Is Taking a CAD Class Worthwhile for Engineering Students?

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The discussion revolves around the value of taking a CAD class for engineering students, particularly those pursuing aeronautical engineering. CAD, or Computer Aided Design, encompasses various software packages like AutoCAD and SolidWorks. The relevance of the CAD course depends on the specific engineering program and the software taught. The original poster is considering a class titled "Technical Drafting I," which covers fundamental drafting skills. Responses indicate that such a course is beneficial, especially since students in aeronautical engineering are typically required to take drafting and introductory CAD courses. Recommendations include specific courses that align with the program's requirements, emphasizing that while some courses may seem excessive, foundational classes like 105AA and 115 are essential. Overall, taking CAD-related courses is seen as a valuable investment in skills necessary for engineering careers.
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My degree is for engineering. This semester I will be taking a CAD class, but before I take this class I wanted to know if it would be a waste of my time to take?
 
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What engineering program are you in ? What use do you think the CAD package might have ? What kind of CAD package are you referring to ?

CAD ( Computer Aided Design) is a general term it my refer to AutoCAD, Solidworks, VHDL, Verilog, Catia etc...

Depending on your major and the software used in the "CAD" class, the class could be either useful or useless.
 
I want to be an Aeronautical engineer. The CAD class that I am taking is called..." Technical Drafting I " The description is .."Fundamentals of drafting including lettering, basic drawing concepts, geometric construction and multiview projection."


I added an attachment of the few classes they have... The picture shows the order that they need to be taken.
 

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You should definitely take one of them. I am surprised you are not already required to take a few.

At my school the guys in aero have to take a drafting course and a few courses that introduces them to solid-works and Catia.

I would suggest you take 105AA (or 252AA, 254AA, 256AA depending on how many you allowed to take )and 115.

I was in first year of undergrad and I had to take courses similar to 105AA and 115.
 
Well I plan I taking all the ones that were in the attachment that I sent you... Before I took them I wanted to make sure it was a good idea because on my school layout it did not say that I needed it...
If you don't mind briefly looking at ----> http://catalog.asu.edu/files/majormap10/ESAEROBSE.pdf

It tells you all the classes that I need for a bach deg. I also plan on getting a masters deg. Anyways if a class that is not on the website I sent you that you think I should take I would appreciate your opinion.
Thank you.
 
At my school the following courses are required:

Engineering Design and Graphical Communication

Introduction to design: role of design in engineering, problem analysis, conceptual design and analysis, systems thinking, detailed design, design for product life cycle. Technical drawing in compliance with Canadian standards: orthographic and auxiliary views, sections, dimensioning and tolerancing, assembly and working drawings. Sketching and CAD-based methods.

Manufacturing Fundamentals

An overview of manufacturing processes and methods with emphasis on understanding of the physical fundamentals of processes. The course will cover material removal processes, metal-casting processes forming and shaping processes and shaping processes for plastics. Students will also be introduced to areas of geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD and T), engineering metrology including coordinate measuring machines (CMM) and the principles of reverse engineering. A CAD package is used.Taking all the courses you mentioned seems excessive. Taking 105AA and 115 should suffice.
 
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