computer science

Jon Hirschtick

Jon Hirschtick is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Jon Hirschtick rather than just read about it. In short: Jon Hirschtick is a CAD software developer, founder and former CEO of SolidWorks, a popular solid modeling 3D CAD and CAE system for Microsoft Windows, and Onshape, a cloud platform for product development that includes tools for CAD, data management, collaboration, workflow, analytics, etc. Education Hirschtick holds a Bachelors and Master's degree in mechanical engineering from MIT, graduating in 1986.

Key takeaways

Jon Hirschtick belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Jon Hirschtick to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Jon Hirschtick from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Jon Hirschtick is a CAD software developer, founder and former CEO of SolidWorks, a popular solid modeling 3D CAD and CAE system for Microsoft Windows, and Onshape, a cloud platform for product development that includes tools for CAD, data management, collaboration, workflow, analytics, etc.

Education Hirschtick holds a Bachelors and Master's degree in mechanical engineering from MIT, graduating in 1986.

Career Hirschtick was director of engineering at Computervision from 1991 to 1993, and a manager at the MIT CADLab. He was a player and instructor on the MIT Blackjack Team featured in the movies 21 and Breaking Vegas. Hirschtick founded the SolidWorks Corporation in 1993 using $1 million he made while a member of the MIT Blackjack Team. Under his leadership, SolidWorks revenue eventually grew to $600 million. When Solidworks was acquired by Dassault Systèmes in 1997, Hirschtick continued on as CEO and then a group executive for the next 14 years. In October 2011, Hirschtick left Solidworks and in 2012 founded Belmont Technology (later changed to Onshape) with other members of the original SolidWorks team. Hirschtick is currently CEO at Onshape. In October 2019 Onshape entered into an agreement to be acquired by PTC. Hirschtick was awarded the CAD Society Leadership Award, joining Autodesk’s Carl Bass, Dassault Systèmes’ Bernard Charles, and 3D Systems's Ping Fu, and is a recipient of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Leadership Award. He is a member of the Advisory Board at Boston University and Arcbazar, where he was once director, and is an advisor to Magic Leap and MarkForged, Inc.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Jon Hirschtick

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Jon Hirschtick claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Jon Hirschtick before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Jon Hirschtick ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Jon Hirschtick

In research: Jon Hirschtick appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Jon Hirschtick in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Jon Hirschtick is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1962 births, American businesspeople in the computer industry, American chairpersons of corporations, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Jon Hirschtick outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Jon Hirschtick in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Jon Hirschtick means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Jon Hirschtick out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jon Hirschtick in simple terms?

Why does Jon Hirschtick matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Jon Hirschtick?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Jon Hirschtick.