Non-commercial learning edition of NX? 4

[driesvervoort]

Hi all,

I'm really interested in learning NX for personal use. In the company where I work, SolidWorks is the primary CAD tool. I want to try something different on my own... Question of personal fulfillment...
Is there a way to obtain a non-commercial license of NX, geared towards learning its design tools?
I've seen there's a 'NX 8.5 Learning Edition', but it's strictly available to students and academic personnel.

Regards,
Dries

 

[JohnRBaker]

We do NOT offer any sort of 'non-commerical' version of NX except to educational institutions or as so-called 'student' versions available ONLY to legitimate students and/or educators. Sorry...

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[driesvervoort]

Ah, that's too bad.
So I guess, unless I work at a company that has an NX seat or unless I own a commercial license myself, I cannot learn NX in my free time?

Dries

 

[JohnRBaker]

There are many schools, including community colleges, which teach classes using NX. Perhaps you need to check around and see what might be available in your area. Of course, it might not be totally free, but it could well be very reasonable. And besides, once you're a legitimate 'student' you could then purchase a student version of NX which IS offered at a very reasonable price.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[looslib]

Do you have any children that are in school? Buy the student edition in their name.


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[driesvervoort]

Well, the amount of personal training opportunities for NX (not organised/paid for by employer) in Belgium is quite disappointing. As in: as good as none.
I do have a few relatives that have just started attending college. I might check with them.

Dries

 

[JohnRBaker]

OFF TOPIC: Where in Belgium are you located? My grandparents (on my mother's side) were Flemish and I've still got some long lost cousins near Brugge.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[driesvervoort]

I'm from Antwerp. Not so very far from Brugge (like all places in Belgium )!

Dries

 

[driesvervoort]

slightly OFF TOPIC:
I hope someone can provide an insightful answer on this... Why is it that NX (or any high-end CAD/CAM package for that matter) is not made accessible for non-commercial use? It boggles my mind, really...
I would think that the more people can use the software on their own (with the right training material!), the better the user base is going to be and the better the purchase decision for CAD is going to be, right? NX Learning Edition seems to cater that exact need, but unfortunately only for academic.

Like in our office, we use SolidWorks. I've looked at what SolidEdge can do and honestly I think it would suit the type of work we do (lots of 3D quick designs, sheetmetal...) a lot better. But how am I supposed to convince management when all I can do is request a 45-day trial that I have to squeeze in my evening schedules?

Dries

 

[JohnRBaker]

Exactly what sort of tasks would you expect to use a so-called 'non-commercial' verison of NX, or for that matter, any high-end CAD system, for?

For vendors of professional engineering tools such as CAD/CAE/CAM/PDM systems, there are really only TWO legitimate categories of usage, Commercial and Educational. If you work for a company that is conducting a serious evaluation of CAD systems you should have no problems whatsoever getting a temporary evaluation copy for use by personal AT that company. But if you're just trying to get access to a copy of the software so that you can learn how to use it for your own personal development, and if your company if not willing to underwrite that effort either by BUYING a copy of the software or paying the cost to take a class, then your only option is to find an educational organization offering classes and pay for them yourself, and once enrolled you could purchase an educational version of the software for you own personal usage. But be warned, the educational versions of software is often (I know that NX is and I assume it's the same for SE) designed so that any files created using the software cannot be plotted nor can the files be opened and used in a commercial version of that same software.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[looslib]

Also, the education versions do not come with any technical support nor are they upgradeable. If you buy NX8 today and decide you really need to learn NX9, you have to buy the newer version at the same full cost.

Like John said, if you want a company evaluation copy, you can ask your local sales office to loan you a copy for 60-90 days to allow you time to learn and do an evaluation. I have used this method in the past with both Unigraphics and Pro/Engineer.



"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[driesvervoort]

I would use it for hobby projects. I actually own multiple 'learning edition' licenses of software packages that offer much of the functionality of their full versions, but with some key features (that ARE important for commercial work, like: importing/exporting, no watermark on output etc.) disabled.
Some of these 'learning edition' (or personal use) licenses I own: Maxwell Render Learning Edition, RealFlow Learning Edition, Unity.

Some companies like 3D Systems (Cubify) understand there is a real need for affordable personal design software.

