About Me
Hello. I'm Mike.
I've been involved with various CAD packages for almost 15 years. I started with HPs ME10, then onto ME30, and SolidDesigner, via Pro/Engineer, SolidWorks (way back in 1995), onto I-DEAS, then AutoCAD, and Inventor, and now back on SolidWorks. Along the way I've dealt with CAD files coming in from Vellum, and Visio, and ZEMAX.
I've also used Cosmos before it became CosmosWorks and ANSYS before it became DesignSpace (and turned back to ANSYS again), and several civil engineering FEA codes whose names I can't remember any more. I worked for years in product design where you make thousands of one part, and then for more years supporting scientific research where you make one-sies of thousands of parts.
Over the years I've seen my share of CAD files and CAD practices, both good and bad. I've worked with projects that have short timelines and long timelines, with products of high precision and pretty loose tolerances. Along the way I've fixed a lot of problems, both mine and others. By now I have formed a few opinions about what works and what doesn't.
This little website is my place to give back to the community. A friend of mine, Ed, told me many years ago - before I understood - that there is an Art to CAD. It's in his spirit that I created this. I'm trying to describe a basic philosophy at the art section, but hope to sprinkle something informational here and there for you to stumble upon.
If you want to get in touch, see my mailing address on the contact page, or start an email exchange by sending me a message via feedback.
All the Best
Mike