Engineering Professions - Essay Example

Of all the fields that mechanical engineering offers, I would like to specialize and take up a job in the field of Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD/M). Simulation is becoming the keyword for the success of most engineering projects. Every company, venturing on a large scale production would like to know whether the project is going to be successful or not. This was once an impossible task due to the limitations in fields of Computer hardware and software. But today, it is becoming a possibility.

This is where CAD/M comes in to picture. According to Gerald Michael, CAD/M is the direct application of specialized hardware or software to product and manufacturing engineering and manufacturing operations (Michael, 1980). Architecture, Vehicle and aircraft design, Engineering design, Microchip design, Graphic design and Animated films are just few of the several applications of CAD/M (ICTSpecialist, nd). CAD/M engineers, also known as computer draftsmen work with specialized computer programs to generate blueprints and simulations for an engineering projects such as aircraft building, ship building, construction of a sky scraper and others.

Some of the most commonly used CAD/M softwares currently are AutoCAD, SolidWorks, ProE, Cadence, Mentor, CADKey and Microstation. Some of the typical everyday duties of a CAD/M engineer include taking hand drawn plans and converting them into presentable and accurate blueprints using CAD/M softwares, generating simulations by specifying the parameters and answering 'what-is' questions and attempting to integrate the company wide data from different stages of production for easy work-flow management.

Most colleges, private and public offer courses to train students on their specialized career paths in the field of CAD/M. However it must be noted that, design and simulation is as much an art as it is a science. Therefore many companies restrict their requirements in a prospective candidate. However, at a minimum a student must have a degree in Mechanical Engineering or Manufacturing engineering or any other branch closely related. The courses offered in these degree programs give students the basic theoretical knowledge of analysis and design that can be used in a real time setting later on.

Although there are several certificate oriented courses that teach particular softwares with just sufficient theoretical knowledge, I feel that, to truly grasp the essentials of CAD/M, one must go through a professional degree program with courses such as Product Design, Product Optimization, Production Planning and Scheduling, Automation in Manufacturing, Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems , Interactive Computer Graphics and Robotic Manipulators and Mechanisms apart from taking up certified courses in special CAD/M softwares like ProE, SolidWorks and AutoCAD.

The job prospects for CAD/M Engineering profession is extremely bright. Drafters held about 254,000 jobs in 2004, Architectural and civil drafters held 43 percent of all jobs for drafters, mechanical drafters held about 32 percent of all job