Dries

 

[JohnRBaker]

I think you will find that the high-end products, such as NX, Catia and Pro-E/Creo, or even the mid-range product like Solid Edge and SolidWorks, are NOT marketed as "affordable personal design software". If that's what you're looking for, perhaps something like 'SketchUp' might be a better fit.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[skanskan]

One reason to get a non-commercial version of a high end CAD system could be just to learn it in order to have more opportunities to find a good job.
Of course one person with a non-commercial version of that software is not going to design and build a ship, plane or even a car, so it wouldn't be a lost client.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Perhaps GM or Ford should allow people to just come in and 'borrow' cars off the lot so that they can learn to be taxi drivers or chauffeurs. Or maybe Nikon should give anyone wanting to learn photography full-frame DSLR's for $50 each.

BTW, does your company let people have access to whatever it is that you manufacture so that they can learn how to use it so that they could later get a job where something like it was being utilized? I suspect not...

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[driesvervoort]

@skanskan:
My thoughts exactly.

I feel that the entertainment software industry somehow is more on top of this trend. Maybe because artists do more personal work in their free time?
I'll show a few examples:
NUKE Personal Learning Edition = free vs. NUKE = $4155
Houdini Apprentice HD = $99/yr vs. Houdini FX = $4495 ($2495/yr maintenance after 1st yr)
Of course there are restrictions (watermarks, special file formats...), but nothing that gets in the way of a solid learning experience and portfolio building.

These two packages are considered high-end in their fields. Yet, they are very affordable/accessible for the purpose of learning.

I think it is at least an interesting observation that some companies are very willing to expose their software to anyone, while others won't (as easily).

Dries

 

[Nham]

Hi,

I want to share my opi ion and to not violate terms. please do not interpret this in the wrong way. all thing need a perspective and this is mine.

While it is great to debate what real value there is for letting students and hobbyist use nx, the real question to siemes is that how many votes and future buyers you want to lose during student time towards other cad software like Autodesk etc. who have free downloads to all software and student programs available against a valid student email address.

These companies realize the value of adopting thing that are available instead of hoping to get revenue from big companies who recruit people to NX jobs with other cad software background. get them young line MC D with burgers and free stuff and birthdays and parties...

I work for a global company and face this challenge. students have access to solidworks and all autodesk software but not siemens tc nor Nx for free. I cannot understand this no matter how much I try.

Hard to promote software and to always have to train people on all continents while lesser plm companies software has many people that can use it already from school. Kind of adds cost if you think of hiring lots of different resources and having to train all of them of mostly none.

I truly am with you who take the trouble to ask correct ways to find sudent versions while there are no practical way to do so.

Globally responsible of TC and NX

NH

 

[JohnRBaker]

There are thousands of seats of NX in educational institutions all over the world. For more information about the various educational programs that Siemens PLM Software supports, please go to:

http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/en_us/academic/

And as an example of just one of these programs which ueses NX to prepare students around the globe for when they move out to the real world, a program which I'm personally involved with, and that would be P.A.C.E.:

http://pacepartners.org/index.php

And for a list of the educational institutes which are part of P.A.C.E., go to:

http://pacepartners.org/institutions.php

And this is just one program of many.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[driesvervoort]

John, thanks for that info! I'm digging into it...
Actually there is a university college near Brugge (Kortrijk) where Siemens NX is taught to industrial design students. (They used to teach Pro/E...)
I'm poking around to find out if I can attend (some of) those classes. These classes are part of a full diploma program, so I'm not sure what is possible.

Sadly, in Belgium there are no such things as community colleges that offer focussed CAD training...At least not that I know of.

Thanks for the help!

 

[joycejo]

Not too far from me is a Vocational high school that has NX, Vericut and other software as part of their curriculum. These High School students are in huge demand in this area and can start at most companies earning a very competitive wage. Siemens has provided the software and students have, what I think is most important, PROPER TRAINING. By teaming up with numerous schools Siemens has taken the correct approach. I have had several supposed "power" users apply for positions that have not had any training. Yes they can create a model but none of them understand the importance of making their models easy to modify in the future. I have yet to find someone that does NC programming using NX that has not has dome type of training. I like John’s analogy of the car dealership. Frankly you get what you pay for.


John Joyce
N.C. Programming Supervisor
Barnes Aerospace, Windsor CT
NX6, NX7.5 & NX8.5
Vericut7.2.3