<p>hi all
I am asking this question for a friend and I hope some of you will give me the right answer.
if someone is thinking about pursuing a career in Mechanical engineering ,does he have to be worried about hand-drawings in case he is not a good painter?
or all drawings will be done on the computer?</p>
<p>I’ve taken one course where I have needed to hand-drawn things on an exam. The course was Kinematics of Machinery. All homework could be done using computers.</p>
<p>The intro classes in DD1’s flagship state school mech engineering are done using 3D solid modeling type software, Inventor from Autocad, or Rhino, or similar. I do not believe anyone hand draws anything any more.</p>
<p>We did a little bit of hand drawings for my intro to CAD class but 95% of it was learning/using Solidworks</p>
<p>In my first year, we have a general design course where we need to hand draft stuff. Till this day I still dont know why but some school do force you to draw by hand and it is quite cumbersome.</p>
<p>Since the OP is going to a specific school I’d look for what they use. Usually it’s one of 2-3 packages and you can get the student version to learn the ropes…</p>
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<p>It’s the fundamental behind CAD. It’s the same reason you learn arithmetic without a calculator. While the final drawings are almost always done on CAD (I still see some hand drawn ones from time to time), you won’t always be at a computer when you need to do a quick sketch. It’s important to know how to draw to communicate information effectively with others.</p>
<p>So…say you’re going to be doing a MathCAD workshop…that doesn’t have to do with drawing right? </p>
<p>MathCA and CAD are different?</p>
<p>My son just finished his third year of mechanical engineering. His first semester included a class where he did have to hand draw things. In another class, he learned SolidWorks, and that’s what he’s used ever since. Students did not purchase SolidWorks, but rather, use the school’s labs to do their designs.</p>
<p>When the bombs fall, and the engineers wander out of the bunkers ready to rebuild civilization, they will need to be able to do hand drawings. AND you need to be able to do calculus and physics with only a stick and some dirt to scratch the numbers into. At least, that’s how some of my professors made it seem. Still, it’s not bad to be able to do this stuff without relying on a crutch like a calculator or computer. Keeps you sharp!</p>
<p>Don’t worry, if they require technical drawings it will only be for an intro course like I had and it won’t be the main focus of the course, AND you get special paper with isometric lines on it to guide your drawing. And you won’t be drawing really complicated things anyway, they mainly want to test your ability to <em>interpret</em> technical drawings and visualize things in 3D space based on the drawing. My intro to engineering courses required drawings and Inventor, and most of our drawings were fairly limited in complexity. I think a semicircular arch with a hole in it was as complex as it got.</p>
<p>Your friend does not have to worry about hand drawings even if he’s not a good painter. Mechanical Engineering isn’t just hand drawings it’s also a bunch of calculus, memorization, and lots of concepts (machines, thermodynamics, etc). The course you would be required to take (although not at all schools) would be usually one year of some CAD class during your freshman year, where you would need to learn how to do some basic to intermediate computer drawings/models (2D and 3D) and hand drawings ( 2D and 3D, usually on Isometric paper); after that you would be expected to use what you’ve learned from that course to help you do quick conceptual drawings (mostly 2D and not complicated) to solve other engineering related problems. So don’t worry about being the next picaso for engineering. But I will say this, being able to draw well will put you at an advantage in the engineering world especially if you want to specialize in design, because it is important to be able to convey your ideas to other fellow engineers (like when you have to brainstorm), and having a skill or talent for drawing makes that much easier. Though not necessary, It will help to take classes in art and design or industrial design (if your school offers it) if your friend is interested in design, machine design, or product design.</p>
<p>thanks a lot for your help guys,I really appreciate it and all of your advices were really helpful.</p>
<p>best;</p>
<p>You won’t always have access to a computer or CAD, especially if you’re in a meeting and have to explain a concept quickly. Your company may also have you draw things out by hand and hand it over to a cad technician to do it formally on cad (saves money and frees up your time).</p>
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<p>good point :).</p>
<p>solid works is nice</p>