- The Expansion: Certified SOLIDWORKS Expert - Simulation
- Reading the Acronym Piece by Piece
- Why You Should Verify Which CSWE-S You Mean
- Where the Expert Level Sits in the Ladder
- What the Exam Actually Tests
- Format, Points, and the 70% Threshold
- Fee, Software, and Delivery Logistics
- Who Pursues This Credential
- Sequencing Your Preparation Around the 18 Areas
- Frequently Asked Questions
- CSWE-S stands for Certified SOLIDWORKS Expert - Simulation, issued by SOLIDWORKS (Dassault Systèmes).
- You must first pass CSWP (Mechanical Design), CSWA-S, and CSWP-S before you can attempt it.
- The exam has 40 questions in 3 hours: 10 hands-on and 30 multiple-choice. Passing is 70%.
- The exam fee is USD 149 in North America, covering one attempt; retakes need 90 days.
The Expansion: Certified SOLIDWORKS Expert - Simulation
The short answer is simple. CSWE-S stands for Certified SOLIDWORKS Expert - Simulation. It is the top rung of the SOLIDWORKS simulation certification track, awarded by SOLIDWORKS, the Dassault Systèmes brand behind the CAD and simulation software. SOLIDWORKS currently titles the credential "SOLIDWORKS Simulation Expert (CSWE-S)" on its certification page, and the two names refer to the same thing.
If you are new to the credential and want the broader picture after this explainer, the companion pieces What Is CSWE-S? and CSWE-S Certification cover the program from different angles. This article focuses on the name itself, because the name carries more information than most candidates realize.
Reading the Acronym Piece by Piece
The acronym follows the naming convention used across the SOLIDWORKS certification program. Each letter group tells you something concrete.
| Letters | Meaning | What it signals |
|---|---|---|
| CSW | Certified SOLIDWORKS | The credential is issued by SOLIDWORKS, not a third-party training company |
| E | Expert | Highest tier, above Associate (A) and Professional (P) |
| -S | Simulation | The analysis discipline; this is a finite element analysis credential, not a CAD modeling one |
The "E" matters because the SOLIDWORKS program uses a ladder of level letters. In the simulation branch you will meet CSWA-S (Simulation Associate) and CSWP-S (Simulation Professional) before you reach CSWE-S. The "-S" suffix is what distinguishes the simulation track from the Mechanical Design branch, where the Expert exam is a separate credential with a different focus. Do not conflate the two: the Mechanical Design Expert and the Flow Simulation credentials are different certifications, and CSWE-S is specifically the structural and thermal simulation expert exam.
Why You Should Verify Which CSWE-S You Mean
This is more than pedantry. A quick web search for the acronym can surface fee schedules, domain lists, or salary claims that belong to another discipline altogether. The reliable anchors for this credential are SOLIDWORKS-hosted pages: the SOLIDWORKS Simulation Expert page and the SOLIDWORKS Certification Program page. For plain-language definitions of the term, see What Does CSWE-S Stand For? and CSWE-S Meaning.
Where the Expert Level Sits in the Ladder
The word "Expert" is earned through prerequisites, not just a harder exam. SOLIDWORKS requires you to have successfully passed all three of the following before you can sit for CSWE-S:
- CSWP - Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional (Mechanical Design)
- CSWA-S - Certified SOLIDWORKS Associate, Simulation
- CSWP-S - Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional, Simulation
That gating is a defining feature of the credential. You cannot jump in with only a CAD background, and you cannot skip the simulation Associate and Professional exams. It also means that anyone listing CSWE-S has, by construction, cleared three earlier SOLIDWORKS exams. The details of eligibility are laid out in CSWE-S Requirements: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Notably, SOLIDWORKS recommends training courses (SOLIDWORKS Simulation, Simulation Professional, the Simulation Learning Path, Dynamics, Nonlinear) but attaches no mandatory course-hour prerequisite. The mandatory part is the three exam passes.
What the Exam Actually Tests
The Expert designation reflects breadth across the full SOLIDWORKS Simulation toolset. SOLIDWORKS publishes 18 areas that the hands-on challenges may draw from. Treat these as unweighted skill objectives: the issuer does not publish percentage weights, so no area can honestly be called "the biggest." Here is how they cluster by theme.
Structural foundations
The base layer of nearly every simulation problem.
- Linear stress
- Contact
- Connectors (bolts, pins, springs)
- Shells, including composite shells
- 2D simplification
Mesh quality
Skills that decide whether your numbers can be trusted.
- Resolving meshing problems
- Mesh convergence
Thermal and coupled behavior
Heat transfer and its structural consequences.
- Steady state and transient thermal
- Thermal stress
Dynamics and stability
Time-varying loads, vibration, and buckling.
- Resonance frequencies and mode shapes
- Drop test
- Linear buckling
- Linear dynamic (modal time history, harmonic, random vibration, response spectrum analysis)
Nonlinear analysis
Where small-displacement, linear-material assumptions no longer hold.
- Nonlinear static
- Nonlinear dynamic
- Nonlinear buckling
Model management and interpretation
Working efficiently and reading results correctly.
- Assembly configurations
- Results (stress, displacement, reaction force, connector force)
A full walkthrough of every area is in CSWE-S Exam Domains: Complete Guide to All 18 Content Areas. One caution worth repeating: this list reproduces what the issuer says the hands-on challenges may cover. It is not an exhaustive outline of the multiple-choice component, and it is not a formal weighted blueprint.
