I love 3D Mechanical Design/Drafting but.

[Wooden Iris]

Hello,

 

I'm new to Cadtutor and would like to thank everyone in advance for any help they give me.

I started using Inventor Pro 2013 a few weeks ago and I love being able model all my ideas. In doing so, I began to wonder what career path I could have with Inventor having no degree? I have a family and I am currently in the military, so i have a couple years to learn and research this path. College is not in my foreseable future but I would take some form of training and maybe even go for a certification by Autodesk. What if any are your thoughts.

[Dadgad]

Welcome to CADTutor.

Inventor is a great place to be starting, as it is state of the art,

and if you are starting clean (meaning not trying to switch from an Autocad mind and skillset),

then it will probably come more easily to you.

What you can do is more important than where you studied, and if you enjoy it as much as it sounds like you do,

then I suspect you will become proficient quite quickly.

You can certainly take classes and get certified by Autodesk without the need to go to college.

Go for it, the only limits are those we create.

Good luck, and happy holidays.

[ReMark]

It isn't necessary to have a degree in order to get a job with a skill set that includes Inventor.

[f700es]

Still might not hurt to have at least a 2 year assoc. degree. It certainly won't hurt.

[Wooden Iris]

Of course any type of degree wouldnt hurt, my problem is that I dont have the patience and time for college now. With family and my wife going to college in a year I really can't see college in my future.

[Dadgad]

If you have not already seen these http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDn7g6wrVHs,

JDMather, one of our resident Inventor experts and proponents highly recommends them

for video Inventor instructionals.

[JD Mather]

a couple of other resources

http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com/p/inventor-tutorials.html

 

http://home.pct.edu/~jmather/SkillsUSA%20University.pdf

[Lazer]

You will need to have experience in the field you want to enter, i.e Engineering?. Inventor is an engineering solution although you can do much more. Take it slow and read up as much as you can. Good luck

[tzframpton]

I do not have any degree of any sort. I have, at best, a handful of college hours. I just turned 30 years old this year and I have a good paying position because of my eagerness to learn and listen through the years, and be as skilled as I possibly can in not only CAD but in what I design as well. I will never be rich, degree'd or not, but I love my job and I love my type of work, and the position pays enough for my wife to not have to work and stay at home raising our daughter, pay for a mortgage, keep us debt free, and still have enough money on the weekends for grilling out and beer. My point is, it's possible because although a CAD position isn't a "labor" skill & trade, it's still a skill & trade - on a digital level, and firms or businesses are in need of these skills regardless of degrees. Holding a position being a CAD designer doesn't just mean you "only draw", but you must also take initiatives - catching errors, getting involved in the project, putting in your two cents worth, etc.

 

This is how I was able to show my superiors my confidence and my assets as an employee in my younger days. This led me to have a semi-supervisor position as CAD Coordinator but I still get lots of production time so my passion for designing is still met daily.

 

Hope this was helpful in your inquiry.

[Wooden Iris]

Thank you all very much, this is enough information to help me with my proficiency with Inventor. I am at the point where the most important step forward for me is to practice, practice, practice. I am limited at the moment, being deployed and all, but I can spend a little time with Inventor to keep my mind fresh. My next road block will be figuring out how to contract my work as a freelancer while I'm "stuck" in the military with only an Academic License. I understand fully that you can not use this license for profit and I will not try to, but then what other options do I have? How can a small time player in this market make a few bucks without going into debt by purchasing a $7,000 license? I want to work full time in this field one day, but I have 3.5 years till I'm able to.

[caseyanne]

I don't have a formal degree (some college,,, but have done ok. ) I love it too. (well Solidworks, still trying to get this Inventor)

I do have certificates etc.. Still don't have my SW professional. I envy you JD. good for you. I will get there.

 

Good luck doing what you enjoy, Wooden Iris. It is quite nice to be satisfied with your drawings/models!

