When a father shares his passion for design with kids

Edgar Tellez, from Mexico, has many talents: he is a mechatronic engineer, a mechanical designer, a SOLIDWORKS user group leader in Puebla Mex., and a SOLIDWORKS Champion Program member. He has been using SOLIDWORKS for over 9 years in different industries, companies, personal projects, 3D printing and modelling, and he loves it.

However, this article will focus on Edgar’s other talent as a father and his use of SOLIDWORKS Apps for Kids. “I have a little daughter, and STEM skills always seemed very important to me from an early age. Everything that surrounds us starts with an idea, then a design and its manufacture. Children are experts in imagining new things and bringing them to reality. SOLIDWORKS Apps for Kids has all the capacity to help them promote their ideas, increase their problem-solving skills and propose improvements to existing things as well as learning design and engineering in a fun, easy and friendly way” says Edgar.

From imagination to manufacturing with SOLIDWORKS Apps for Kids

Edgar discovered SOLIDWORKS Apps for Kids during the 3DEXPERIENCE WORLD 2021. Immediately, he saw the potential of all the applications and how they could impact children in their training and the development of their skills.

Then, he started using SOLIDWORKS Apps for Kids and discovered that it was fun and easy to use with a minimalist interface. “It is literally like having a bit of modeling clay and molding it to achieve our design. So I started using Apps for Kids Classroom resources and organized a course for kids in my community with lessons focused on STEM activities and design improvement challenges on commonly used objects” comments Edgar. In addition to Apps for Kids, they also used SOLIDWORKS applications for children, BlocksCAD and the eDrawings application. “The combination between SOLIDWORKS Apps for Kids and BlocksCAD is amazing. BlocksCAD helped us create the 3D design and allowed us to learn about math and programming. The software is really funny and so easy to use even if you don’t have any experience in coding. And also, during my study and preparation, I found many supports like video tutorials and a big community” said Edgar.

The understanding of engineering principles

It was a learning experience for both Edgar and the kids who understood design and engineering principles. In addition, when using the “Style it” app, they could express many ideas and bring their creations to reality from 2D to 3D. During one of the sessions, they showed Edgar some sheets of paper with designs that they drew themselves and not only that, they projected their models on different views and measurements and then started designing them in SOLIDWORKS Apps for Kids.

A tool for changing their life

They were enthusiastic and proud to share their designs with other children. Other children’s projects could also inspire them in any part of the world. When they saw their 2D designs captured in 3D, their way of seeing the world really changed.

Now they knew that what they imagined could not only remain in their mind or on a sheet of paper but could become real and that their designs could provide solutions to different problems or needs in their environment and help other people.

Edgar’s favourite aspect of Apps for Kids is that it gives children the possibility of learning a workflow similar to the one in the industry: ideating, creating, improving, and taking it to production. According to Edgar, this will be useful to them in the future whether they decide to study some engineering or not. Still, it will serve them throughout their lives in different aspects and everyday activities at school, home, work and life plans. He also thinks that it inspires them to pursue careers in design and engineering.

“I certainly want to continue sharing my love for design and engineering with my daughter and the children in my community and inspiring them with more and better activities and courses focused on STEM skills using SOLIDWORKS Apps for Kids and BlocksCAD” ends Edgar.

If you are a parent and want to organize Apps for Kids workshops with a community of kids, feel free to create a SOLIDWORKS Apps for Kids Classroom account and organize your workshop as a class.

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