how cool is this? solidworks & the white house

So what do the Whitehouse & SolidWorks have in common?  Well, probably more than we even know about but this one is for sure.  Rainbow Play Systems has made a new playground for Malia and Sasha Obama to play on right outside the Oval Office.  Here is the press release according to TenLinks.

White House Playground Set Designed With SolidWorks

CONCORD, MA, Mar 16, 2009 – First daughters Malia and Sasha Obama are climbing, swinging and sliding on a playground set designed with SolidWorks 3D CAD software so President Obama can watch his daughters playing through his Oval Office windows.

 

Rainbow Play Systems recently delivered “Malia & Sasha’s Castle,” to the White House for installation just a few yards from the West Wing. The company used SolidWorks software to develop multiple configurations of parts and subsystems that made customizing the final design layout for the Obamas a simple process. The play set includes a double bubble, overhead monkey bars, shimmy bars, four standard swings, a race car tire swing, rock wall, step chain ladder, slide, binoculars, periscopes and chalkboard. Rainbow Play Systems flipped the set’s design from the standard model so that the "double bubble" faces the Oval Office, where President Obama can keep an eye on his daughters at play.

“SolidWorks helps us provide the customer with the exact play system they are looking for,” said Jon Mattson, product design manager for Rainbow Play Systems.

Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, were said to have greeted the swing set with "squeals of joy," when it was installed on March 4, according to White House staff. The girls played on the set for almost an hour in chilly weather that afternoon. Their mother went for a swing, too. A plaque on the play system reads: "Established March 4th, 2009, Malia & Sasha’s Castle, Handcrafted with Pride in the Heartland of America, Beautiful Brookings, South Dakota, The Hometown of: Rainbow Play Systems, Inc., God Bless America." The playground is made from 100 percent North American cedar and redwood, which was an important selling point due to President Obama’s drive to promote green economic policies. Original Rainbow Play Systems contain only certified lumber from third-party inspected mills that comply with all local, state, and federal harvesting regulations.

Rainbow Play Systems relies on SolidWorks authorized reseller Alignex, Inc., for ongoing training and support.

About Rainbow Play Systems

Rainbow Play Systems has grown from a small custom job shop in Minnesota to a high-tech manufacturing facility on 130 acres in the heartland of America-Beautiful Brookings, South Dakota. While the scale of our operation has changed over the last 24 years, our focus has not. We continue to pride ourselves on manufacturing the safest, most durable and highest-quality play systems available in America.

About Alignex, Inc.

Alignex is an Engineering technology company that assists their customers in improving their manufacturing process, whether through software solutions or engineering services. Serving Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and western areas of Wisconsin and Illinois, Alignex has been the premier SolidWorks Reseller in the Upper Midwest for 11 years and in business as an engineering technology provider for nearly 20 years. Alignex has helped over 1000 companies make the transition to SolidWorks from a wide variety of 2D and 3D CAD formats.

About Dassault Systems SolidWorks Corp.

Dassault Systems SolidWorks Corp., a Dassault Systems S.A. subsidiary, is a world leader in 3D solutions. The company develops and markets software for design, analysis, product data management, and documentation. It is the leading supplier of 3D CAD technology, giving teams intuitive, high-performing software that helps them design better products.

For more information, visit www.solidworks.com.

About Dassault Systems

As a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, Dassault Systems brings value to more than 100,000 customers in 80 countries. A pioneer in the 3D software market since 1981, Dassault Systems develops and markets PLM application software and services that support industrial processes and provide a 3D vision of the entire lifecycle of products from conception to maintenance to recycling. The Dassault Systems portfolio consists of CATIA for designing the virtual product – SolidWorks for 3D mechanical design – DELMIA for virtual production – SIMULIA for virtual testing – ENOVIA for global collaborative lifecycle management, and 3DVIA for online 3D lifelike experiences. Dassault Systems’ shares are listed on Euronext Paris (#13065, DSY.PA) and Dassault Systems’ ADRs may be traded on the US Over-The-Counter (OTC) market (DASTY). For more information, visit http://www.3ds.com.

For more information, visit www.3ds.com.