Student Versions of NX/Solid Edge?

[ubercad]

There are student versions avilable for Catia V5, Solidworks, a mutitude of Autodesk products including Inventor, and Pro/e I belive. For someone looking to expand ther skill set of cad applications, these are highly usefull in developing a proficency on a new software.

How come Seimens doesn't offer student versions of NX and/or Solid Edge? Gaining any experince on this software outside of getting a job where these applications are used (catch 22 applies) or taking a course at a university or college (provided you are eligible to audit the course) would be next to impossible.

I'm in the Columbus OH area.

Ideas? Suggestions?


The glass is operating at %50 capacity.

 

[ewh]

For what it's worth, Solid Edge drafting is free, no student edition necessary.

"Good to know you got shoes to wear when you find the floor." - [small]Robert Hunter[/small]

 

[JohnRBaker]

Have you actually contacted your local Siemens PLM Software representative and asked about what options are available?

If you don't know how to contact anyone, try calling...

1-800-498-5351

...and perhaps someone will be able to help you.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

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

 

[ubercad]

John,

I went to the following:

http://www.plm.automation.siemens.c...solidedge/free_trial/solid_edge_free_eval.cfm

I filled out the info and was contaced a few days later. No dice for a 30 day trial version because I won't be purchasing it for $5000. Being currently unemployed, I can't justify the expense. He said Ohio State uses it, so if I can just audit the class that gives me acces to SE, great. I guess I can get the drafting for free though...

I will however take a class at Columbus State, get my student I.D. and purchase a student version of Catia and Solidworks and Inventor and Pro/e.... but no Seimens products.

John, how much market share does Seimens (NX or SE) have in the U.S. market? What about your competion?


The glass is operating at 50% capacity.

 

[JohnRBaker]

I work for product development, not marketing or sales (although I did at one time, but that was years ago). Our organization is not responsible for setting the pricing and/or distribution policies for our products, however if you are in contact with our local Siemens PLM Software rep, he/she would be your best contact for now in terms of getting your case heard.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

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

 

[Simon205]

Surely it's Siemens' loss; if there's generations of grads growing up and using SW, ProE etc... mainly as they find it easy to get hold of, then they'll be the ones making the CAD decisions in the future when they're working for companies purchasing the software.

 

[ubercad]

Simon,

I share your sentiments.

Seems to me, that by letting people (not just students) get ahold of a trial version, whether its 30 days or a 12 month licence, it could be looked at as a form of advertising, a kind sales technique - you know, customer involvement.

The glass is operating at 50% capacity.

 

[potrero]

Siemens typically WILL give 30-day trial licenses...it's just not very "easy" to get set up. Although this might be changing, it seems to have recently (ie: 2008) been the model to assign a salesperson to each customer - it's "high touch" and takes a lot of back-and-forth to get set up. Even if you know exactly which "Velocity" package you want to demo, getting the trial going is quite the chore. This high-touch, salesperson-heavy approach must add quite a bit of cost to the product on Siemens' side.

One possible upside (to the customer) of this approach was the ability to negotiate large discounts on the license & maintenance cost.

I've heard that a lot of the ability to negotiate has been removed by "higher-ups" within Siemens recently (ie: 2009). While this might seem to be a highly counter-intuitive strategic decision (especially in a down market, when you'd want to be very flexibly with customers' budgetary limitations), it actually might have a golden lining of sorts. For example, Siemens has recently been running a steep discount on NX Advanced Simulation - available WITHOUT any negotiation at all. If this is a sign of things to come, it actually might be a good change, since the negotiations could be incredibly drawn-out and fatiguing.

In general, it'd be great if Siemens could move toward a model where the software is more quickly delivered at a reasonable price to potential customers.

 

[ubercad]

I can download a student version of Catia V5 (12 mo. licence) for $75.

The following can be purchased froman online "superstore":

Solidworks - $140

AutoCAD Inventor Professional Suite 2010 Education (61 Month Term) - $155

Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 4.0 Student Edition - $70
Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 4.0 for Personal Use - $250

I'm statring to think Seimens doesn't know what their competition is up to.









The glass is operating at 50% capacity.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Trust me, there are tens of thousands of STUDENTS using NX and Solid Edge in classrooms across this country and around the world as the result of donations made by Siemens to universities, community colleges, vocational schools and even some high schools. This is the approach that has been taken by the company for many years in terms of assuring that STUDENTS have an opportunity to learn new skills utilizing the latest software tools.

Other vendors may choose to take a different approach, but Siemens' feels that the route they have taken provides the maximum benefit for the largest number of individuals while at the same time establishing a solid infrastructure which will continue to deliver on that promise for years to come.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

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

 

[ubercad]

Well it looks like i'll have to try to audit a class at Ohio State.

If you know of any other institutions of higher learinng in the Columbus, OH area, please let me know.

The glass is operating at 50% capacity.

 

[JohnRBaker]

BTW, there may be some progress soon in this arena, but I don't yet have any details (I just got wind of this myself this morning). When it's appropriate, there will be an announcement made. I'll try to keep you up-to-date as to when that might be.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

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

 

[ubercad]

Well I just spent two hours looking for a specific class offered at any nearbly university or college that offers a class that teaches solidedge. No luck whatsoever. I did find through press releases and a very thorough search that Ohio State, University of Ohio and Miami University (of Ohio) use solidedge. I have yet to find out whether or not I can audit a course that will allow me to obtain a student version. It could be that my ony accces to this software would be to go to a computer lab on logon. BTW Miami U and U of O are each a 90 min. drive.

No university (nearby) I know of uses NX.

I'm just about to give up because I get the impression the Seimens is not interested in proffesionals expanding thier skill set with their software. If they are, they sure make it difficult.

Fooey!

The glass is operating at 50% capacity.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Did you read my last reply?

While I have no details that I can share at the moment, it would be unfair to suggest that we are "not interested" in filling this need.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

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

 

[ubercad]

Ok, ok... no need to get defensive.

I'll patiently stand by for future anouncemnets.

I'm done.

The glass is operating at 50% capacity.

 

[ubercad]

Hey John,

I just stumbled accross these sites: (I don't know why they didn't turn up before)

http://lunderkin.com/buy_cheap-solid-edge-16-oem.php

http://www.archwaysystems.com/archway/prodsolidedge.htm

Are these legit?

The glass is operating at 50% capacity.

 

[JohnRBaker]

I believe the second one is legitimate, but I suspect that the first one may not be.

That being said, thank you for passing these along and while I'm not part of the Solid Edge group, since it is a product of Siemens PLM Software, we all need to be aware and watchful when there might be an issue with less than legal copies of the software being sold. Therefore I'll forward this information to our legal people and if I learn anything, I'll let you all know.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

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

 

[JohnRBaker]

OK, it's as I suspected, the second site, from Archway Systems, is legitimate. However, I would stay away from the other one as the 'cost' of anything you purchase there may prove to be much higher than advertised ;-)

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

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

 

[ubercad]

John,

Any update as to if/when Siemens will make available a trial or student version of NX4,5,6... avialable to those of us who are out of work and only last used a earlier version of NX and would like to keep up with the latest version of NX so they can add to their marketability?

I last used NX3 but employeers want NX4 or NX5. I would at least like to be able to familiarize myself with the newer versions.

The glass is operating at 50% capacity.

 

[JohnRBaker]

I've been told that there will be something to announce very soon. When it is announced there will a press release posted on our corporate website (link provided in my 'signature' below).

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

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