CAD Draughtsman / Woman
The Work
CAD draughtsmen / women work in engineering, using computer aided
design (CAD) systems to draw overall designs or detailed technical
drawings. They normally work in a team with other draughtsmen / women
and engineering designers with each of them working on part of the
project. The team or project leader is usually an incorporated design
engineer or a chartered engineer.
Junior draughtsman / woman, work on technical drawings for components or small sections of a product or project. Senior draughtsmen have responsibility for major sections or, in some companies and departments, for overall design of more modest-scale products and see it through to detailing for production.
They may start from instructions from the project/team leader. These may be written or spoken. Usually they work from design drawings of the overall product or section or possibly from a model or computer model of the proposed item.
Hours and Conditions
Basic working hours are 37 to 40 hours a week, Monday to Friday, but overtime is common.
CAD draughtsmen / women are normally based in a design office or drawing office, or in a design section of a larger open plan office with other engineers and technicians. This is likely to be at a PC or a specially designed workstation operating a computer-aided design (CAD) system. Some systems are linked up with other designers within the team working on other aspects, to manufacturing areas via CAM (computer aided manufacture) or to an outsider such as an architect or client.
Skills and Interests
To be a CAD draughtsman / woman you should:
Training
Training is mainly on the job with the more theoretical aspects covered
by day or block release to study at a local college with workplace
assessments. This leads to a minimum of NVQ / SVQ level 3. You also
study for a BTEC NC / D or SQA NC group award or City and Guilds Certificate
or vocational A level / GSVQ level III.
Foundation and Advanced Modern Apprenticeships (MAPPs) may be available for people aged 16-24. For details see:
MAPPs
(England)
Skillseekers
(Scotland)
National
Traineeships MAPPs (Wales) and
MAPPs
(Northern Ireland)
To register formally as an engineering technician (EngTech), with The Engineering Council, you need:
Opportunities
In addition to light and heavy engineering, engineering technicians
are trained and work in many industries including construction, construction
engineering, aerospace, railways, electronics, broadcasting and telecommunications
industries. Vehicle and consumer goods manufacture are other common
employers.
In some companies, it may be possible to progress from a junior to senior position and to team leader. Freelance work may be possible.
Further Information
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Institution of Engineering Designers (IED)
Tel: 01373 822801
www.ied.org.uk
The Institution of Incorporated Engineers (IIE)
Tel: 0207 836 3357
www.iie.org.uk
The Engineering Council
Tel: 0207 240 7891
www.engc.org.uk
SEMTA (Science Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies Alliance)
Tel: 0808 100 3682
www.semta.org.uk
Engineering Training Council (Northern Ireland)
Tel: 028 9032 9878
www.etcni.org.uk
