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The company reported record revenue of $43.6 million for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2011, a 28% increase from the $34.0 million for the same period last year.

System shipments totaled 700 units for the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to 632 units for the same period last year.

The company reported net income of $5.8 million for fourth quarter, or $0.27 per share, representing a 34% increase over the net income of $4.3 million, or $0.20 per share, for the same period last year.

Non-GAAP net income was $6.6 million for the fourth quarter, or $0.31 per share, representing a 49% increase over the non-GAAP net income of $4.4 million, or $0.21 per share, for the same period last year.

Solidscape Inc., acquired by Stratasys in May of 2011, contributed $3.2 million to revenue and 68 system sales, and was accretive to net income during the fourth quarter of 2011.

The company reported revenue of $155.9 million for the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2011, compared to $117.8 million for the same period in 2010.

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It’s that time of year again, and SolidWorks World is right around the corner.

This year, it’s being held in beautiful San Diego, CA, beginning on Sunday, February 12th. For those of us in the Northeast, that will be a nice warm treat.

Crystal Yazvac

Speaking of treats, we’re proud to announce that one of our Applications Engineers, Crystal Yazvac will be presenting this year! Her presentation: “The Wonderful World of FeatureWorks” is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

If you perform a lot of importing and you’re tired of only have a “dumb” imported feature in your model tree, then FeatureWorks is the answer to your importation nightmares!

Join us for Crystal’s presentation on Tuesday, February 14th at 1:30pm and learn how to turn your STEP, IGES®, SAT (ACIS®), VDA-FS, and Parasolid® files into usable SolidWorks files. You will be lead down a yellow brick road to a gloriously filed model tree of usable/editable features.

What’s that? You haven’t registered for SolidWorks World yet? Well you still have time, so REGISTER NOW before it’s too late!

Our Stratasys Administrator, Debbie Daniele, and our Dimension Support Specialist, Dave Tupper, decided to find something fun to print before the end of the year.

What did they decide on you ask? SNOWFLAKES!
(We figured why not enjoy them in small quantities before we’re knee deep in a snow bank shoveling out our cars.)

Debbie found the snowflake model on thingiverse.com, and downloaded the .STL for Dave to print on our uPrint.

Here are the specs:
The larger snowflakes, individually, took 0.36 inches of model, 0.19 inches of support and 42 minutes each. There was a little time savings by making a tray of them.

The smaller was 2 separate models. We printed one with a loop which used .07 inches of model, .07 inches of support and 15 minutes. The second, with no loop, used .07 inches of model, .07 inches of support and 14 minutes. These were made on the uPrint but times would be similar on a Dimension 1200es or Fortus 250mc.

These are fun, festive ways to celebrate the holidays and your 3D printer! Want to learn more? Contact Us.

CEO of DS Bernard Charlès stated, “What you see behind me is not just a building. It is a living laboratory for our Dassault Systèmes vision. From this place, we will reach out to the world with our technology and services. This is where we will help creative people visualize solutions to the challenges that face the world, validate that those visions will work, and plan how to bring those visions to life in the most efficient, sustainable way possible.”

Read more.

SteriPEN was recognized in Time Magazine’s Top 100 All-Time Gadgets
SteriPEN harnesses the brilliant power of ultraviolet light to make water safe to drink. It’s the same technology used by leading bottled water manufacturers, as well as major cities in the U.S., Europe and Asia to purify water.

The AirFlow Truck was featured in Desktop Engineering Magazine
We recently interviewed Jeremy Singley of Jeremy Singley Industrial Design and Bob Sliwa of AirFlow Truck Company and published a case study on this project. The article in Desktop Engineering has even more great information about the SuperTruck design and it’s future.

Cool Gear International’s GoGear Travel Tubes received great reviews
Cool Gear International is known for its innovative, fun and trendy products that speak to the needs of today’s creative culture. They love color, art, and design, which translates into their products. Their creativity was just one reason why we featured them in a case study as well!

Companies right here in New England are making headlines and stepping into the forefront of innovation.

We congratulate their success and look forward to many more!

Bob Sliwa was an amateur drag racer during his high school years in CT and throughout New England where he loved going fast as quickly as possible. When he was finally old enough for his Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), he bought his own truck and was surprised at what poor fuel mileage the truck got, at only 4.4 MPG. He decided to use his drag racing experience to improve the fuel mileage on his truck to increase profits for his business. But this time, the goal was not going from point “A” to point “B” as quickly as possible, but most efficiently as possible.

In 1983 Bob built one of the first aerodynamic tractor trailers in the world and gained some great sponsors and recognition. His truck was up around 10MPG just one year after the truck was built!

