PRADA SLUT posted:What's the best way to teach yourself AutoCAD? AutoCAD, let alone any software was not covered in my EE program. Not even MATLAB/equivalents. They did expect you to know MATLAB and hand-drawn Drafting, somehow. I read through the ASTM standard for drafting at work and there's some good stuff in there, but is a very, very dense read. I read bits and pieces of it partially because its part of my job function to read standards, and partially so I can just declare I'm an idiot right off the bat when it comes to drafting.
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# ? Aug 24, 2014 09:45 |
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# ? Jun 5, 2024 05:57 |
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I didnt have any CAD in school other than PSpice and MATLAB if you count that. My work sent me to a class on CATIA since that's what we use. I dont think I use more than 10% of the capabilities of the program.
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# ? Aug 24, 2014 18:21 |
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I use Catia for work and use most of the functionality. I learned nothing in school and a couple classes compared to what I was taught by my current boss at work. Classes will teach very little in my experience.
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# ? Aug 24, 2014 18:38 |
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Books: I used AutoCAD 2012 Tutor for Engineering Graphics by Kalameja and Lang, it's thorough without presenting so much at once that it becomes overwhelming. It doesn't teach drafting practices though, so if you're totally in the dark pick up a third or fourth edition copy of Madsen's Engineering Drawing and Design. It's on the fifth revision now so 3E shouldn't run more than $15 or so. Honestly though I've felt like all the AutoCAD classes I've taken were a complete waste of time ever since I got my hands on Solidworks, Inventor Pro, and MasterCAM. shame on an IGA fucked around with this message at 20:07 on Aug 24, 2014 |
# ? Aug 24, 2014 19:58 |
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Does any engineer really use vanilla AutoCAD for much besides looking at DWG files? I'm a structural and the most I use it for is drawing preliminary sketches; everything else is done in a dedicated BIM/steel detailing package.
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# ? Aug 24, 2014 20:31 |
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My company uses it for extrusion die design, but it's mostly because the guys that design them have been using autocad for so long
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# ? Aug 24, 2014 22:10 |
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I'm an AutoCAD tech looking to become more employable now that it seems everyone is looking for an architect, engineer, or someone with trade skills. I already have a Bachelor's degree, but would like to get into structural engineering. Would having a little bit of training in miscellaneous steel detailing help?
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# ? Aug 24, 2014 22:30 |
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Panzeh posted:I'm an AutoCAD tech looking to become more employable now that it seems everyone is looking for an architect, engineer, or someone with trade skills. I already have a Bachelor's degree, but would like to get into structural engineering. Would having a little bit of training in miscellaneous steel detailing help? Most likely no. Get good grades in school and get internships. I do literally zero drafting as an engineer, huge waste of resources and money.
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# ? Aug 24, 2014 22:56 |
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Panzeh posted:I'm an AutoCAD tech looking to become more employable now that it seems everyone is looking for an architect, engineer, or someone with trade skills. I already have a Bachelor's degree, but would like to get into structural engineering. Would having a little bit of training in miscellaneous steel detailing help? It depends on the firm, but it leans towards no -- not too many structural engineers handle the detailing, leaving the connections and cutouts up to the fabricator/contractor and signing off on them when they come back for review. Learning a BIM package like Revit Structure, Tekla Structures or Bentley ProSteel might be worthwhile though, since it makes coordinating your design calcs and your construction plans much easier.
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# ? Aug 24, 2014 23:05 |
Why would an engineer do drafting? That's what drafters are for.
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# ? Aug 25, 2014 03:15 |
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IAMKOREA posted:Why would an engineer do drafting? That's what drafters are for. Funnily enough every drafting job opening seems to want an engineer or architect.
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# ? Aug 25, 2014 03:47 |
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Panzeh posted:Funnily enough every drafting job opening seems to want an engineer or architect. That sounds very odd. Maybe they're looking for a drafter designer and not just a drafter.
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# ? Aug 25, 2014 04:10 |
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The majority of my drawings are single-lines or site plans/maps. Hell, much of EE design is 2D. AutoCAD is the most efficient tool for the job. When I was looking for internships as a EE, CAD experience was a plus. I don't think most employers expect their engineers to double as a drafter, however it is nice to have engineers that in a pinch can alter a drawing if drafters are unavailable. Of course, in my office, our designers/drafters are older and not very efficient with the software. They have been using it since CAD first went mainstream and are unable to learn hotkeys or shortcuts. I do many of my own drawings simply because it takes me 1/5 the time it would take to send it to a drafter.
