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Does an engineer need to know/use AUTOCAD? Or leave it to a drafter.


khoshravan

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In design offices, main goal of Autocad is for drawing and it is supposed to be the responsibility of drafters (at least in the past).

 

 

 

However with this rapid speed of progress in design and drawing, it is hard to separate engineers and drafters responsibilities. I think they have to work in close collaboration with each other. Now CAD could be used as a design tool for engineers as well.

 

 

I want to know your opinion in this regard. Do engineers in your work place (I mean design offices) uses Autocad or totally leave it to drafters?

 

With this email I do not want to discriminate between drafters and engineers. Or I do not want to devalue drafters work. All I want to know is that how much of engineers are accustomed with Autocad?

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In design offices, main goal of Autocad is for drawing and it is supposed to be the responsibility of drafters (at least in the past).

 

With regards to civil engineering, if you are a design engineer you need to be proficient in design software these days. Very few hand calc. everything these days (i.e. can you imagine repeatedly solving linear equations in large matrices for example by hand?) and most design is done on computers.

 

However if you are a construction engineer for example though, then this is not as important.

 

However with this rapid speed of progress in design and drawing, it is hard to separate engineers and drafters responsibilities. I think they have to work in close collaboration with each other. Now CAD could be used as a design tool for engineers as well.

 

Most engineers know basic CAD at least. Those who don't have in general been practicing for longer than 20+ years/not working in a design role.

 

I want to know your opinion in this regard. Do engineers in your work place (I mean design offices) uses Autocad or totally leave it to drafters?

 

Absolutely, they certainly use it. Along with lots of other computer software packages.

 

Look at most design engineer roles on job search sites. Most specify that the knowledge of certain software packages (including AutoCad) is highly valued.

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We have nine engineers of which only four use AutoCAD. Of them only two use it frequently, one does so on occasion, and the other one uses it rarely if at all any more. The five who do not use AutoCAD either don't want to learn ("too old" they tell me) or say they don't need it. I only know of two small engineering companies where the engineers were responsible for all CAD work. One of them succeeded in making it work while the other threw in the towel and hired two full-time CAD techs.

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We have nine engineers of which only four use AutoCAD. Of them only two use it frequently, one does so on occasion, and the other one uses it rarely if at all any more. The five who do not use AutoCAD either don't want to learn ("too old" they tell me) or say they don't need it. I only know of two small engineering companies where the engineers were responsible for all CAD work. One of them succeeded in making it work while the other threw in the towel and hired two full-time CAD techs.

 

It does depend largely on the industry though. I.e. I can't imagine too many chemical engineers needing to use CAD, likewise with mining engineers, although they certainly need to be computer proficient with other software packages these days.

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Two of the five still hand draw their own isometric diagrams for inclusion with work orders and engineering change notices. I told them that if they had charged the company a dime every time they drew a ball valve they'd be millionaires by now.

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Two of the five still hand draw their own isometric diagrams for inclusion with work orders and engineering change notices.

 

ِDo the client accepts hand drawings? Very interesting to hear about hand drawings in these days!?:shock:

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The clients in this case are our own fabrication, instrumentation, electrical and pipe shops. And the answer is "Yes, they still accept them."

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We have 2 Mechanical Engineers, 1 Electrical Engineer, 1 Architect and 1 Structural Engineer.

 

1 ME is scared to touch cad, but he's like 70 years old. Never drafted. Was a field guy that went back to school. Whenever I mention the "ego" stereotype, it's him. It's his way or no way and the field guys will figure it out.

 

2nd ME can draw in AutoCAD, but chooses not to "because we have people here getting paid to do that. Give them the work." Really nice guy, everyone enjoys drawing for him.

 

3rd ME is still an EIT. He's Apprentice under the Ego. I work very closely with him and work to beat out the ego mentality. He's VERY good with computers, AutoCAD, Revit, Trace, and wanting to learn SolidWorks and COMSOL. Whenever he gets his license, if he chooses to stay with the company, him and I would make a great design team.

 

Elec Eng is a 1-man shop. He designs/engineers/draws (AutoCAD) all his work. Unless he is SUPER swamped, he doesn't ask for help. Really nice guy, very open to different standards or changes...just talks your ear off.

