Re: CAD / CAM

CW,

I have a friend who's looking into working in the CAD industry. He's particulary interested in CAD/CAM.

He (as well as I => I'm a civil engineer) would be interested in finding out what the educational requirements are for this industry, what the job prospects are, what the typical compensation rates are, and how to get in the industry.

I've tried posting in other newsgroups but you're the first one willing to help. I'd appreciate any information you have to give.

Thanks!!

-EZ

$7/HR??? what kind of job in CAD pays that low? I thought that was what the overseas companies charged?

If youre interested in CAD/CAM then the steel fabrication industry might be a good possibility.

I've worked as a steel detailer for over 20 years. Now it's all on CAD. Some of the high-end detailing programs output the CAM files automatically but often the CAM information is input by someone getting about $10/hr. When I quit my last job I was making less than $25/hr. Now that I'm self-employed I usually make over $40/hr. I'm not an engineer but have worked with engineers that detail steel - Polish chaps that don't have their P.Eng. here in Canada.

Here is a link to a website with a plethora of information about the steel construction industry.

Garth.

You've never worked for civil engineers/surveyors I take it? LOL At least in this area, it's been relatively recently that they've discovered good 'CAD guys' are worth the money they want. Some still haven't discovered that, and is shows terribly in their products.

$7 is a low rate, but frankly, if you're not up to speed, you're not worth much more than that. I can get a kid out of the local vo-tech school (high school) that knows AutoCAD basics to start for that rate. If he/she has any ambition, they'll be doing much better than that within 2 years.

For those in school who may be reading this: LEARN DRAFTING, not just AutoCad. I can teach anyone AutoCad basics in a matter of days. Drafting takes a bit of experience and someone who cares about their work.

Pardon my saying so, but with qualifications like those you claim, you are probably more qualified to answer your own question than most of the folks who frequent these NG's. What *is* the "CAD/CAM industry" anyway? CAD and CAM are merely tools, used in many, many *other* fields of endeavor (including, of course, your own). My own opinion is that there is no such thing as a "CAD/CAM industry." Carpenters and others use hammers, but there's no "hammer industry" -- so why should an "industry" evolve around what is simply another tool? ____

This is pretty dismal advice. I have learned to expect this type of thought from those not in the manufacturing field (architectural, civil, etc.), and for them, it has some validity.

The OP was about (look at the subject line) CAD/CAM.

For folks in that area, it is more than time to stop treating AutoCAD (or any decent CAD program) like an electronic Etch-A-Sketch and realize that it is primarily a database that happens to have a graphical interface.

Forget (for now) the drafting functions of AutoCAD and spend time learning solid modeling, lisp and attributes. In manufacturing you will be best served with these abilities.

-- "Who we are and who we become depends, in part, on whom we love."

-- "A General Theory Of Love" Thanks, Mom ______________________________________________________________ Glen Appleby snipped-for-privacy@armory.com

Am I correct in assuming that you are referring to some aspect of manufacturing?

Could you supply more information about the area for which you are looking for information? CAD/CAM can include quite a large area, some of which may be totally irrelevant to that for which you may be looking.

-- "Who we are and who we become depends, in part, on whom we love."

-- "A General Theory Of Love" Thanks, Mom ______________________________________________________________ Glen Appleby snipped-for-privacy@armory.com

Dr. Mr. Zabala,

I was not intending to insult you, and I sincerely apologize for apparently having done so. I take a light-hearted approach to most things in life and was trying to be nothing more than jovial. Frankly, your post left me with the impression that you were a young engineering graduate. Re-read my comments as if you were, and I think you'll be much less offended. Again, I sincerely apologize for my erroneous assumptions.

In future posts to this NG, you may want to be a little bit more specific in your queries. While you did mention CAD/CAM, as Paul has eluded to, that's quite a broad topic, which could include virtually any use of CAD software.

You also may want to lighten up, just a bit. It's only life. If my post caused you much offense, you're in trouble if you keep poking around on the net.

