Book excerpt: The primary goal of Parametric Modeling with NX 12 is to introduce the aspects of designing with Solid Modeling and Parametric Modeling. This text is intended to be used as a practical training guide for students and professionals. This text uses NX 12 as the modeling tool, and the chapters proceed in a pedagogical fashion to guide you from constructing basic solid models to building intelligent mechanical designs, creating multi-view drawings and assembly models. This text takes a hands-on, exercise-intensive approach to all the important Parametric Modeling techniques and concepts. This textbook contains a series of fourteen tutorial style lessons designed to introduce beginning CAD users to NX. This text is also helpful to NX users upgrading from a previous release of the software. The solid modeling techniques and concepts discussed in this text are also applicable to other parametric feature-based CAD packages. The basic premise of this book is that the more designs you create using NX, the better you learn the software. With this in mind, each lesson introduces a new set of commands and concepts, building on previous lessons. This book does not attempt to cover all of NX’s features, only to provide an introduction to the software. It is intended to help you establish a good basis for exploring and growing in the exciting field of Computer Aided Engineering. This book also introduces you to the general principles of 3D printing including a brief history of 3D printing, the types of 3D printing technologies, commonly used filaments, and the basic procedure for printing a 3D model. 3D printing makes it easier than ever for anyone to start turning their designs into physical objects, and by the end of this book you will be ready to start printing out your own designs.