drive a years work and the chance to mix the work with an element of socializing only helps the productivity.  CATIA is certainly at the heart of the conference but almost every user also has a connection with another Dassault Systèmes brands or partner application.  This discussion, around real world environments, makes the key difference between a sales and marketing event and a user event plus it links in the participation of nearly all the Dassault Systèmes brands to serve the users needs.

But my personal lesson is that COE is not about just 3 days in April but it is a year round community that has its foundation in the Regional User Groups (RUGs) and the online forums.  Without doubt the annual conference needs to justify the time and investment of  the COE members and their employers but it’s integrity and right to speak for its members is based on discussions and experience that is captured at regional and communal level.

The coming year seems to be a good one! The V6 discovery panel, (a shared V6 design project that is supported by Dassault Systèmes), as well as potential new RUGs in places as diverse as Seattle and Shanghai, show that COE really is thinking about its member’s needs.   The foundation for members coming to COE is about education.  The COE University classes as well as the expert sessions represent significant value to users and the future seems to be bright in this area, so that the new opportunities that Dassault Systèmes brands bring can be tested, learnt and discussed by the COE members and valuable lessons learned.

COE is not the only strong CATIA user group in the world but it does possess a certain style.  This could be based around the people that drive the organisation or it may be that the Florida sun is more appealing than the UK rain But it is certainly a group of people that when motivated can energize the user base and is never afraid to ask the tough questions.  The coming months will show that CATIA and its user groups can do more to connect users, discussions and awareness of how CATIA can shape the product design experience.  User groups, like COE, are key partners in that and we look forward to announcing some fun ways that CATIA users can hold their hands up to be counted.  I am currently trying to build connections with user groups around the world so that we can increase our support for their efforts, if you are part of a group or would appreciate some assistance in starting a group then please let me know 

Andy Reilly is a member of CATIA brand and a regular COE attendee

Following our previous blog post on IF WE Challenge third winner Andjelic Zoran, the turn is now to our second prize winner Ismael Cendejas. Ismael is coming from Mexico, but has recently studied in University of Victoria, BC, Canada. His winning IF WE Dream was: “IF WE design more exoskeletons we can help more people with different capacity”.

As a matter of fact, Ismael is working on two projects in this domain:

I have two projects about Exoskeletons. The first is about the Design of an Exoskeleton for training people with Parkinson’s Disease, which is part of a thesis of a bachelor. The second one is a Design and Matlab simulation of a portable exoskeleton for hand rehabilitation. [...] The most critical engineering discipline in these projects I think is Systems Engineering because all the diseases and patients are different, in that way they need to be treated personally, implying the necessity to develop a program for each one.

Ismael was kind enough to share the following pictures with us

Ismael has been using CATIA and SIMULIA for his project. As a winner of the second prize, we’re happy to provide Ismael with a high performance laptop (shown above) coming with 3DS software, thus adding our small contribution to this project with a great social impact potential.

Keep up the good work, Ismael! 

Today, we had the pleasure to welcome a new colleague in our 3DS Academy team … NAO! 

NAO is a programmable, 57-cm tall humanoid robot! Created by French company Aldebaran Robotics, NAO was introduced for the first time in 2006 (and we interviewed his maker Bruno Maissonier in 2010). It measures 56 centimeters, weighs 11 pounds and have a capacity of 25 degrees of freedom, allowing reproducing the majority of human movements (walking, holding an object, playing football, dancing…).

It’s also a walking computer on steroids: 2 CPU (one Intel ATOM 1.6 ghz), 2 HD 920p cameras 30 fps for vision, 4 microphones, Wi-Fi, 9 tactile sensors, inertial platform consisting of an accelerometer, two gyro-meters, sonar rangefinder, 8 pressure sensors…

Dassault Systèmes, through its partnership with Aldebaran Robotics, innovates by proposing a new software platform (3DEXPERIENCE platform) to develop new experiences with NAO.  It is a new step after NAO Tutorials for SolidWorks. As such, the 3DS academy team has modeled the robot using the 3DEXPERIENCE apps and is now programming its behavior with CATIA Systems. We will certainly keep you informed about every progress the team will make!

Watch this to find out more about NAO:

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Talk to you soon!