Sincerely, Me

Glen,

Yes, he's interested in some aspect of manufacturing. I asked him about which field but he's undecided. From what I know about him, he's probably interested in the automotive industry.

If you're involved in CAD/CAM you could probably tell me a little about your industry and how you use CAD/CAM.

Thanks.

-EZ

Tom,

Thank you for the apology.

If you have any other helpful information, I'd be happy to receive it. This time, I'll know your approach and be less likely to be offended.

Thanks again.

-EZ

Miscommunication there, Glen. My intended point was that I see drawings come through our office for approval so bad, you can't even read them. Problem is, if you're going to be a 'CAD operator', you need to understand drafting basics, too, not just running CAD. Take a look at a grading plan for a subdivision, you'll see what I mean.

I agree with you 100% about it not being an etch-a-sketch, and all. I've been pushing that for years, believe me.

There is definitely a quality issue with CAD operators who have not had any manual drafting training. Text placement on top of linework makes the text either impossible to read, or even worse - possibly ambiguous, making the person reading the drawings guess as to which numbers are written. Add that to the fact that drawings lose readability once they are blueprinted & we have some problems for the poor field guys who actually have to build the finished product.

Kelvin

Wow!!

Thanks for all the great information!!

-EZ

requirements,

Quite welcome. Glad we're on better terms. ;)

I can only say that I know there are some regulars here that are in the manufacturing field. I tend to think (hope?) that for the manufacturing folks, as CW mentioned, it's more of a solid modeling skill that's most marketable.

Sorry I can't offer more info.

Uh, oh ... if he is interested in working direct for one of the American automotive companies, AutoCAD may not be of that much help to him, ultimately. The 'Murikun car companies tend to have purchased propriatry CAD software ... although, in a basic way, CAD is CAD and the basiuc concepts will tend to hold.

I worked for over 30 years in the Sillycon Valley, in a bit of everything that was there (I'm retired, now).

I used AutoCAD to generate solid models and simply sent them to the various fabrication facilities, to fab or quote the parts (we had standard agreements with the shops that covered the general requirements for fab (these agreements took the place of slapping standard notes on the 2D detail drawings).

Prototype builds were either sent, for inspection, to a CMM house or, in the better cases, the fab houses held such close control over their equipment and processes that we let them do their own inspection (they wanted to do this as part of their QA process).

The "self-inspection" was done more with sheet metal and other lower tolerance parts.

Need more?

-- "Who we are and who we become depends, in part, on whom we love."

-- "A General Theory Of Love" Thanks, Mom ______________________________________________________________ Glen Appleby snipped-for-privacy@armory.com

I appreciate that. I am (in other forums, especially) much the same. As with the response that you received, without fail, someone will be offended.

I hate that, but ... I've learned to accept it as part of expressing humor.

When it's done right, it is sure to offend *someone*.

-- "Who we are and who we become depends, in part, on whom we love."

-- "A General Theory Of Love" Thanks, Mom ______________________________________________________________ Glen Appleby snipped-for-privacy@armory.com

Quick, someone notify the press, as this is NEWS!!

CAM is the programing of the fabrication equipment, yes; but the information id fed, most effecently, fed to the machine tools via CAD. To do it manually (by trabnsferring information from a print, for example) is far more prone to errors.

This is true enough, as far as it goes. It misses the point, though, that the information must get from the design facility to the fabrication facility. That is done most effectively through Direct File Transfer.

Perhaps this is more true for propriatry robots (specialized -- designed and built to do very specific jobs, and typically in somewhat small quantities); however not for the mass produced robots. Those typically have programing languages and often the robot manufacturer offers courses in programing their robots.

I did work a bit with one robotic company in developing programs rhat would be based on the AutoCAD solid model assembly and the use of a program that would animate the assembly process.

Come on -- keep up. Otherwise yer holding everybody back.

-- "Who we are and who we become depends, in part, on whom we love."

-- "A General Theory Of Love" Thanks, Mom ______________________________________________________________ Glen Appleby snipped-for-privacy@armory.com