25 Years of Model Mania®

Every year, Dassault Systemes hosts one of the largest engineering conferences in the world. Since SOLIDWORKS World 2000, Model Mania® has been an attraction for many engineers and designers wanting to compete and show off their SOLIDWORKS skills. Model Mania, for those not familiar, is a design challenge where your modelling skills are measured on both accuracy and time. For more information about Model Mania, check out the past drawings and solution videos below, or go to my.solidworks.com and search for “Model Mania”.

Here’s how it works. First, you are first given a 2D drawing of a part. Your goal is to create that part in SOLIDWORKS as quickly and as accurately as possible. Seems simple, right? Well the second “Phase” is when things get really interesting. For Phase 2, you are given a modified version of that drawing; you can consider it an engineering change if you like. Your goal is to make the design change as quickly and as accurately as possible and run a simulation to determine the minimum factor of safety. At 3DEXPERIENCE World, all of the entries are judged on accuracy first, and time second, because in the real world, it doesn’t matter how fast you get something done if it’s not right.

Mark Schneider ran Model Mania for 20 years, from 2002-2021, and has passed the Model Mania ‘reigns’ on to Jenn Doerksen. Jenn has been involved with Model Mania for many years, you may have met her at the Model Mania booth at 3DEXPERIENCE World over the years. We thank Mark for his dedication to keeping the Model Mania challenge fun and exciting for so long, and wish him well on his new endeavors.

The models, drawings, and other materials created for the Model Mania® Challenge and distributed by Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Corporation (DS SolidWorks) are intended for the sole use of DS SolidWorks, its partners, and customers, and may not be used for commercial purposes except by DS SolidWorks partners without written consent from DS SolidWorks.

Model Mania 2000