CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive

15 October 2008

Company News

New Discovery Channel ‘Prototype This’ Show Uses SolidWorks to Invent the Future

If you launched a reality TV series featuring engineers inventing the future one brilliant prototype at a time, what tool would you use for quick and easy design?

SolidWorks® 3D CAD software is the choice of ‘Prototype This,’ a new Discovery Channel series that brings viewers straight to the design in an island warehouse in San Francisco Bay. Viewers experience the design process firsthand as a team of engineers and PhDs bring inventions to life. ‘Prototype This’ premiers tonight, Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 10 p.m. ET with an attempt to prototype “a mind-controlled car.”

“Any great prototype starts with a great design, and to design I use my favorite tool, SolidWorks,” said Dr. Mike North, the team’s materials and mechanical engineering expert. “It takes a lot of headache out of the design process.”

In a video on the show’s Web site, http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/prototype-this/invention-central/invention-central.html, North uses SolidWorks to quickly design a ‘Prototype This” emblem and send it to the machine shop for instant production.

(Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)

“The ‘Prototype This’ team takes full advantage of this powerful tool to design custom components for many of the builds,” the show’s Web site says. “The digital design files can be exported to the 3D printer, the CNC mill and other computer-controlled modeling or machining equipment.”

“It’s exciting to see the fun and cool aspects of engineering revealed for the world to experience,” said Fielder Hiss, director, product management of DS SolidWorks Corp. “We’re thrilled that the ‘Prototype This’ team chose SolidWorks, and we can’t wait to see what they come up with.”

About ‘Prototype This’

In a warehouse on an island in San Francisco Bay, a team of engineers and PhD's are inventing the future one prototype at a time. From finding solutions to today's problems, to conceiving cool machines that are just fun to have around, the “Prototype This” crew imagines and then invents the future by using emerging technologies to build the craziest, one-of-a-kind prototypes of tomorrow. Tune in Wednesdays for loads of zany brilliance, hi-tech wizardry, and an inside look at some of the latest tools and gadgets that just may change the way we live and work. For more information, visit http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/prototype-this/prototype-this.html.

Become a member of the CIMdata PLM Community to receive your daily PLM news and much more.

Tell us what you think of the CIMdata Newsletter. Send your feedback.

CIMdata is committed to your privacy. Your personal information will never be sold or shared outside of CIMdata without your express permission.

Subscribe