Cad-tech

Drafting and designers with CAD competency are at the heart of current technical development, production, and progress. Almost any item that requires more than three builders to produce will require technical drawings. Complex designs almost always require technical drawings in the problems design analysis and in the solution’s evolution.

These drawings (drafting, engineering graphics, etc) may be manual or computer developed, the system is the same, CAD is just a powerful drafting tool. Technical drawings are the most efficient and certain way to communicate the information necessary to produce an object. For the designer these drawings are the most effective way to view and analyze the interrelations of the design. Next the drafter converts the designs into the technical drawings needed to produce the parts and assemble the device. These drafters of necessity become knowledgable of the requirements and procedure in production or manufacturing. Other specialists design and draft the production process and tools, and so on throughout industry. There are many areas and levels of specialization, upwards from the job title of drafter, that lead to more responsible and rewarding careers.

Many workers may know their jobs well but they may not quite understand how they personally fit in the overall scheme. That is not a problem for drafters and designers. Drafters and designers had to:

Know and consider the basic problem and talk with the people who have the problem.
Consider the issues, economics, and procedures of manufacture.
Respond to the concerns of distribution and sales.
Respond to consumer complaints, with redesigns, etc.

Consequently the drafter/designer understands his or her place in the process, in industry, and in life, and this understanding of your place and importance is very satisfying. An additional perk is that this central position produces contacts with many other related job and career opportunities.

The Shasta College CAD Drafting tech curriculum is designed to prepare Shasta students for good computer aided drafting entry positions, positions that have potential for advancement. Their Shasta College tech education should provide the students the tools to grow professionally and these programs should prepare students to meet the opportunities to advance to higher levels of specialization, or design, or related careers.

CAD, or Computer Aided Drafting, is a powerful tool for doing drafting. Drafting (also called technical drawing or engineering graphics, etc) is the powerful system of technical communication and design that is one of the foundations of industry and technology. One cannot become effective (or well paid) using CAD without an understanding of the drafting system. Conversely a newly trained drafter cannot expect good employment and advancement without the ability to Draft using CAD. At Shasta College students learn both the universal system of Drafting and Computer Aided Drafting, they also learn other drafting specialization's, and related technical tools and knowledge.

At Shasta College the basic system of drafting is taught initially with manual or board drafting. Certainly some technical drafting is still required and a new drafter without those skills would be figuratively missing the forth wheel. Regardless the application method of drafting, this system of communication and design, called CAD drafting, can be most efficiently and most effectively learned with manual drafting. Then CAD becomes a primary medium as the student moves into advanced drafting and specialized fields.

Presently, the latest Autodisk programs are the principle drafting program taught at Shasta College. Autodisks "Mechanical DeskTop", and "Solidworks" are solid parametric programs for advanced instruction. Two advanced civil and architecture courses are presented with two courses in civil-map-survey CAD drafting and architectural CAD drafting. Surveying, electronics, etc have their special computer program courses. Internet is to be explored. Fortran and C++ programming courses are available to advanced students. Other courses on campus relate to office management, spreadsheets, etc.

A fundamental philosophy of the program at Shasta College is that drafter is just the entry level position, for the CAD drafter, with the background of the Computer Aided Drafting Tech degree. Within 3 to 7 years experience, a new more demanding and rewarding job label should be appropriate. Designer and supervisor are the most obvious titles. It follows that Shasta College goes beyond teaching entry level abilities and attempts to provide knowledge and develop attitudes that enable and stimulate advancement in this career path.

For example most drafting courses include projects that require students to solve some mechanical design problem, with a limited material and time budget. These design projects generally require that a working model be produced, to prove the design in a competitive contest.

Advanced courses use CAD and develop the drafting requirements and procedures in the most important areas of specialization. These advanced courses also attempt. to develop an understanding of, and considerations for, the total industrial environment. These include considerations for materials, economics, sales, human concerns, environmental concerns, manufacturing processes, etc. Expertise is not developed in these areas, but the door is opened to potential areas for later developing expertise, and advanced careers.