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# ? Aug 25, 2014 04:11 |
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In controls, we do a ton of IO cabinet layouts and retrofits, so AutoCAD is the right tool for the job. 3D would be a waste, since the panel shop is going to figure out the best way to bend the sheets anyways.
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# ? Aug 25, 2014 14:33 |
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I'm a structural engineer who does precast/prestressed concrete, and I use Autocad quite a bit. We have drafters who do the real heavy lifting there, but I know enough that I can make small adjustments to a drawing if I need to or if it would be faster to do it myself. I also use it a lot to sketch stuff or to check for interferences while I'm doing my designs. For example, making sure that an embedded plate will fit without hitting any of the other reinforcement in a piece, or for laying out a prestressing strand pattern that will work for a particular casting bed. I think that drafting experience would generally be a slight positive for a structural engineer, and neutral at worst. Your undergrad would probably be a bigger factor. Did you major in civil or mechanical engineering and did you take classes focused on structural engineering? Have you passed the FE exam? It's rare, but not unheard of to go from drafting to engineering; my company currently has one person who started as a drafter and is in the process of switching to engineering. You might also consider BIM if you know or have the opportunity to pick up Revit and/or Tekla. Good BIM people are worth their weight in gold and the industry is currently moving more and more towards 3d modeling.
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# ? Aug 26, 2014 05:32 |
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Whats the best way to put the FE exam on your resume? Should I just list it under certificates? FE/EIT certificate?
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# ? Aug 27, 2014 16:21 |
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Certificates is where I put it.
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# ? Aug 27, 2014 16:23 |
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Your Name, EIT Under accomplishments or certificates or whatever you call your section put: Passed fundamentals of engineering exam, date
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# ? Aug 27, 2014 16:33 |
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SeaBass posted:That sounds very odd. Maybe they're looking for a drafter designer and not just a drafter. I think this is the most likely - all of the smaller companies I've worked for combined these roles, so it's not uncommon. If you are a designer/drafter, I'd push for an engineer title thrown in there, though.
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# ? Aug 27, 2014 20:52 |
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spwrozek posted:Your Name, EIT Just don't put it on your email signature when you get a job. It makes you look like a putz, especially if you're in a field that will eventually require a PE.
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# ? Aug 28, 2014 07:37 |
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CCKeane posted:If you are a designer/drafter, I'd push for an engineer title thrown in there, though. Yeah, okay, good luck with that. I know in the industrial exemption industries they may be able to get away with that, but if your industry requires PEs, that will not fly with anyone.
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# ? Aug 28, 2014 07:40 |
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I wouldn't use EIT as a post-nominal in general - it confuses people who don't know how engineering licensure works and looks cheesy to those who do. Just mention it under your certifications.
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# ? Aug 28, 2014 14:55 |
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The Chairman posted:I wouldn't use EIT as a post-nominal in general - it confuses people who don't know how engineering licensure works and looks cheesy to those who do. Just mention it under your certifications. Who else besides people who know what it means are you dealing with? We typically put it as a requirement for employment out of school so if you don't make it obvious you have it you might be missed. In many states you get a license number and everything.
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# ? Aug 28, 2014 15:52 |
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SeaBass posted:Yeah, okay, good luck with that. I know in the industrial exemption industries they may be able to get away with that, but if your industry requires PEs, that will not fly with anyone. Ah yeah, I missed the bit with the architect. In industrial exemption industries it's pretty common, yeah.
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# ? Aug 28, 2014 18:20 |
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I worked as an intern in the opto mechanical department at a terribly run company. Six months into my internship my boss quit and they never replaced him while I was there. I quickly absorbed most of his responsibilities and ended up more or less in charge of the department until I ended my 'internship' six months later. It's time for me to update my resume and I'm wondering how to best demonstrate this. Should I note that I moved up to lead the department or just say I was an intern the whole time?
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# ? Sep 2, 2014 16:30 |
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When you say boss do you mean the guy was a manager or just some engineer you were working under?
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# ? Sep 3, 2014 03:49 |
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Uncle Jam posted:When you say boss do you mean the guy was a manager or just some engineer you were working under? The company divided the mechanical engineering up which was my department. Without us two interns it would have just been him working. However, we were a small company of less than 50 people. I guess he was a little bit of both?
