AutoCAD Drafters Auxilliary Skills 1

[chicopee]

I am fielding several questions because I would like to get a sense from the EXPERIENCED AUTOCAD USERS and ENGINEERS what would they expect from "Newbees" in the field. I have spoken to several of these "Newbees" and many do not know the basics of drafting ,ie, bisecting angles, constructing polygons, developing perpendicular lines, etc... Furthermore these "newbees lack skills with calculators such as using trigonometry, converting degrees into radians and understanding many of the other basic calculator functions.

Do you find the skills mentioned above to be necessary to their aspiring profession? Would you spend the time teaching them these auxilliary skills? Would you be content with only the knowledge of Autocadd that these "newbees" possess?

About 3D and Mechanical Desktop abilities- Would you expect theses "Newbees" to require these additional skills when entering the workforce. How prevalent is the use of 3D and Mechanical Desktop over the traditional 2D Autocad?

Your replies will be greatly appreciated.

 

[CADaver]

To Chicopee,
Basic math skills are essential, but except for programming, I've never needed to know how to convert degrees to radians. There's a button on my calculator for that. And although I think old board drafters layout drawings better, basic drafting skills can be taught to even the most new newbie. What we look for in entry level canidates is desire, are they excited about learning new stuff.


To Lisajoy,
You're kidding, right? I was sorta agreeing with you up to the last sentence. Every 3D modeler I've worked with was a high production drafter and exceeded 2D drawing production at every level.

 

[CADaver]

Maybe we need to define the terms 3D modeler and 2D drafter. In my world you don't get to be a 3D modeler without knowing how to draw or to present the model on a drawing. If they can't produce a desired product they aren't here.

 

[EngJW]

Just speaking for the mechanical field, I think a person should have some knowledge of machine parts, manufacturing methods, practical dimensioning, and tolerances. In my experience a computer jockey is not of much use. Someone with a good mechanical background and just a working knowledge of cad can pick up enough tricks from coworkers on the job. And every company has different standards and procedures.

John Woodward

 

[CADaver]

I agree, John. It is considerably easier to turn an experienced designer into a CAD designer, than to turn a CAD trainee into an experienced designer. But that too, needs to be qualified.

The desire has to be there. Some of the worst are the guys who think that 25 yrs in the business means they don't need to learn the tool. Right there next to them is the guy with a four year degree in computer graphics who thinks he doesn't need to learn the business.

But, hey, that's just my myopic viewpoint.

 

[EngJW]

Yea, I worked with a guy who could turn out a work of art on the drawing board, but could not even learn what the enter key was on a computer. And others who stayed with 12 and refused to learn the later Windows versions.

John Woodward

 

[knobhead]

You can teach someone to use the program quite quickly. What takes time and developement is learning how to create a USEFUL drawing.

Things like what tolerance build up is, and why choosing a particular datum can make the operators job easier or more difficult.



Excessive accuaracy is a sign of poor breeding. -Socrates.

 

[saxon]

chicopee, What is needed is the basic ability to see and think in 2d and 3d and the ability to flip back and forth in your mind. Also, an understanding and knowledge and use of drafting/Engineering Graphics skills, manual and computer aided. Plus, mathematics skills up to at least Analytic Geometry; if you don't have this you won't get through a true technical drafting program. Engineering/Technical background in any and all of the technical fields is also a must. This should keep you busy for at least two to three years.

Without the ancillary skills, you're just another IT techie and keyboarder trying to masquerade as a draftsman and designer.

Remember, it's not just a technology issue, but a communications discipline in the Engineering field.

saxon

 

[Sparweb]

I took a college course that focused on the principles of aircraft structures, plus enough drafting that I could get to work immediately. After a few years of work, all that other stuff I learned has remained in the back of my head, allowing me to fit in all the subsequent working experience into context. After years of drafting aircraft parts, I now have an understanding of how they were made (I've made many myself), and how they support structural loads (I've analyzed and tested dozens of structures). Without taking an interest in "how" and "why", I would remain at the level of a trainee CAD operator.
By taking an interest in the industry as a whole, and having a "can-do" attitude, I've got experience that no school can teach.
My employer tried the "ignorant CAD jockey" approach by hiring an obviously myopic kid and tried to get him to just pump out drawings. He realized only a few months in that he needed someone much more rounded than that.

STF

 

[rhodie]

SparWeb

As an emerging engineer, I can identify with the whole "lets hire 'em to pump out the prints" syndrome.

I have worked my way through college, first getting a CAD A.S. degree at community college. I worked for commercial construction company, wherein the Senior Architect was a complete technology boob. He had a very nice "CAD box" and plotter without a user. (Turns out he bought the stuff just to tell potential clients he had the capability.) He hires me to draw, but has no concept of true "Computer Aided Drafting", and rather thinks I merely press the proper buttons at the right time and let the computer draw for me. (He thought the computer was "smart" and just needed guidance to coax the prints out.)

He expected me to re-create what took him 4 months on the board in 5 days. I worked long, long nights, and got it done in two weeks. I learned a bunch about pre-stressed concrete tilt-up panel construction in the process.

After that ordeal, I had plenty of respect for the "pencil pushers", but he had healthy respect for the "myopic CAD jockeys", too.

It has been said best before, it really isn't how much you know, but how bad you want to know it.