While It’s hard to believe, this is the last day of 3DEXPERIENCE World 2025, and the day we celebrate what makes SOLIDWORKS so great: our amazing community of users. Suchit Jain, VP of Strategy and Community, took the stage to greet the audience for the closing general session of this year’s event.
“Over the past few days, we’ve celebrated innovation, collaboration, and creativity within this incredible SOLIDWORKS community. Today, we bring together stories of impact and inspiration that demonstrate how our community is transforming lives and shaping the future.”
Suchit introduced Joyce Sidoplous from Mass Robotics, Luciano Betoldiv of the Fab Foundation, Charles Barrete from Field Ready, and Chin-Loo Llama from SOLIDWORKS to provide an update on the Fab-in-a-Box.
First up Joyce Sidoplous provided an update on the Jumpstart Fellowship Program. This program focuses on helping high school women interested in robotics and technology. The program provides them with a space to learn various disciplines and connects the students with female mentors and internships.
“Our goal is to build a confident workforce of technical women,” says Joyce.
Mass Robotics is the largest independent robotics hub in the world. Its efforts focus on accelerating robotics innovation, commercialization and adoption. The organization’s goal is to create and scale the next generation of successful robotics and physical AI tech companies by providing entrepreneurs and startups with the workspace, resources, programming, and connections needed to develop, prototype, test, and commercialize their products and solutions.
Field Ready is a non-profit humanitarian organization based in Chicago, Illinois. Its tagline, “Humanitarian Supplies Made in the Field,” captures the essence of its mission to revolutionize the delivery of humanitarian aid through localization. Traditional humanitarian logistics often rely on lengthy supply chains that can be costly, slow, and sometimes impractical—especially in remote or disaster-affected areas. Research from Griffith University indicates that approximately 60–80 percent of aid budgets are spent on logistics.
“Using SOLIDWORKS and its simulation capabilities, we designed a rigid unit capable of holding up to 3 tons, performed stress analysis on critical areas, and optimized weight distribution for efficient operation,” says Charles. “Looking ahead, we are developing three additional units for Samoa, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands. These units are being co-designed with local stakeholders in each country.”
Luciano also shared what’s next for Fab-in-a-Box, and how the SOLIDWORKS community can support its growth.
Next up Suchit provided an update on SkillsForce, an innovative program designed to provide free SOLIDWORKS commercial licenses to students participating in internships and co-op programs for the entire length of their work experience.
This initiative removes software cost barriers for students and gives them access to industry-standard tools, helping them gain valuable real-world experience. SkillForce won’t just benefit students—it also helps companies tap into a pipeline of skilled talent.
The SkillForce program will be available to eligible students and companies starting April 15, 2025—a date that coincides with the birthday of Leonardo da Vinci, one of history’s greatest innovators.
“Students, if you’re looking to launch your career in engineering and design, visit the SOLIDWORKS website to learn more and apply to SkillForce. Together, let’s build the future!”
Community updates
Next up to the stage were Dan Wagner, User Group Network Manager, and Matthew Clegg, Manager of the SOLIDWORKS Champions program, to provide an update on our amazing user community.
Dan started with a SWUGN update and shared some of his favorite moments from last year. They included Keystone SWUGN events like IRONSWUG, The West Michigan Summit, Data Management Summit, and SLUGME9, which connected thousands of SOLIDWORKS users around the globe. For SLUGME9, we designed and built an electric-powered drift machine.
Next, it was time to announce the SOLIDWORKS user awards. The Michelle Pillers Community Award is a lifetime achievement award meant to recognize an individual who has made a positive impact on SWUGN for several years. This year’s winner is….Kirby Downey – London SWUG
The User Group Leader of the Year award recognizes the group leader who had a particularly profound impact on the community during the year. This person for 2024 is…Stephanie Hayna – NYCSWUG
Matthew Clegg was up next to provide an update on the SOLIDWORKS Champions Program. In the world of countless communities, the SOLIDWORKS Champions Program is unique.
“We’re a very elite and boisterous band of SOLIDWORKS nerds. Think of that one person at work who loves to learn, knows every SOLIDWORKS feature and function imaginable, and they aren’t satisfied until you know them too.” Matt said. “Well, we’ve carefully collected 400 of them from 52 countries, and we’re kind of a big deal.
Our 2024 SOLIDWORKS Champion of the Year is… Sanket Patil!
Now that we’ve honored several of our most impactful community leaders, it’s time for a big announcement. I’m very excited about the future of SWUGN. Powered by AI, the global SOLIDWORKS Community will now find SWUGN events near them faster than ever before.
Matthew also announced a new community page for SWUGN, where visitors can see every group and meeting—all in one place. Visit “community.SWUGN.org” to learn more.
Before he wrapped up, Suchit provided an update on the SOLIDWORKS Certification Program.
“Let’s take a moment to celebrate our incredible SOLIDWORKS Certified Users! We are nearing a huge milestone—1 million certified users—with over 900,000 and counting! Let’s give a big round of applause to all those who have earned their SOLIDWORKS Certification and continue to push the boundaries of design and engineering!”
Gian Paolo Bassi, SVP of Mainstream Innovation and Customer Role Experience at Dassault Systèmes, came on stage to announce the next generation of product design and manufacturing with Apple Vision Pro, which is being integrated into the next generation of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to revolutionize how industries explore virtual worlds.
Karim Rashid, Redefining the Art of Design
Karim spoke about the power of creativity, innovation and design. His talk was very interesting and we encourage you to watch his keynote in this video.
We thank you all who joined us in person, and we would like to invite you all to join us again in Houston for 3DEXPERIENCE World 2026.
Watch the daily recap below to catch up on what you missed on the final day of 3DEXPERIENCE World 2025.
To read the full article, click here.
Click here to learn more, get a quote, or contact an expert at The SolidExperts.
Want to learn more and take a deep dive into SOLIDWORKS? Check out our upcoming training classes to enhance your SOLIDWORKS skills. All classes are offered in person and virtually.
SUBMIT YOUR COMMENT