Format, Points, and the 70% Threshold
The "Expert" label also shows up in the exam structure. It is a single 3-hour sitting with 40 questions, split into two very different kinds of work.
| Component | Count | Points each |
|---|---|---|
| Hands-on questions | 10 | 10-20 points |
| Multiple-choice questions | 30 | 2 points each |
The minimum passing grade is 70%. Because the hands-on questions carry 10 to 20 points and the multiple-choice questions carry only 2 each, the hands-on portion dominates the total. That also means 70% is not a simple "28 out of 40 correct" rule, which is a common misreading. A candidate could miss several multiple-choice items and still pass if the hands-on work is strong, and the reverse is not true.
For the scoring arithmetic in more depth, read CSWE-S Passing Score: Exactly What You Need to Pass. For a realistic sense of difficulty, How Hard Is the CSWE-S Exam? is the right next stop. We do not cite an official pass rate because none has been verified; see CSWE-S Pass Rate: What the Data Shows for how to think about that gap.
Fee, Software, and Delivery Logistics
The practical details are part of what the credential "is," so here is what is verified:
- Fee: USD 149 in North America, covering one attempt, per the SOLIDWORKS Certification Program page.
- Retakes: at least 90 days between attempts, and a fresh exam credit is required.
- Delivery: online through SOLIDWORKS and VirtualTester. Current program instructions link the VirtualTester Web Client, while older material uses Tangix or TesterPRO terminology, so do not be confused if you see those older names.
- Timer: it cannot be paused once the exam begins.
- Sample exam: SOLIDWORKS states it provides no official sample exam for this Expert credential.
The software requirement that trips people up
You need SOLIDWORKS 2017 or later and SOLIDWORKS Simulation Premium 2017 or later, and you must be able to unzip files. A CAD-only Premium license is not the same product as Simulation Premium. If your seat does not include the Simulation Premium add-in, the nonlinear and dynamic studies the exam draws on will simply not be available. Check this well before exam day.
Full cost detail, including what is and is not included in the fee, is in CSWE-S Certification Cost: Complete Pricing Breakdown, and scheduling mechanics are covered in CSWE-S Exam Dates: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
Who Pursues This Credential
Because of the prerequisite chain, the typical CSWE-S holder is a working analyst or design engineer who already lives in SOLIDWORKS Simulation. Common profiles include:
- Product design engineers who validate their own parts for stress, thermal load, and vibration before release
- Dedicated FEA analysts at manufacturers who need to show depth beyond linear static work
- Consultants and resellers' applications engineers who teach or support Simulation and want the top credential on their profile
- Engineers working on products where drop, fatigue-adjacent vibration, buckling, or large-deformation behavior drive the design
Does the letters-after-your-name translate into pay? We have not verified any certification-specific salary uplift, and we will not invent one. The honest framing is in Is the CSWE-S Certification Worth It? and CSWE-S Salary Guide; for how the credential appears in hiring, see CSWE-S Jobs. A note on validity: customer and student certificates carry no official expiration date, per the SOLIDWORKS Certification Program Q&A.
Sequencing Your Preparation Around the 18 Areas
Since the name tells you this is an Expert exam, preparation should be organized around dependency between topics rather than reading order. The 18 areas are unweighted, so this sequence is about prerequisites in your own understanding, not about "most tested first." One possible arrangement:
Reliability of results
- Linear stress, contact, and connectors
- Mesh convergence and resolving meshing problems, since every later study depends on trustworthy meshes
Model simplification and thermal
- Shells (including composite shells) and 2D simplification
- Steady state and transient thermal, then thermal stress as the coupled follow-on
Linear dynamics and stability
- Resonance frequencies and mode shapes before modal time history, harmonic, random vibration, and response spectrum
- Drop test and linear buckling
Nonlinear and results
- Nonlinear static, then nonlinear dynamic and nonlinear buckling
- Assembly configurations and reading stress, displacement, reaction force, and connector force correctly
The logic: mode shapes precede linear dynamic studies because the latter build on modal behavior, and nonlinear buckling makes more sense after you have seen linear buckling and know what its eigenvalue answer does and does not tell you. Because there is no official sample exam, build your own timed practice from the SOLIDWORKS built-in tutorials and the Simulation course material. A fuller plan is in CSWE-S Study Guide: How to Pass on Your First Attempt, and a quick-reference summary lives in CSWE-S Cheat Sheet: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts. Training options are discussed in CSWE-S Training.
Key Takeaway
Treat the name as a map: "Expert" means three prior exams, "Simulation" means Simulation Premium, and the hands-on points outweigh multiple-choice. Confirm your license and prerequisites first, then practice under a 3-hour clock using our CSWE-S practice tests.
Frequently Asked Questions
CSWE-S stands for Certified SOLIDWORKS Expert - Simulation. It is issued by SOLIDWORKS (Dassault Systèmes), and the issuer's current page titles it "SOLIDWORKS Simulation Expert (CSWE-S)." See also What Does CSWE-S Mean?.
No. The Mechanical Design Expert and Flow Simulation credentials are separate. CSWE-S is the simulation expert exam, and it requires CSWP, CSWA-S, and CSWP-S as prerequisites.
There are 40 questions in a single 3-hour sitting: 10 hands-on questions worth 10-20 points each and 30 multiple-choice questions worth 2 points each. The minimum passing grade is 70%, which is not a fixed number of correct answers because points vary.
The fee is USD 149 in North America for one attempt. A retake requires at least 90 days and a fresh exam credit. The timer cannot be paused during the exam.
You need SOLIDWORKS 2017 or later plus SOLIDWORKS Simulation Premium 2017 or later, and the ability to unzip files. A CAD-only Premium license is not Simulation Premium. For next steps, review What Is CSWE-S Certification? and then test yourself with the practice exams.