Core mechanical design skills are the most commonly used foundational design application for SOLIDWORKS users. This includes the fundamental 3D modeling features that are essential for modeling mechanical components. This book will focus on this type of design application. Mastering this will enable you, as a learner, to draft complex parts and assemblies. These can include engines, furniture, and everyday consumer products such as phones and laptops. 

We will cover all the knowledge and skills needed to achieve the two major SOLIDWORKS certifications under the core mechanical design discipline. These are the CSWA and CSWP levels. Also, mastering core mechanical design concepts can be considered as a prerequisite to learning most other specialized modeling disciplines, such as sheet metal and mold making. Because of that, we will only cover a common foundation for mechanical core design in this book. 

Now that we know what SOLIDWORKS is, and the different applications and disciplines it covers, we will cover the principle under which the software operates: parametric modeling.