 

Happy Christmas, all!

[Bishop]

I do not have any degree of any sort. I have, at best, a handful of college hours. I just turned 30 years old this year and I have a good paying position because of my eagerness to learn and listen through the years, and be as skilled as I possibly can in not only CAD but in what I design as well. I will never be rich, degree'd or not, but I love my job and I love my type of work, and the position pays enough for my wife to not have to work and stay at home raising our daughter, pay for a mortgage, keep us debt free, and still have enough money on the weekends for grilling out and beer. My point is, it's possible because although a CAD position isn't a "labor" skill & trade, it's still a skill & trade - on a digital level, and firms or businesses are in need of these skills regardless of degrees. Holding a position being a CAD designer doesn't just mean you "only draw", but you must also take initiatives - catching errors, getting involved in the project, putting in your two cents worth, etc.

 

This is how I was able to show my superiors my confidence and my assets as an employee in my younger days. This led me to have a semi-supervisor position as CAD Coordinator but I still get lots of production time so my passion for designing is still met daily.

 

Hope this was helpful in your inquiry.

 

 

 

This man speaks the exact truth right here.

 

I've got a 4-year degree that has proved to be absolutely 100% worthless to me. My BA is in PoliSci, and I haven't used it ... ever. Last time I even did something that required a degree was my own time in the military - I was a Lieutenant in the US Navy, but even then I was mostly doing engineering stuff.

 

I started using Inventor a few years ago because some freelance work dropped in my lap, when a buddy's company needed something drawn up. They had Inventor, but not anyone with the time to do the work, so I did a couple things for them and they let me use one of their seats for learning. It took a couple years to really be good with it, though. When I look back at my early models and drawings, I'm honestly a little appalled at some of the ways that I did things.

 

 

 

Thank you all very much, this is enough information to help me with my proficiency with Inventor. I am at the point where the most important step forward for me is to practice, practice, practice. I am limited at the moment, being deployed and all, but I can spend a little time with Inventor to keep my mind fresh. My next road block will be figuring out how to contract my work as a freelancer while I'm "stuck" in the military with only an Academic License. I understand fully that you can not use this license for profit and I will not try to, but then what other options do I have? How can a small time player in this market make a few bucks without going into debt by purchasing a $7,000 license? I want to work full time in this field one day, but I have 3.5 years till I'm able to.

 

Your best bet seriously is just to spend the rest of the time that you're in the .mil figuring out how to use Inventor, and get just as good with it as you possibly can. Don't even waste time trying to get freelance work now. Chances are that, at this early stage of the game, you're not going to be able to turn out a high enough quality product quickly enough to make any sort of money at it.

 

Design things, do drawings, put together a portfolio. When you're out of the .mil you'll be in a good position to get a job doing it. Also, when you get out, don't discout the idea of working through a temp agency - that's how I finally got my full-time position using Inventor. I spent a year as a temp with the company that I'm with now, and they hired me permanent. Worked out very well for me.

[f700es]

I am not disagreeing with anyone but there is so much you can learn with an education that it is hard for me to not suggest that one should at least look into it. I mean if one wants to be a PE here in the States you cannot do it without the education. My education has given me opportunities that I honestly don't think I would have gotten without it. It has almost always gotten me higher pay than coworkers in similar roles who did not have the education or as much. I am not saying that it is a be-all-end-all but I think one should look into it. Weigh your own options and make the best decision for your situation.

[Bishop]

I am not disagreeing with anyone but there is so much you can learn with an education that it is hard for me to not suggest that one should at least look into it. I mean if one wants to be a PE here in the States you cannot do it without the education. My education has given me opportunities that I honestly don't think I would have gotten without it. It has almost always gotten me higher pay than coworkers in similar roles who did not have the education or as much. I am not saying that it is a be-all-end-all but I think one should look into it. Weigh your own options and make the best decision for your situation.

