Book excerpt: Engineering Design with SolidWorks 2007 is written to assist students, designers, engineers and professionals. The book provides a solid foundation in SolidWorks by utilizing projects with Step-by-Step instructions for the beginning to intermediate SolidWorks user. Explore the user interface, menus, toolbars and modeling techniques to create parts, assemblies, and drawings in an engineering environment. Follow the Step-by-Step instructions and develop multiple parts and assemblies that combine machined, plastic and sheet metal components. Formulate the skills to create, modify and edit sketches and solid features. Learn the techniques to reuse features, parts and assemblies through symmetry, patterns, copied components, Design tables, Bill of materials, properties and configurations. Desired outcomes and usage competencies are listed for each project. Know your objective up front. Follow the steps in Project 1 through Project 6 to achieve the design goals. Work between multiple documents, features, commands and custom properties that represent how engineers and designers utilize SolidWorks in industry.