In 2008 the average fuel mileage for a tractor trailer was around 6.5 MPG which hadn’t changed much since the 1980’s, and the price of diesel fuel skyrocketed to $4.80 locally. So Bob decided to take another swing at an aerodynamic design with the goal of reaching 15 MPG with relatively light but full trailer loads.

Bob connected with Jeremy Singley to discuss this project and design the new truck inside SolidWorks. They went back and forth electronically and over the phone for about 1 year communicating changes and revisions before they even met in person!

These were the renderings that Jeremy created in SolidWorks which Bob posted on his website which created a mass amount of website traffic and interest from sponsors.

The SuperTruck is now in full size prototype mode, with a hand molded fiberglass front end, side skirts, ducted radiator and other aerodynamic features.

Bob Sliwa and Jeremy Singley in front of the SuperTruck.

The trailer has side skirts made of Thermo Plastic Olefin (TPO) and the trailer sports a full vinyl wrap by one of Bob’s sponsors.

The trailer side skirts are attached along their top edge with full-length aluminum piano hinges. If the skirts have contact with the pavement, such as going over a railroad crossing, they roll inward to avoid damage. After passing the obstruction, a fiberglass rod springs the skirts back to their original aerodynamic position.

In order to determine the actual aerodynamics of their design, Jeremy used SolidWorks Flow Simulation to run an analysis on the truck and the trailer.

Once Jeremy found the best design, we printed it on one of our Stratasys 3D printers using the fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology. Bob will be hauling freight with the SuperTruck coast to coast to prove proof of concept to gain more awareness and sponsorship. He noted that more than 60% of the tractor trailer trucks’ fuel consumption is used just to push the air out of the way! Companies with large fleets can save thousands of dollars each year by increasing the fuel mileage of their trucks, therefore improving their profit margin.

The next step is to bring the vision and the newest FutureTruck version to full scale production. In order to actually build the next-generation design, the FutureTruck would need to be built from scratch rather than modifying an existing truck, which requires more sponsors and/or investors.

In the future Bob will also be manufacturing aerodynamic kits for existing tractor trailer trucks using side skirts and other modifications.

For more information about the truck and to follow its progress, visit airflowtruck.com

Watch the video for a full explanation of the process and science behind the aerodynamics.

Curious about the 3D printed model? Check out the prototype video:

How does Chapter 179 Work?

When a business purchases most types of equipment, the cost of the equipment or software must be depreciated over a number of years. For example, if you purchased a $50,000 machine, under the standard depreciation schedule you might deduct $10,000 per year for five years. If the government allowed you to write off the entire $50,000 in the year purchased, most business owners would be more willing to invest now. That is the whole purpose behind Section 179.

For most small businesses you can add total equipment, software, and vehicles  purchased in 2011 and write it off on the 2011 tax return. For large businesses adding even more than $500,000, the write-offs are just as substantial because of another special incentive, “bonus depreciation.”

There are certain restrictions on the  type of equipment that qualifies. All Stratasys machines from the uPrint to the Dimension and Fortus models qualify.

An increasingly popular use of the IRS §179 Deduction is for software.

Any “Off-the-Shelf” computer software (software that isn’t custom designed and is available to the general public) is qualified for the Section 179 Deduction in the year that you put the software into service.

What Software Qualifies?

For basic eligibility, the software must must be financed  or purchased outright by you, must be used in your business, must have a determinable useful life, and must be expected to last more than one year. In addition, the software must be readily available for purchase by the general public, subject to a non-exclusive license, and must not have been substantially modified. All SolidWorks licenses qualify.

Any other restrictions?

Both new and “demo” systems are eligible under Section 179, but to qualify for Bonus Depreciation (for those spending in excess of $2 million) the equipment must be new. If your business shows a loss for 2011, those losses can be “carried forward” to future years, preserving the benefit.

We’re here to alleviate that stress with the SolidWorks Holiday Gift Guide! Show your friends and relatives how great SolidWorks is by purchasing items created with the software that you use everyday! Many of these companies also use 3D printers for prototyping prior to production, so they know the product will work when you get it in your hands.

We’re proud to announce that our customer Cool Gear International is featured in the gift guide, with a wide variety of products available for everyone on your list at very reasonable prices.

Check out these great companies and products and support your fellow designer!

View the SolidWorks Holiday Gift Guide.

The 20th release of SolidWorks is quite impressive, with hundreds of new features and enhancements that are sure to please everyone.

New in 2012:

• The Costing Module
• Large Design Review
• User interface changes
• And MORE

Anyone who is purchasing a new seat of SolidWorks will receive SolidWorks 2012, and anyone who is currently on SolidWorks subscription with us will receive the update.

**Special Note: Your license must be registered with SolidWorks in order to upgrade. Not sure if it’s registered? Click here to log in and find out!**