This paper draws attention to the expected growth of the number of CAD systems installed throughout industry. It is pointed out that engineers will need training if they are to be able to use these systems. This training will need to occur for both the student engineer'at Technical College or University and for the experienced engineer who is working. Two areas of education are examined: academic and industrial The techniques and problems of teaching CAD in a formal setting are discussed, as are those of continuing education in an industrial setting. The differing needs of engineers will require different approaches varying from structured courses to distance/earning packages for inhouse use.
CA D training, distance learning pachages, industrial training
Computers in engineering, like the motor car, are here to stay, of that there can be little doubt. Interactive graphics techniques will also be with us until they are replaced by something more appropriate. It is generally agreed, that within ten years almost every commercial design process will employ some form of computer aid. The percentage today is not known exactly but it is small. In ten years time, these computer aids will have become a pervasive part of the engineering process and anyone being educated at university, polytechnic or technical college will learn of these aids as a matter of course. The applications and consequences of applying such aids will be well understood and appreciated. Today this is not the case. Currently the problem of education is two fold. How do we make those currently passing through the formal higher education system, aware of these aids and their consequences, and how do we reeducate those who have long since passed through never to return? It seems then, that during this extended period of transition, two distinct areas of need have to be addressed: that of formal technical education and that of continuing education. This does not mean that these processes cannot be applied to the same people, just not at the same time.