A long read, but it fits for the way this thread is going...
Death of a Draftsman
By Leon Surprenant
(Watch for this article in your June 2000 issue of ProE the Magazine and August issue of Solid Solutions.)
"draftsman (drafts'men) n., pl. 1 a person who draws plans of structures or machinery." .... "3 an artist skillful in drawing." Websters New World Dictionary. Third College Edition.
I can remember slowly drawing my pencil across the sheet of paper. Twisting the point to keep it sharp and applying just the right amount of pressure to achieve that perfect line weight. Taking the time to plan my document, long before any lead touched the paper. Putting as much thought and care into how the document would be laid out as I would in the actual drawing of the document. That sense of personal pride when I completed the job. Unique, distinctive, identifiably my own.
Studying the mechanics of drafting, I also learned to visualize the 2D as 3D, and vise-versa. Using, but not relying, on the tools of the trade to create that complete and technically accurate drawing to communicate engineering data. After 4 years in a vocational high school, then two at a technical college, I continued to draw professionally for the next 5 years using a pencil and a drawing board.
Then it happened, something that would forever revolutionized how professionals in my field would do their work. The CAD workstation enters the scene. Computer Aided Design and Drafting suddenly allowed the Draftsman to make unlimited modifications to a document without any degradation in the quality of the drawing. Changes were easier and faster to make. Geometry, notes, symbols, and just about anything could be easily copied from one drawing to another. Eliminating many of the redundant tasks that Draftsmen use to have to perform, when drawing with a pencil. The CAD Workstation was truly a powerful tool.
As with everything, software and hardware would evolve over the years. Designing and drafting in 2D would lead to 3D. Then 3D designing would be replaced with designing in solids. Soon, dumb 2D geometry would become parametric in nature. This allowed views on a drawing to be created with the simple click of a button. The tool was learning to do more and more. And as a direct result, more and more CAD users were beginning to become dependent on the tool. The roll of the Draftsperson was being redefined. And there would be no stopping it. No turning back.
Today's graduates grew up as part of generation X. Computer savvy and software proficient, they spend endless hours on their computers. Learning the latest software and tickling the plastic keyboard with such speed, all you can see is blur when you watch their hands as they type. They know the software inside and out.
But the software is only a tool. As with a pencil, the resulting documentation is only as good as the craftsman wielding it. The tool is only a means to an end. It, itself is not the goal. The documentation is what we ultimately strive to achieve. Today's graduates are whiz kids on the computer, but do they know how to create, read and understand technical drawings? Some are very good, but as a whole, I'm not so sure.
Spending very little, if any time using a pencil, these new "computer only" Draftsman don't seem to completely understand view generation. Nor do they seem to take the appropriate amount of time to plan their documents. Instead, more emphasis is put on getting something drawn quickly, then right. Because we can now change drawings without leaving eraser marks or tears, it seems to of become OK to be sloppy about how drawings are put together. Today's graduates aren't being trained to be Draftsmen. Instead, a more accurate title would seem to be, CAD Operators. Operators who, without the tool to do much of the drawing for them, would be lost.
My fear is if your not able to create the drawing on your own, then how can you be expected to produce a drawing, that others can interpret and understand, with a computer? The answer is, you can't.
Now before you start thinking I'm anti-CAD, let me say for the record I'm not. To the contrary, my opinion is quite the opposite. I feel extremely privileged to have been in the business during the time that I have. I have been lucky enough to have been trained in the discipline of drawing with pencil. To have done so for over 10 years. And then to experience the introduction and evolution of the CAD system, while still young enough to embrace and run with it. I have experienced and prospered in both worlds.
Today's CAD system are powerful and easy to use. The Draftsman can do so much more, more quickly then ever before. It is truly a very exciting time. I look back at where I started and where we are today, and I can't help myself but to dream of the future. Holographic projections and real time modification during CDR. It is indeed an incredible and exhilarating experience being a part of the engineering community today.
But what about that Draftsman of days gone by? That technical professional, who could craft the abstract into the concrete with little more then a piece of paper and some graphite. What will become of him? Who really knows? Maybe he will evolve. Retaining those essential skill necessary to create a complete and accurate engineering package, while putting down the pencil and picking up the mouse. Or, maybe he will just disappear and be replaced by CAD Operators who impress management with tools that look cool, but who couldn't make a drawing to save their lives. Or maybe something in between.
These days, I may be sporting the title of Mechanical Designer and wielding parametric solids model designs, but I'm in no way like the graduates of today. If I'm ever approached and referenced to as a "CAD Operator", I know exactly how I'd respond. With pride, standing up straight, I'll look them in the eyes and say, "I'm sorry, but your mistaken. I'm no CAD Operator, - I am a Draftsman."
February 26, 2000