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Thread: Need advice for a school paper.

  1. #1
    Associate Engineer
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    Jul 2015
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    Need advice for a school paper.

    Hello Everyone,

    I am currently studying Design Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. I am taking a Technical Report Writing Class for summer semester. My final paper is dealing with the following question.

    "Which 3-D software is best for an emerging Design Engineer to learn before entering the field?"

    My school offers both Auto CAD and Solid-works.

    Also which 3-d software was the first to become available to the engineering world?

  2. #2
    Technical Fellow Kelly_Bramble's Avatar
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    Learn Solid Works - more industry opportunities.

    Autocad was one of the first if not SDRC Ideals or maybe Intergraph and Microstation
    Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.

  3. #3
    Technical Fellow jboggs's Avatar
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    The first actual 3D design software I remember encountering was either Unigraphics or Catia. AutoCAD claimed to have 3D capability decades ago, but I don't know anyone that would have called those early versions useful.

  4. #4
    Principle Engineer
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    May 2015
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    I believe the economic prospects are better for those who know Solidworks as opposed to those who know AutoCAD at this time.

    AutoCAD was a low cost leader in the early days of CAD when 2D drawing on a tube was just replacing drafting boards. Other drafting programs have come along that were unencumbered by legacy programming architecture and fit the 3D modeling needs better. As desktops became more powerful the massive programs that required a 'work station' to drive them began to fall out of favor. They attempt to hold on by offering data filing programs to organize drawing files like "Team Center".

    All things have their time. We can hope that an open source program like FreeCAD will soon take off and make a good drafting program available to all at no cost.

    The first 3D system that I encountered was call Medusa in the 1980's.

  5. #5
    Associate Engineer
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    Jul 2015
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    As is typical in engineering the answer is "it depends". In this case what field and type of engineering a young engineer is planning to go into. If a young engineer is planning to go into machine design or do say automotive or aeronautics or aerospace, Solidworks seems to be the preferred choice (at least is what I keep seeing not doing any of those myself). However, if a young engineer is wanting to get into HVACR REVIT is recommended. You may want to take note that DoD recently started requiring new facilities to be designed using BIM (Building Information Modeling).

  6. #6
    Associate Engineer
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    Jun 2016
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    Auto Cad is the older software. My recommendation for you is solid works.

  7. #7
    Auto CAD was the first.

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