Any CAD Designers on Here?

[Antarctica]

Oh yeah - there's a ton of free training on the titan site if you just want to test the waters and see if you enjoy it.

Ignore titan's schtick. He means well...

 

[Dogman-K]

I have not read any responses so this might be redundant.

I taught Engineering Design courses (tech) for 40 years for a local community college. Since the 1980s, those courses were all CAD based. We used AutoCAD, Inventor, and Microstation. Very often I would counsel students who only wanted to learn the software by telling them CAD software is analogous to a shovel; it’s just a tool. Then, I tried to encourage them to complete our entire degree program.

I would recommend that you investigate local/regional community colleges and see if they have programs similar to the one below.

For what its worth, a number of my former students reported having incomes of > $100,000 a year - not bad for a 2 year degree.

Engineering Design/Tech Prep Program​

(69 semester credit hours)

An Associate of Applied Science degree program offered by the Technology and Business Division.

The program in engineering design is a four-semester course of study leading to an Associate in Applied Science degree. Specialized learning experiences include the implementation of computer-aided design software in various design disciplines. Instruction emphasizes the development of technical knowledge and drafting skills that are essential to the successful entrance in the job market as a design technician.

Former students have been employed as pipe designers, architectural designers, tool designers, civil designers, structural detail designers, electrical designers, and job estimators.

The Engineering Design program provides work-place experiences recommended by the U.S. Department of Labor Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS).

Some upper level universities will allow you to transfer anywhere from 24-44 hours of your technical credit toward a Bachelor of Applied Arts or Science degree. Contact your transfer university for information.

Course	Course Title	Sem. Hours
First Year, First Semester:*
DFTG 14051 & 2	Technical Drafting	4​
DFTG 14091 & 2	Basic Computer-Aided Drafting	4​
DFTG 1410	Specialized Basic Computer Aided Drafting (CAD)	4​
MATH 1314	College Algebra	3​
ENGL 1301	Composition I	3​
	18 sem. hrs​
First Year, Second Semester:
MATH 1316	Trigonometry	3​
DFTG 1417	Architectural Drafting, Residential	4​
DFTG 2419	Intermediate Computer-Aided Drafting	4​
DFTG 2440	Solid Modeling/Design	4​
	15 sem. hrs​
Second Year, First Semester:
DFTG 2407	Electrical Drafting	4​
DFTG 1493	Special Topics in Civil Drafting and Civil Engineering CAD/CADD	4​
DFTG 2406	Machine Design	4​
DFTG 2436	Computer-Aided Drafting Programming	4​
ENGL 1302	Composition II	3​
	19 sem. hrs​
Second Year, Second Semester:
DFTG 23383	Final Project – Advanced Drafting (Capstone Course)	3​
DFTG 2423	Pipe Drafting	4​
DFTG 2432	Advanced Computer-Aided Drafting	4​
Social Science	Elective from AAS General Education Course list	3​
Humanities or Performing/Visual Arts	Elective from AAS General Education Course list	3​
	17 sem. hrs​

 

[Dogman-K]

I failed to mention that with your welding/fabrication experience coupled with documented CAD proficiency would make you an ideal candidate for a structural designer.

Best of luck to you.