PROGRAM SUMMARY

Our homes, the cars we drive, and the products we buy all begin with the art of drafting. Drafting, known as the "language of industry," is the process of drawing products through a graphic or picture language that can be understood be people worldwide.

The Mechanical Design component of the program recognizes that today's design tools differ from those of the past and offers students a program utilizing the latest 3-dimensional parametric modelers including Solidworks, AutoCAD Inventor, and Viz, to name a few. Daily lectures teach the foundation of design principles. Then, students apply their knowledge to a curriculum-designed project that integrates real world applications. By the program's completion, students are able to design a mechanical project, piece by piece, by creating 3-D models of each component. The students will then assemble the parts and produce a "working drawing" of the model.

The Electro-Mechanical Drafting components of the program prepare students to understand the drawing procedures from schematic diagram to PC board. Students will learn to recognize basic electronic symbols and draw schematic diagrams using AutoCAD programs.

The Architectural Drafting component of the program prepares technical drawings for residential and commercial projects. Their drawings and models provide visual guidelines, details and specific dimensions for the construction industry. A major part of the curriculum uses AutoCAD Architectural Desktop software to produce drawing plans, elevation, sections, and details. The curriculum also includes architectural styles and history, structural theories, code research, sketching, presentation drawings, and model building.