Best 3D modeling program for returning to mechanical engineering 2

thread731-289707

Once you've found it again you may want to delete this double post.

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This is a separate post. I was hoping for guidance on the best 3D modeling program to pursue if I chose that for my return path to engineering. The post you referred to was asking for help in choosing a path. Answers to both questions would help me, maybe even if I learned the best 3D modeling software while pursuing a more complete path toward engineering.

Sorry for any confusion. I had though I input this post before but couldn't find it in my profile, so I must not have selected the final submit button.


Kurt

Well, I'm still tempted to say that forum might be a better place for this type of post.

What sector & geographic location are you looking at getting into as different CAD software packages may be more common in some sectors/geographic areas.

Also, you only mention CAD, but what about actual drafting skills, do you already have these? For instance in machine design in the USA (including vehicles etc.) ASME Y14.5M-1994 is probably the most common standard though a new version came out at the end of 2009 (ASME Y14.5-2009). There are also ISO standards used in some places.

However, for HVAC and the like, they may use more construction industry focused standards.

Perhaps take a look at job adds for jobs you'd be interested in and see what if any CAD packages they specify.

Pretty sure similar questions have come up a few times before so you may be able to find those threads (probably in that forum) & get some idea.

The best one to learn is the one that your future job will need. So it may be a good idea to research your likely employers. From a technical perspective one program is no doubt better than another for one particular task, but that doesn't really matter.



Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

Go to Monster.com and search for jobs with the various CAD programs. Start with the one needed the most.

Thanks to all. I appreciate your help. I am in northern San Diego County, California.

Kurt

So what sector are you interested in? Aerospace, Defense, Automotive, bio med, machine design...

Past work as a manufacturing engineer and thermal design engineer for integrated circuits, but interests are with any design efforts. I will have to see what is here in San Diego. I live in Carlsbad, the golf capital of the world but breaking into this sector is tough. Lots of biomed here, but that doesn't lend itself to too many ME's. I really need to stay in San Diego though.

Sorry about not posting in the right forum. I am new to this forum and will get my figure it out.

Thanks to all for the helpful comments.

Kurt

I agree with others, you really need to know what sector you want to go into.

Our designers use mostly UG for our automotive plastic design. However, they sometimes use Catia. Our engineers use Solidworks to check the designers work. I even have a copy of AutoCAD I use on occasion for quick layouts.

Quite a few of my friends from school do HVAC and use primarily AutoCAD (but this was 6 years ago). My sister, who is in construction, still deals with companies that use AutoCAD.

here in MI I have seen plenty of ads fo Pro-e, UG, Catia with some asking for Solidworks, Inventor or AutoCAD.

Thanks. I hadn't thought that there were so many options, but now that I know I will definitely narrow which sector I want to return in. This will help with deciding which modeling option I will pursue. I am hoping modeling knowledge will help my return, but certainly narrowing my pursuit will help me.

Thanks again.

Kurt

I know Solid Works pretty well (ok, I did know Solid Works pretty well, unfortunately I have't touched it in 5 or 6 years), and found using Inventor pretty straight forward based on my Solid Works knowledge when I had to use it for a job many years ago. So I'd say just pick one and you should be able to translate most of your skills in that package to another modelling package if required.

Best to research your chosen field first though.

Warning, rant follows: I do more industrial type engineering (piping, pressure vessels, minor structural stuff) and am not allowed to touch CAD (drafters only please). Here they use either AutoCad or Microstation. That is fine but they draw everything in 3D and then redo it all again in 2D. They don't understand the concept of true 3D packages such as SW or Pro-E. It's an endless source of frustration when you know something could be done in half the time but the drafters know better... Don't even get me started on the passing over the wall of CAD to FEM and back. Grrrr.

Thanks Hurricanes,

Yes, I remember the frustration with drafting too. However, I also remember that once you find a really good drafter that gets it, hold on and treat him will.

You have commented on my other thread. Thanks for your helpful words. I will take your advice and let you know as my engineering career sputters to life again.

Kurt

My experience is mostly with Pro/E and SolidWorks. Pro/E to SolidWorks is like a manual transmission car is to an automatic. If you learn Pro/E first it will be easy to go to SolidWorks - not so easy vice versa. And if you learn Pro/E you will probably have a better grasp of the inner workings of the software and its functionality in general because the control is more direct.