I'm a mechanical designer working for a company that makes UV light based solutions for air, water, HVAC and ice machine sanitation. I also run a small design services company on the side. I design all of our products in SolidWorks and use it's built-in version of Modo for materials and still renders but I'm starting to use Blender for conceptual design, 3D animation and media production for my employer and clients.
Most of my design experience is with CAD software but in the past I've worked with 3DSMax and Combustion. I've been using Blender for about a year now. I know quite a lot about SolidWorks and 3D CAD but I'm still a beginner when it comes to 3D animation.