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Computer Aided Design: New Programs with New Tools

Computer aided design is simply the art of creating instructional blueprints with a computer rather than with the pre-computer drafting boards, rulers, protractors and other tools that once filled the tool kit of an engineer or drafter. Modern technology particularly lends itself to computer aided design programs as it saves the expense of costly plotters and massive rolls of paper with miles of blueprints and instructions.

Online Schools:

Penn Foster Career School offers an online career diploma in AutoCAD® training that can help you begin a career in drafting. You will study CAD equipment, coordinate systems and software, and learn electrical and electronic schematic drafting with AutoCAD®.

Furthermore while the popular software AutoCad was at one time the primary software tool for computer design, in recent years numerous other programs have been developed in order to adapt to the many different types of design required by various industries. Some familiar names are Inventor, Pro-E, and SolidWorks among engineers, while gamesters and advertisers often use Quark or any of the programs that form the Adobe suite of software.

CAD online classes often involve much more than the familiar AutoCad Drafting Training.  AutoCad has come a long way in the types of drawings that are possible, allowing the user to render those drawings into life-scale 3D.  These technologies allow the engineer to design projects that are safer with fewer corrections and adjustments needed in the final project.  

CAD skills have a wide variety of applications. A host of engineering disciplines, such as electrical, machine design, civil, and architectural engineers, just for starters, employ CAD technologies. Then you have advertising, the gaming industry, product packaging, landscaping, and more. Think about the types of things you enjoy and the environment in which you would like to work, and you will find that CAD training can be applied. In fact, even something as simple as a mechanical pencil was imagined and designed by someone who was able to put a concept into visual form in a way that enabled a manufacturer to build the object itself.

Those with CAD skills are not always "full-fledged" engineers. While industry in general these days tends to look for people with degrees, you may be able to get into a small business or even start your own if you can prove your drafting skills in computer aided design. Since all of your work will be done on a computer, many schools advertise that you will never have to set foot in a classroom. You can hold down a job and set yourself up for your new career at the same time.

Most of our educational partners are fully accredited. You will be able to apply for financial aid if necessary. If you are already employed, you should check with your current employer first as many employers have programs that help pay for additional education.