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Session 1338

Constraint-Based, Solid Modeling: What do Employers Want Our Students to Know?

Theodore J. Branoff, Nathan W. Hartman & Eric N. Wiebe North Carolina State University

Abstract Over the last twenty years, engineers, technologists, technicians and educators have watched the development of three-dimensional modeling go from wireframe to solid. More recently, constraint-based modelers have replaced 2D CAD and constructive solid geometry modelers as the tool of choice for many engineering applications. These modelers place the 3D model at the center of the design process database. Over the last several years, engineering graphics educators have been adjusting their curricula to better prepare students to secure employment in environments where constraint-based modelers are used. One of the big concerns in engineering graphics education is the importance of documentation in the curriculum. How much time should be spent covering multiview drawings, standards for dimensioning and tolerancing, sectional views, conventional practices, auxiliary views, or geometric dimensioning and tolerancing? Do employers want students to know these “drawing” practices? Do they want students to be proficient in constraint-based modeling? What do they expect students to know when they leave the university and what do they want them to learn on the job? This paper will summarize research in engineering graphics education related to constraint-based modeling, present survey results of employers who utilize constraint-based modeling software, and make recommendations related to changes in the engineering graphics education curriculum.

Introduction Engineering Design Graphics educators are at a critical point in time relative to curriculum development. Developments in computer technology over the last twenty years have drastically changed the way products are designed and manufactured. Although industry has kept up with these changes, many university programs have been slow to update curricula for a variety of reasons. These discrepancies between industry and education are evident when one examines the topics presented at EDGD (Engineering Design Graphics Division) conferences and published in the EDG Journal verses those topics published in trade journals, white papers, and other engineering publications. Within the EDGD there are still quite a few papers and presentations concerning 2D documentation. Recently, there have even been discussions of a nationally normed test for engineering graphics that is mainly focused on documentation 1.

Part of the problem may be that within the EDGD there are a wide variety of educators from

Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright Ó 2002, American Society for Engineering Education

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Wiebe, E., & Branoff, T., & Hartman, N. (2002, June), Constraint Based Solid Modeling: What Do Employers Want Students To Know? Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--11315