Architectural Designs

technological design (autocad) in mechanical engineering?

i m picking my grade 12 courses and i am wondering if taking the technological design course where i learn different autodesk software, such as autocad, architectural desktop, and inventor. i am planning to go into mechanical engineering and i am wondering how much it will help to have the autocad background.

Public Comments

1. It would be better to take a drafting class to understand how to generate and read standard engineering drawings. I have two interns (graduating this year) under me who did not have any hand-drafting or engineering communication (drawing) classes, and I feel they are at a great disadvantage. If you already have that under your belt, then go ahead! I learned Autocad in the first 2 weeks of an internship, and my school taught hand drafting and SolidWorks CAD modeling. I also was a grader for the hand drafting class for a year. When I got into industry, I was trained on Pro/E, and it really helped to have a good understanding of drafting principles. When you get into college, definitely take a machining, welding, and casting class if you have the option. The labs are really fun, and it helps to know how something you design would be made. It's very easy to throw something together on a CAD platform that can't be easily fabricated.