Nick Keglovits is an Applications Engineer based in Oklahoma City, OK. He has 10+ years of industry experience in manufacturing tooling and building products, and brings that understanding into his demonstrations and training. He is a Certified SOLIDWORKS Expert and is passionate about creating fun and engaging content for the SOLIDWORKS community!
Why Engineering? When did you know you wanted to pursue engineering and design?
From a young age I was fascinated with technology and the superpowered problem-solving people behind it. The first time I heard the term “engineering” was watching Apollo 13 with my dad; he saw that interest and fanned into flame the spark it had ignited.
Why Hawk Ridge Systems?
We live by core values here that closely align with my principles – aiming for a selfless people-centric mentality and driving excellence in what we do are important and bring happiness all around!
Advice to people considering engineering as a career?
Understand what you’re getting into – find out what an average day looks like from a few different people in industry, maybe look at job postings to understand common responsibilities, and learn what it takes to bring designs to life in any discipline.
What’s the most fun or quirky project you’ve ever worked on?
My pal Freddie and I designed and printed a candy corn ornament. I unleashed 30 years of relentless tech evolution on corn-on-the-cob.
Favorite side or pet project?
I’m working on an idea for reducing waste in 3D printing from support material.
Favorite client engagement? Why/What problem did you get to help solve?
The Ask-an-Expert sessions are always my favorite – I’ve faced some complex modeling challenges for bike helmets, engine parts, impeller blades, coffee lids, and more. Seeing our tools used practically is energizing!
Recent work or side project that shows why you love engineering?
I have a passion for empowering others with what I know, so naturally what I love most here is leading our live-training sessions. I love connecting with folks as they get up to speed and see the possibilities in using SOLIDWORKS.
What are you reading/watching/learning/playing currently?
I’ve been playing the ‘Arcs’ board game with my nephew.
I’ve been reading ‘Feng Shui Modern’ by Cliff Tan.
I’ve been watching ‘The Chair Company’ with Tim Robinson.
What do you want to learn next?
I’ve been diving into DriveWorks for training and customer support. It’s so vast that a company could be revolutionized by a single implementation. I like understanding operations and seeing workflows streamlined. I genuinely wish I had this tool 10 years ago; it would have solved many problems we were facing.
Favorite engineering or dad joke or meme?
What’s a recent engineering trend or innovation you’re excited about?
I’m a huge fan of sustainability and maintenance – I’d rather fix something than toss it. Sustainable materials are exciting to me. I would like to see a trend for open-source printable components in designs develop to support right-to-repair.
Where can people follow you online or see more of your work?
Keep an eye on the Hawk Ridge Systems blog and YouTube channel. Here’s a recent series I’m proud to share on 3DExperience Cloud Services.
If you could time-travel to any point in engineering history and contribute to a famous project (like the Apollo missions or the invention of the wheel), where would you go and what would you do?
The Golden Gate Bridge: what a marvel of technology and beauty to this day, and before computer-aided design to boot!
What’s the most absurd engineering failure you’ve ever witnessed or heard about?
A multi-million dollar space probe missed the planet because “software that calculated the total impulse produced by thruster firings produced results in pound-force seconds. The trajectory calculation software then used these results – expected to be in newton-seconds.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter
