Solidworks Associate Certification

Solidworks Certifications are a standard metric used to test your knowledge and competency with the software. A certification separates you out from the crowd and demonstrate your abilities. All Solidworks certifications are adjudicated online and passing results are cataloged by Solidworks so employers are able to confirm your certification.

• CSWA: Certified Solidworks Associate
• CSWP: Certified Solidworks Professional
• CSWPA: Certified Solidworks Professional Advanced:
  • Sheet Metal
  • Weldments
  • Surfacing
  • Mold Tools
  • Drawing Tools
• CSWE: Certified Solidworks Expert

This section will be a breakdown of the sections of the exam with relevant skills that will be tested.

3 questions of 5 points each

• Miscellaneous questions on drafting functionality

2 questions of 15 points each

• Sketching
• Extruded Boss
• Extrude Cut
• Modification of Key Dimensions

2 questions of 15 points each

• Sketching
• Revolve Boss
• Extrude Cut
• Circular Pattern

3 questions of 15 points each

• Sketching
• Sketch Offset
• Extrude Boss
• Extrude Cut
• Modification of Key Dimensions
• More Difficult Geometry Modifications

4 questions of 30 points each

• Placing of Base Part
• Mates
• Modification of Key Parameters in Assembly

• Questions: 14
• Points: 240
• Points needed to pass: 165
• Maximum Time: 180 min

If you are an absolute beginner and have never used SOLIDWORKS, it is recommended that you look through the introductory documentation which can be found from the home splash screen by navigating to the Learn tab and clicking on the “Introducing SOLIDWORKS” square which will pull up a lengthy PDF document. You can also navigate from your file explorer by going to Local Disk (C:)\Program Files\SOLIDWORKS Corp\SOLIDWORKS\lang\english\introsw.pdf

In this section I will be discussing the introductory documentation that is included with the 2019 version of SOLIDWORKS. While someone who is experienced in SOLIDWORKS may not need to take an in depth look at this document, I would recommend skimming it as there may be little nuggets of information that would help streamline your workflow.

Now this document may seem overwhelming so take it in chunks. The guide is broken down into chapters which will help you to digest the vast amount of knowledge that it discloses.

In this Chapter you get a lot of information about the bare basics of navigating and eventually using the software. One key takeaway from this section is the terminology overview on pages 14 and 15. While these may feel like just simple terms it is very beneficial to know these terms for future applications within the software. Another Key element to the SOLIDWORKS user interface (UI) is the FeatureManager Design Tree which lays out all the elements of your model or assembly in a tiered system. It will place parent drawings to feature in essentially a folder under that feature. An additional function of the FeatureManager is the rollback bar which is that thin blue line at the end of all your features. If you hover over your cursor will become a small hand which you can use to pull that line up suppressing any features underneath it. This is a very useful element of editing as you can go back to an earlier stage of your model or assembly without much effort and then when you move the bar back down SOLIDWORKS will automatically rebuild your model or assembly with the changes you’ve made.

The UI of SOLIDWORKS may seem a bit overwhelming on first glance but really there are just 5 different ways to one action and as you continue to use the software whichever way feels most comfortable to you will become apparent. Additionally you can tailor your UI to your liking from changing keyboard shortcuts to completely rearranging the toolbars around the graphics area. One feature of the UI that I use often is the mouse gestures since you don’t have to move your mouse very far to change to a common action.

Make sure to pay careful attention to the dimensions section as fully defined sketches and features are the only way to ensure your model doesn’t fall apart when you change something later.

In these chapters there is an in depth look at every aspect to modeling a bathroom vanity. This section may be beneficial to the absolute beginner who has never used a CAD software before, but for most this is a fairly straight forward review of content you probably already know about. For the beginners who will be going through this section you can try to build the models that they go through in the introduction however they have limited information on dimensions and are mostly going through the process of explaining what each of the steps does not necessarily how to do it.

This section is very much the same as chapters 3 and 4 only about drawings this time. I think the drawing features of most CAD software are the most nuanced and unique to their own systems so it wouldn’t hurt to go through this section and understand how SOLIDWORKS does it’s version of drawing.

Chapter 6 goes through some advanced actions that can be taken within the SOLIDWORKS ecosystem but aren’t necessarily crucial to learn to perform basic design. The one subsection that may be useful to the standard user is the Library of standard parts which is an integrated way of adding simple hardware to your designs like nuts and bolts.

This is the step-by-step lesson which will go through the application of all the information you’ve gained from the previous chapters. So crack open SOLIDWORKS and get ready to model. Once you’ve completed this first tutorial in the introduction you can move onto the integrated tutorials build right into SOLIDWORKS.

After getting a grasp on the basics of SOLIDWORKS the next step I recommend is going through the CSWP/CSWA preparatory tutorials which can be found by opening the welcome splash screen by clicking the house icon on the top toolbar, then click the Learn tab and the square that says “Tutorials”. This will bring up a second window which will lock adjacent to your SOLIDWORKS workspace. Click on the “CSWP/CSWA Preparation” tab and then follow the attached tutorials. While this may seem fairly basic to the experienced SOLIDWORKS user it is a good reinforcement of how SOLIDWORKS expects a part to be made and gives you an understanding of how they want the parts you’ll be creating during the exam to look.

Solidworks uses an integrated software called Tangix TesterPRO to adjudicate their exams. You can find a video on how to download and navigate the software here and get a direct download of the software from this website.

It is recommended to take the practice exam within the testing software to get a feel for how the actual one will go. Once you’re prepared to take the official exam you’ll need to get an activation code which you can either buy or if you are a Terrapin Works Employee can contact Nate about. Then just type the activation code into the box of the testing software and a credit should appear next to the appropriate test, you can then begin your test in the same fashion that you did with the practice exam.