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MechEngineers: Modelling Software

Blogs > SirKibbleX
Post a Reply
SirKibbleX
Profile Blog Joined October 2006
United States479 Posts
February 08 2011 19:38 GMT
#1
I want to learn one or two of Autodesk Inventor, Solidworks, SolidEdge and Pro/Engineer. Which should I choose and why? I already have some experience with AutoCad and Inventor, but not enough to say I 'know' it. Thanks for the help!

Praemonitus, Praemunitus.
relyt
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States1073 Posts
February 08 2011 19:53 GMT
#2
Solidworks, it's what my dad uses and he is always showing me the cool shit he created and how great it is. I actually know nothing about any of this but it's what my dad does. When I talk to him about the different programs he says cad is pretty terrible compared to solidworks.
Meta
Profile Blog Joined June 2003
United States6225 Posts
February 08 2011 20:00 GMT
#3
Pro Engineer from what I've heard is "Industry Standard" in the US, although where I'm in school we were taught SolidWorks. Although, I've heard they're very similar.

SolidWorks is amazing, it has add-ins that can do basically anything from CFD/FEA to motion simulation, as well as having a pretty stellar interface. Plus it's super easy to convert part files into drawings, very intuitive.

So I would suggest SolidWorks.
good vibes only
DoctorHelvetica
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
United States15034 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-08 20:02:24
February 08 2011 20:02 GMT
#4
The engineering classes I took in highschool used autodesk inventor and I didn't like it at all. A few of my friends are mechengineering majors and I think they use pro engineer. They seem to be satisfied with it.
RIP Aaliyah
Chill
Profile Blog Joined January 2005
Calgary25997 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-08 20:03:02
February 08 2011 20:02 GMT
#5
For what reason - School or career? I don't use modelling software in my career, but when I used it in school, SolidWorks was incredible and easy to use.

Edit: There's no industry standard in Canada, so I can't help you there! Sorry.
Moderator
Baytuts
Profile Joined January 2009
Brazil101 Posts
February 08 2011 20:08 GMT
#6
If you can pick SolidWorks, pick it. What you can learn from it probably will help with another program. At least it helped me.
...
REDBLUEGREEN
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
Germany1904 Posts
February 08 2011 20:11 GMT
#7
I'm an engineering student and we use Pro/Engineer. I didn't work with the other programs so I can't compare them but I had no problems with proeng whatsoever. If you don't study yet but plan to study engineering I would look up some university websites that you are interested in and see what program they do use.
hacklebeast
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States5090 Posts
February 08 2011 20:20 GMT
#8
My university uses inventor. I like it, but I don't have experience with the other ones to compare to.
Protoss: Best, Paralyze, Jangbi, Nal_Ra || Terran: Oov, Boxer, Fantasy, Hiya|| Zerg: Yellow, Zero
VorcePA
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
United States1102 Posts
February 08 2011 20:22 GMT
#9
As a student going to college to become a MechEng, the one thing I fear is that I'm going to be spending all my time in front of a computer modeling stuff rather that, like, doing stuff with my hands. :|

(Sorry, I don't have anything to contribute to the answer, but maybe a few people could give me some insight on that)
Shitposting
Siretu
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
151 Posts
February 08 2011 20:23 GMT
#10
I'm using Pro/Engineer in school but I've just had two lessons so far. From what I've heard, it's one of the most used programs and it's very advanced and powerful, which makes it a little harder to use though.
Meta
Profile Blog Joined June 2003
United States6225 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-08 20:54:42
February 08 2011 20:34 GMT
#11
On February 09 2011 05:22 VorcePA wrote:
As a student going to college to become a MechEng, the one thing I fear is that I'm going to be spending all my time in front of a computer modeling stuff rather that, like, doing stuff with my hands. :|

(Sorry, I don't have anything to contribute to the answer, but maybe a few people could give me some insight on that)


There are plenty of jobs where you can spend a lot of time "working with your hands". Look into manufacturing. The computer stuff is for designers and analysts

I guess I should clarify, "working with your hands" to me, means doing anything but working on a computer. There's of course no way you're going to get around the computer (you will have to do a lot of writing no matter where you go), but there are jobs that don't include CADing or analysis in the description.
good vibes only
Chill
Profile Blog Joined January 2005
Calgary25997 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-08 20:50:36
February 08 2011 20:45 GMT
#12
On February 09 2011 05:22 VorcePA wrote:
As a student going to college to become a MechEng, the one thing I fear is that I'm going to be spending all my time in front of a computer modeling stuff rather that, like, doing stuff with my hands. :|

(Sorry, I don't have anything to contribute to the answer, but maybe a few people could give me some insight on that)

Doing stuff with your hands how? You're not going to issue hand drawn drawings for construction. But I've never touched a CAD program since I started working (except for viewing drawings). I've issued a lot of sketches and hand-drawn drawings for information.

Unless you mean doing stuff with your hands like going into the field and bolting up a flange or something, which you would never be doing anyways as an engineer...Well I guess you could in some industries.
Moderator
Enervate
Profile Joined August 2010
United States1769 Posts
February 08 2011 21:02 GMT
#13
Solidworks and ProE are really the best 2, each with its merits. Most people agree that Solidworks is better suited for small businesses and individuals because it's cheaper, simpler, and more intuitive. ProE is used by like huge companies when they have to produce a ton of different parts and have their own custom software and stuff.

In your case, it's probably better to learn Solidworks.
saltywet
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Hong Kong1316 Posts
February 08 2011 21:23 GMT
#14
as a uoft student, we use solidworks and for our assignments everyone ends up spending 10+ hours on it each week :D

i work harder on it more than i study for all my finals combined, but u do get interesting products and it is relatively easy to learn
holy_war
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
United States3590 Posts
February 08 2011 21:25 GMT
#15
Solidworks is really easy to learn and is probably why a lot of colleges teach it. AutoCAD and MicroStation are worth learning if you are going to do lots of CAD work. I'm coming from a Civil Engineer point of view, so it might be a bit different.
champignones
Profile Joined September 2008
Panama160 Posts
February 08 2011 22:43 GMT
#16
i think solid works is actually really good, thou i havent finished the carreer, i use a lot of basic CAD modelling, but if i have to recommend one is definetively Solidworks.
you shouldnt worry if everybody ignore you, you should be worry when they dont anymore.
VorcePA
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
United States1102 Posts
February 09 2011 00:30 GMT
#17
On February 09 2011 05:45 Chill wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 09 2011 05:22 VorcePA wrote:
As a student going to college to become a MechEng, the one thing I fear is that I'm going to be spending all my time in front of a computer modeling stuff rather that, like, doing stuff with my hands. :|

(Sorry, I don't have anything to contribute to the answer, but maybe a few people could give me some insight on that)

Doing stuff with your hands how? You're not going to issue hand drawn drawings for construction. But I've never touched a CAD program since I started working (except for viewing drawings). I've issued a lot of sketches and hand-drawn drawings for information.

Unless you mean doing stuff with your hands like going into the field and bolting up a flange or something, which you would never be doing anyways as an engineer...Well I guess you could in some industries.


I just don't want the job to be a desk job, mostly. I want to be moving around, talking to people, looking at stuff, messing around on a whiteboard or clipboard. The one thing I don't want to be doing is staring at a computer screen to do my work. I don't mind typing up reports and stuff like that as kind of an "end-of-day/project paperwork" sort-of thing, but I don't want the brunt of my work to be in front of a computer.
Shitposting
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