<p>Hello, I'm currently a mechanical engineering student. I already have practice with Pro/E but I'm wondering what other software I should get to know.</p>
<p>What are the top 3 modeling programs that future employers would want me to know?</p>
<p>SolidWorks seems to be used almost everywhere Ive seen so far.</p>
<p>Pro/E, SolidWorks, Unigraphics NX. Those seem to be the most common. SolidWorks is cake after Pro/E since they have a lot of similarities. Unigraphics is garbage but used in a lot of companies.</p>
<p>I hear Solidworks thrown around a bit more than Pro-E. As a side note: does anyone use Autocad for 3D drawings? I recently started using 2010 after not using a version for about 10 years and I don’t recall it having 3D modeling capabilities in the past.</p>
<p>CATIA v5
Solidworks
Unigraphics</p>
<p>From what I’ve seen and researched these are the main ones that are used in industry.</p>
<p>^ AutoCAD has had 3D modeling capabilities since at least release 12, maybe even 10 (a long time ago!). However, it was not very user friendly by any means. I was doing cartwheels when I started using SolidWorks as it is incredibly easy to use.</p>
<p>CATIA is only popular in the aerospace industry, and even then it is really only popular among airframers.</p>
<p>SolidWorks is more popular than Pro/E mainly because it is cheaper. A lot of larger companies use Pro/E though because it is more robust.</p>
<p>If you learn a particular program at school is it difficult to then switch to another program once in the workforce?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>As far as SolidWorks and Pro/E are concerned, the transition is easy, as the creators of SolidWorks were former Pro/E engineers. I had no issue transitioning to SolidWorks from AutoCAD as the programmers made the commands similar in some aspects. So I say there should be no issues (as far as I know) learning one program and then switching to another.</p>
<p>So I have another question for those of you who are graduated engineers working somewhere. From your experience would it be better to take Solidworks courses or CATIA?
The thing is, I’m going to try to transfer to GTech next year. They offer CATIA as their design course. The school I’m at currently offers Solidworks. Would it be better as far as the real world is concerned, to take Solidworks at my school now, or wait and take CATIA at GTech? This is assuming I get into GTech.</p>
<p>It depends on what you want to do after graduation. CATIA is mainly only used in the Aerospace and Automotive industries. Otherwise I feel like Solidworks is the best option and will give you a great overall understanding of CAD software that can be applied on different CAD programs. Another note but Solidworks is much easier to use compared to CATIA as I feel it is more user friendly (might change your decision)</p>
<p>I would learn Pro/E over soldworks. It is my opinion that Pro/E is more difficult so
it is easier to then learn solidworks afterward as opposed tithe other way around.</p>
<p>Etch-a-sketch.</p>
<p>Oh wait, you wanted 3D, not 2D. Perhaps Playdo.</p>
<p>In all seriousness, the basic modeling of parts in SolidWorks, Pro/E, and CATIA is all the same. Learn one, and you can run any of the programs. AutoCAD is a lot different and I’d recommend learning it as well because it keeps popping up in the engineering world as much as I’d rather not use it. </p>
<p>The advanced features of Pro/E, CATIA, and SolidWorks you can learn on the job.</p>
<p>AutoCAD Inventor & Pro-E.</p>
<p>SolidWorks</p>
<p>Haha, I used Inventor in high school for a bunch of classes, but I guess Solidworks is way more well known, though the functions are pretty much identical… I though Solidworks was indeed user friendly and college has taught me a good amount of knowledge in how to use it. It won’t take you that long to understand how to use it if you take some time and patience to sit down and understand how it all works.</p>
<p>Autocad is used by construction and architecture firms, if anyone is noticing its absence from this list.</p>
<p>I think Inventor was originally released for students…though I think Autodesk always intended for it to compete with SolidWorks in industry. I don’t know how prevalent it is.</p>
<p>Most of the parametric modelers are similar. It isn’t incredibly difficult to transition between them.</p>
<p>However, I am doing an internship at a company that uses a direct 3D modeler, and it is NOTHING like parametric modelers. There is no model history / constraints and I am having a very hard time adapting to the software they use. Parametric modelers are much easier to use.</p>
<p>Although since this thread only mentions parametric modelers, coupled with the lack of instructional resources / books for this particular direct modeling software compared to other 3D parametric software, I am assuming that this direct modeling software is not very popular.</p>
<p>Each of the programs mentioned here are frequently used by different companies, except perhaps that SolidWorks is controlling the Low-End. Do a job search for companies that you are interested in, aka Google “Boeing Careers” and search their entry level positions. That may be the best way to figure out what you want to do with your degree period. That said:</p>
<p>** High-End ** – very-complex design, large-scale, almost always w/ PLM
*CATIA V5 or CATIA V6 (both are used) – by Dassault Syst</p>
<p>^ high quality post by cptcolo. I think a exposure to Pro/E and Solidworks would give the OP the best background for a good cross-section of possible employers, large and small…(by the way, the RTN and BA should be added to cptcolo’s list of Pro/E users)</p>