 

Architect is another 1-stop shop. He also does our structural calcs that get reviewed by the part-time structural engineer. Another fun guy to be around, we go for beers and billiards every couple of weeks.

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We have one civil engineer who is far past retirement age. As you might expect, he doesn't know the first thing about CAD. If someone emails him a drawing, I have to print it for him.

 

The other is 20 years out of school but hasn't learned anything beyond how to open, plot, and turn layers on/off. He's constantly asking for things that AutoCAD wasn't designed to do (which is part of the reason for my sig). It's too bad in a way, because we could do grading (for instance) much more quickly if he let Civil 3D do the drudgery. Isn't that the point of using computers?

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We have 2 Mechanical Engineers, 1 Electrical Engineer, 1 Architect and 1 Structural Engineer.

 

I think you introduced everybody except yourself:lol:

 

I think there is a linear correlation between age and CAD usage. I hardly can see a man in his 70's and uses CAD. Off course it is a matter which should be left to young mostly. Except those who used from the early version of R12.

 

BTW also please comment on the female draftsman. Some company uses female for following reasons:

1- They work more accurate than men.

2- They don't ask for salary raise very often

3- They keep the courtesy.

4- They obey the rules more than men.

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(which is part of the reason for my sig). It's too bad in a way, because we could do grading (for instance) much more quickly if he let Civil 3D do the drudgery. Isn't that the point of using computers?

 

By sig, do you mean your signature? I have to admit that I don't understand your signature.

What do you mean by grading. Grading what?

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I believe every engineer should not only know autoCAD but manuel drafting as well and for christ sakes, take some lettering classes!

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To me, engineering and design go hand in hang. It's not just about the number crunching. The extent of CAD knowledge is debatable, however. It's hard to find a rock solid engineer with extremely extensive design capabilities in one package. A field superintendent might not make a great helper and vice versa. A great web programmer might not make a great Photoshop guy for web layout and vice versa. But all go hand in hand. Etc x 1,000. Same difference in my mind although you do find the occasional person that is very good at both.

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I've been working with a Structural Engineer for a couple of years now who does everything by hand and doesn't use a drafter. He marks up the drawings and I draft the structural plans in CAD, but all of his details are by hand on 8-1/2" x 11" which I have to scan and turn into sheets, which is annoying and time consuming. He's a good Engineer, and he's cheap, but I would seriously like to find someone who's up to date. It would be nice to receive things over email and to not have to travel to his office except for stamp & signature. I also don't really like the look of the details being hand drawn when the rest of the plans looks so nice and crisp.

 

I think Engineers and Architects can and do get by just fine not doing CAD drafting themselves, but what I've seen since the econmomic downturn is that some of them can't afford their drafters anymore (my old boss for example) but can't do it, or can't do it that well themselves and they have found themselves in a pretty bad spot. So I would say that it's a really, really good idea for Engineers and Architects to be at least somewhat proficient in CAD.

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I've worked with three female draftspersons. Two did only manual drafting and one did CAD.

 

1) Accuracy: no better, no worse than any guy.

2) Raises: all three always thought they needed to be paid higher than their male colleagues.

3) Courtesy: two out of the three could out swear a U.S. sailor any day of the week and do it three times as loud.

4) Obey: no chance in hell; just as likely as a man not to follow instructions.

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I think you introduced everybody except yourself:lol:

 

I think there is a linear correlation between age and CAD usage. I hardly can see a man in his 70's and uses CAD. Off course it is a matter which should be left to young mostly. Except those who used from the early version of R12.

 

BTW also please comment on the female draftsman. Some company uses female for following reasons:

1- They work more accurate than men.

2- They don't ask for salary raise very often

3- They keep the courtesy.

4- They obey the rules more than men.

 

I'm offended and women should be too.

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3) Courtesy: two out of the three could out swear a U.S. sailor any day of the week and do it three times as loud.

Sounds like you worked with my mother. ;)

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Nice. Not to derail the topic buy my mother still to this day starts and ends every sentence with a G** D*** M***** F*****. She's red headed. *sigh* Love that woman. ;)

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