GD&T Certification Classes / Books / Whatever 1

[jupdyke]

Hello all,

Sorry if this has been answered, but I only saw posts from several years ago about it.

I am fresh out of graduate school and started my new job. I mentioned to my boss that I was interested in learning more about GD&T and would be willing to investigate getting certified. I figure its good for my work and better for me and my career. They are willing to pay for it with-in reason.

So what is the best way to get certified? I have seen several public seminars, books, online classes, etc. But I am not sure which one will best lead to certification. I know it will be a lot of work.

I saw that ASME offers a 43 day online course. This seems the most comprehensive of what I have seen.
Here is a link:

http://www.asme.org/products/courses/basic-geometric-dimensioning---tolerancing-(gd-(1)

Has anyone taken that? Is it worth the time / money? Would I be ready to take the certification from ASME after that class?

Thanks in advance,
Josh

 

[Belanger]

That's great that you're looking toward getting certified! Before signing up for any training classes specific to ASME certification, it's best to take a general, comprehensive GD&T course. There are many of these out there (our company, but numerous others as well).

After feeling pretty good about the regular aspects of GD&T, then get a copy of the standard and start reading it. ASME has a list of topics that might appear on the two certification tests (called the "Body of Knowledge") and that can serve as a checklist for your self-study through the standard. Be careful, though. The current test is still using the 1994 standard as the basis, not the 2009 standard.

Only then would I suggest a specialized course designed for certification prep.
As for books, there is a good one for the test prep by Nickolaisen (ISBN 0791801888). Good luck!

John-Paul Belanger
Certified Sr. GD&T Professional
Geometric Learning Systems

http://www.gdtseminars.com

 

[KENAT]

When you say you want to get certified do you actually mean GDTP/GDTPS?

http://www.asme.org/kb/standards/ce...(y14-5)---geometric-dimensioning-and-toleranc

Or do you just mean getting up to speed to adequately take care of day to day requirements?

Not to discourage you but many good GD&T folk don't have the formal certification, so you're actually setting your bar pretty high if that's what you're aiming for.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[jupdyke]

Thank you for the advice. I would actually like to get the official certification. I realize its a lot of work, but my impression is that most other people realize how hard it is too. This should should help when raise time comes around, or when I am looking for a better job.

My work designs medical robotic equipment and we need to start down the road of GD&T. Right now we don't use it at all. My boss understand the basics and used it a little at his last job. But he is supportive of me getting training. He wants to try and expose all the mechanical guys to it for a cheap as possible. I was thinking of trying to have someone come here and do a day seminar and then talk my boss into the 43 day online class. After that maybe I can find a certification prep book / course.

I realize it is gonna be a lot of work. But I am not opposed to working hard if it pays off in the end.

Josh

 

[ptruitt]

Where 'bouts do you live?

Peter Truitt
Minnesota

 

[jupdyke]

Pittsburgh PA

 

[KENAT]

I doubt a day seminar would be enough to get your colleagues started, even the typical 'week' long training session has limited abilities.

I was going to get certified a couple years back - I even got the study guide as a 'gift' - but then changes in management and roles made it clear it wouldn't' help too much at my current employer. I should probably get back to it but have so much other stuff going on I'm not sure.

So, I'm a little envious of you - good luck.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[jctoce]

jupdyke, I was also thinking about taking a certification course in GD&T. Let us know how it pans out for you.

 

[jupdyke]

I also thought that a one day seminar would not give us a lot of information. My hope was to get the ball rolling. We don't use GD&T at all right now, but we are about to release our first production system this year. I can only imagine that this topic will become more and more important.

I don't think anyone is going to be willing to put down what they are working on for a week. Maybe two days at most. I don't really mind that too much, because it means I will be the only one with real training if I pursue this all the way. Being the only GD&T certified person in a company should make me pretty indispensable. I am sure I will pull my hair out when they bring me things that are incorrect, but I already do that with a typical dimensioned drawing. No center-lines, bottom / left / back views, views that are not aligned with each other. I could go on and on and on.