 

 

 

In California, a high school dropout can get his PE, if he can get the applicable experience, and can get a current CA PE to sign off on his taking the test. It'll be a hard road to take, but it can certainly be done. I'm debating whether to take that road myself right now - my PoliSci degree isn't going to help, but I've got all the experience requirements met right now for the EIT test, then I'd need 5 years more before taking the PE exam.

[f700es]

Really??? I did not know that. I thought you at least needed a HS dip (after really looking into it). In NC you can do this but you have to put in 20 years of work.

 

"Those applicants with a high school diploma may be approved to take the Engineering Fundamentals Examination (Exam I) upon adequate documentation indicating the completion of eight ( 8 years of progressive engineering experience following graduation from high school. After successful completion of the Fundamentals Examination, and upon completion of a minimum of twelve (12) years of progressive engineering experience, applicants are eligible to apply for the Engineering Principles and Practice Examination (Exam II)."

 

 

Seems like they are making it pretty hard. If you want to be an Architect, I don't think there is a way around not having a Masters in Arch degree. Yeah I guess I did over state the education part. I know I can sit for the EIT but I never really cared for the PE part.

 

Thanks for the update

[Wooden Iris]

Question,

 

I realize that practice with Inventor and becoming proficient is what most of you recommend at the very least, but, if I want to take any formal classes, which should I take? I am not after a degree (at least not yet) but I figure I could take some classes that would help me when proving my work to employers. I have been looking around for schools offering 3D mechanical design studies, but most of them want to start you off in AutoCAD Mechanical. Isn't learning AutoCAD counter productive for the novice Inventor student? From what I hear, AutoCAD requires you to use a different mindset when drawing, does it not? My Dad is a 25+ year AutoCAD draftsman and he seems to think that Inventor is backwards and doesn't much like the workflow. Ok, so what classes should I invest in if I want to design and engineer mechanical parts and assemblies as simple as a screwdriver and up to as complicated as an 8 cylinder internal combustion motor and gearbox? I want to know properties of metals and be able to run simulations and be able to figure out how to use that data.

[Dadgad]

Taking Autocad as a prerequisite to Inventor sounds like fluency in pig-latin as a prerequisite to computer programming.

Inventor is parametric, and the mindset is totally different than Autocad.

As one who is accustomed to the Autocad mindset and approach, I can relate to the sentiments

which your father expresses. Most Autocad users trying to make the switch to Inventor find that

their history more often than not makes things more difficult, as we expect most things to be somewhat

like Autocad. Some things are, but the overall approach is appreciably different.

I would suggest an Autodesk certified Inventor course, if you are unable to find another course which is

specifically for Inventor.

Professor JD Mather knows whereof he speaks, and is a great proponent of Inventor, I am assuming that you have

checked out his suggestions in post #7?

 

Where did you buy your 23 foot LG monitor?

My eyes are so bad, I should get one of those too!

[Wooden Iris]

Dadgad: I can assure you that that is a typo, as i am sure you know. My living room isnt even 23' long, unfortunately.

[Dadgad]

Dadgad: I can assure you that that is a typo, as i am sure you know. My living room isnt even 23' long, unfortunately.

 

Presumably then, you have had to position it diagonally?

I kind of figured as much, couldn't resist.

[JD Mather]

Question,

 

... My Dad is a 25+ year AutoCAD draftsman and he seems to think that Inventor is backwards and doesn't much like the workflow.

 

...I want to design and engineer mechanical parts and assemblies as simple as a screwdriver

 

I want to know properties of metals and be able to run simulations and be able to figure out how to use that data.

 

Those who really know both softwares consider AutoCAD to be something akin to torture for most work.

 

There is a screwdriver tutorial (for both AutoCAD and Inventor) in my signature (unfortunately it is really out-of-date considering the changes made to Inventor over the years since it was written, but still of some use).

 

Can't run simulations in AutoCAD. AutoCAD does not have material properties.