A round-up of June DriveWorks Drivers
DriveWorks Drivers: Connecting a global community of DriveWorks users
Sharing technical know-how and practical experience informally with each other is something we know many people using DriveWorks like to do. DriveWorks Drivers provides a platform for this, connecting DriveWorks users worldwide. The meetings feature guest speakers sharing their experiences and encouraging questions and dialogue about the technology.
We recently hosted the June 2026 DriveWorks Drivers meeting. Thank you to everyone who joined us, with special thanks to our guest presenters. Here’s a round-up of what we covered.
Live implementation recap at DriveWorks Drivers
We launched our first DriveWorks World live implementation feature last year, and it was back by popular demand again this year.
The live implementation team was made up of DriveWorks technical experts – Dorian from our Customer Success team, Blake from our Development team, and Ben from our Technical Presales team. Their brief was to implement DriveWorks 24 features to our steel door configurator to bring it up to date using the latest technology and UX best practices.
The team joined us live in the studio throughout DriveWorks World to share their progress and discuss how and why they have implemented specific features and functionality.
In their recap at DriveWorks Drivers, the live implementation team provided a behind-the-scenes look at how they used the latest functionality to redesign the configurator and some of the methods they employed to ensure an improved UX. You can try out the steel door configurator for yourself, together with other configurator demos, at driveworkslive.com.
How Leidos use DriveWorks
DriveWorks reseller, Visiativ UK joined us to run through a project they’ve worked on with their DriveWorks customer, Leidos.
Leidos is a multinational technology & engineering company delivering advanced solutions in defense, aviation, and security markets. In aviation, they provide screening technologies, including automated security lanes. Leidos’s lane designs are all very modular, so perfect for DriveWorks.
Seeing other implementations is a great way of getting new ideas for your own projects, and the Leidos implementation generated lots of questions from attendees.
The Paul Gimbel Award
We shared the shortlist of nominees for the Paul Gimbel Award and announced the overall winner. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to the DriveWorks Community, consistently sharing knowledge and providing mentorship in and around DriveWorks-related topics and community values.
Shortlisted nominees:
- Christophe Demuynck – Visiativ France
- Dave Dewey – Base 10 Consultants
- Mark Van Dang – Solid Solutions
- Zach Long – Design Minds Consulting
Honourable mentions:
- Devin Martin – TriMech
- Edurardo Felipe Martins – SKA
- Joel Hanneman – TPM
- Kevin Lancaster – GSC
- Lee Heron – Dorner Mfg
- Nick Saunders – Extronics
- Paritosh Singh – Reading Truck
The inaugural winner of the Paul Gimbel Award for DriveWorks technical excellence and community spirit is Dave Mandl – Global Power Components.
From implementing DriveWorks in several companies to actively supporting users in the DriveWorks forum and at SWUG meetings, Dave has made a very meaningful contribution. He consistently goes above and beyond, sharing knowledge, inspiring others, and helping to grow the community. His passion for DriveWorks and his commitment to connecting users make him a very worthy winner. Congratulations Dave!
The Final Lap: Optimizing user experience
In the Final Lap segment of DriveWorks Drivers, we look at a particular feature or functionality in more detail. In both the Live Implementation recap and the Leidos presentation, we saw the impact of effective UX.
So for the Final Lap, DriveWorks UX experts Eve Glover and Sophie Nichol explored why user experience is so important and shared some practical tips on how to improve the user experience for any configurators you’re building.
IronSWUG 2026
Join us on 14th July at DriveWorks HQ for the Warrington stop of IronSWUG-EuroSWUG 2026, part of a week-long motorbike tour with three other UK stops. This unique hybrid event combines the thrill of a motorbike rally with the opportunity to dive deep into SOLIDWORKS skills, tips, and tricks.
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Useful links
Register for September 2026 DriveWorks Drivers
Join us at the September DriveWorks Drivers meeting on 3rd September 2026.
The meeting will run on Microsoft Teams at 8am BST and 4pm BST.
Find the time in your timezone here. Below are some common time zones for each of the meetings:
8am BST
12.30pm IST | 3pm ICT | 7pm NZDT
4pm BST
9am MST | 11am EST | 5pm CET