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# ? Sep 3, 2014 05:46 |
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huhu posted:I worked as an intern in the opto mechanical department at a terribly run company. Six months into my internship my boss quit and they never replaced him while I was there. I quickly absorbed most of his responsibilities and ended up more or less in charge of the department until I ended my 'internship' six months later. It's time for me to update my resume and I'm wondering how to best demonstrate this. Should I note that I moved up to lead the department or just say I was an intern the whole time? I would sell it as a normal internship with lots of "ownership" and "championing" just don't say the whole department imo.
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# ? Sep 3, 2014 22:45 |
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Hollis Brown posted:I would sell it as a normal internship with lots of "ownership" and "championing" just don't say the whole department imo. This is my thought, even if you were the most senior engineer in your group as an intern nobody who looks at your resume is actually going to believe you. They'll just think that you inflated your intern responsibilities on your resume like everyone does, only got a little too ambitious. Shear Modulus fucked around with this message at 03:25 on Sep 4, 2014 |
# ? Sep 4, 2014 03:22 |
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Why can't he just say something along the lines of effectively leading the department, instead of using a bunch of buzzwords?
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# ? Sep 4, 2014 03:41 |
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Noctone posted:Why can't he just say something along the lines of effectively leading the department, instead of using a bunch of buzzwords? It sounds like his department was just that one guy, so saying you're 'leading the department' is a little dishonest. I wouldn't believe that on an internship. I would think he was taking over for a general manager or something, which sounds like a misinterpretation but I've seen bigger bullshit claims on internships before. I would just put some of the specific responsibilities very clearly as bullet points. I would save the difficulty of transition to working without your mentor and new responsibilities for the interview when the inevitably ask for an example about a difficult time or somesuch.
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# ? Sep 4, 2014 04:49 |
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Oh sure, I didn't mean to feed exact words. Just something that's a little more descriptive, rather than HR pablum.
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# ? Sep 4, 2014 04:55 |
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Thinking I should put I met with all the departments to plan projects and decide which received priority. That's more or less what changed
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# ? Sep 10, 2014 14:08 |
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Any recommendations on how to move away from one industry to another? Specifically I am an RF comm systems engineer in the space industry, and I'd like to move to something terrestrial where I can expect my company not to lay off hundreds of people every other year and deny bonus/merits nearly every year while cutting benefits twice a year. I am in the bay area, and the only companies I really know to look at are agilent, Apple, or Qualcomm. Still looking around, not looking to move companies for a minimum of 6 months but I just dont feel safe in my job, or feel that my work is appreciated or that I am compensated properly (both in salary and benefits). The only upside is that I do love what I do, it's pretty rad, and that my management and team love me. The "i dont feel safe" is because there is this constant fear the entire company is going to go bankrupt (for a lot of reasons) e: stipped down to important parts mitztronic fucked around with this message at 18:48 on Sep 10, 2014 |
# ? Sep 10, 2014 18:28 |
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If you meet the job requirements or come close then apply for the job. Don't get scared off because you think you may not pass the interview process unless you have a concrete reason.
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# ? Sep 10, 2014 20:13 |
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Yeah I would say contacts who have made a migration, look on LinkedIn for contacts who work in the new space and can get an intro to, and what asur said, in that order. Obviously a lot of companies may value the space-based focus of your comms and have something especially for that (while pivoting towards something fresh). It's not as far off as you may think.
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# ? Sep 10, 2014 23:56 |
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Xeom fucked around with this message at 07:07 on Sep 11, 2014 |
# ? Sep 11, 2014 02:19 |
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That is my wife's job and she is a field engineer. Only difference sounds like she works for a huge company and makes better money and has more responsibility. I would say it fits. E: reading it again it is probably a field tech position at most large companies (kewit, granite, mortenson, pcl, etc) but I would still put that as your title and leverage it to another larger firm if that is what you want to do for work. spwrozek fucked around with this message at 02:50 on Sep 11, 2014 |
# ? Sep 11, 2014 02:47 |
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I'm in my first semester for EE and my school is hosting a career fair for STEM students looking for internships. I already have an undergraduate degree in microbiology, but seeing as how I'm only in my first semester of engineering is it even worth dropping off a resume to these people or should I wait until after my first year? Thanks.
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# ? Sep 15, 2014 18:24 |
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# ? Jun 5, 2024 05:57 |
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Worst they can say is no. Just go and do it.
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# ? Sep 15, 2014 19:22 |