That was one reason I thought the 43 day online class would be good. I could do it while at work. I suspect its about an 1-2 hours a day. If I had to I could do it in the evenings on my time, and it would cover a lot more material then the 2 day seminar. Plus how much can you retain in two days. Spreading it out should make it easier to remember.

Thanks for letting me bounce my ideas around with you guys.

Josh

 

[KENAT]

Might be better to do a bunch of 'lunch & learns' or similar than a one day effort, drip feed them the information a little at a time.

You could even prioritize what you teach them. For instance a lot of problems would be solved where I work if they'd at least use GD&T and do tolerance calcs properly on simple hole patterns.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[ModulusCT]

I went this route a couple years ago... Never finished studying for the exam though. The subject matter is so g'darn dry that after several weeks of reading about tolerance zones and taking notes I got severely burned out and just kind of lost interest. I'd like to get back into it again some day though.

There are some nice video training resources you can get online. TestOut has a GDTP certification prep course. It has videos for everything you may need to know and exercises you can use to test your knowledge. That was the best choice for me because I prefer learning on my own schedule rather than going to an actual class. The classes are probably a better choice for most people though.

Good luck!

I'm not a vegetarian because I dislike meat... I'm a vegetarian because I HATE plants!!

 

[drstrole]

The best way to learn, IMO, is the school of hard knocks. You can sit down and learn the standard, but still not understand how to select datum features, and properly tie features back to them with the correct tolerance. Working with and getting schooled by machinists and inspectors can help understand the importance of what you put on the drawing. Regardless of if you pass the test right away or it takes several attempts, there is still years of learning and improvements that you can make. I am not saying that to be discouraging, just that this is complicated topic, but well worth the effort you put into it.

Drstrole
GDTP - Senior Level

 

[jctoce]

Sorry for off topic question, but where are you in CT, ModulusCT?

 

[shobit77]

Hi jupdyke,

I have also completed the ASME GDTP Tecnologist certification exam in Dec 12. I found exam very easy. I u are also want to get this certificate my advice would be go thoroughly Y 14.5-1994 Standard word by word. All the questions were from same standards. Even the pictorial question were also from this book examples only.

Regards,
Harsh

 

[ewh]

Good advice given thus far. I particularly agree with drstole though about actually being able to apply what you learn. Spending as much time as you can shadowing machinists and especially QA inspectors will solidify what knowledge the certificate represents.

Technically, the glass is always full.

 

[ewh]

I need to qualify that last statement; it won't do you any good if you pick the wrong people to shadow. I've known machinists and inspectors who were not quite qualified to do their own jobs, much less lead by example... find the best that you can, then act like a sponge.

Technically, the glass is always full.

 

[MechNorth]

As J-P and others have indicated, start off with a live seminar. The material (standard) is (as some have noted) dry, and some training materials are as well. Ask around and find a training provider whose materials and presence suits your learning style. I like an active, dynamic, interactive class whereas others favor the "classic" lecture method. As you visit each supplier's website, you get a pretty good feel for their training material and support.
I personally don't do as well with an online course; webinars are a step up, but people often don't participate as fully as they would in-person. This kind of material needs to have two-way communication for it to sink in. As a new grad, it may be worse than for a more experienced designer because some of the knowledge base anticipated by the creators of the online program may not be present yet in the student.
A further note on instruction providers, a caveat really...not all trainers are GDTP-S certified. Many have been downsized from automotive and other companies in the last 4 years, and have started up their own training companies based solely on their years of experience. Many such trainers teach their understanding of what they were previously taught, not the actual standard. Caveat emptor.
Good luck, and keep coming to the forum for answers.

Jim Sykes, P.Eng, GDTP-S
Profile Services

http://www.profileservices.ca

TecEase, Inc.

http://www.tec-ease.com