Hi everyone. I am a mechanical engineer, who after many years in design, who took a career turn and became a CAD teacher for a high school. Mechanical CAD is natural for me, however we are also starting a civil CAD program which is not in my wheelhouse. Our DOT mandates OpenRoads, so I wanted to know how to implement it into my program. Does a person need to have a good understanding of Microstation before OpenRoads? What material/software (in order) should a student learn to be successful in civil drafting?
Any help is sincerely appreciated.
Hi Alex,
I'm going to flip and go software/material.
OpenRoads is a fundamental shift from traditional cad. Microstation was taking everything from the drawing board and now putting it into the computer so that we can spit out 2D paper plans. OpenRoads is lets take the same design elements and create a 3D model that we can pass straight to whomever's building it. Forget Microstation, I think this generation is pretty virtual 3D world knowledgeable so learning OpenRoads from the start shouldn't be to hard.
As far as the material, they should learn the fundamentals that are used in most of the civil engineering disciplines (survey, site, transportation, structural, drainage etc.). I would say understanding basic surveying, basic design elements per discipline and how they tie into creating a virtual model.
Open Roads is built on the same platform as MicroStation and generally contains all the tools and capabilities. But as opposed to a lot of drafting, you use its tools to layout road centerlines and other related items and build a 2D & 3D model.
if you can get the DOT Workspace you’ll have a head start and if they have training materials you’ll have even a bigger head start.
Don't be afraid to reach out to them either. You might get some live visits with real world examples.
Charles (Chuck) Rheault CADD Manager
MDOT State Highway Administration
I also needed this info, thanks!
DOT Workspace is the one thing that will help you a lot in it. Joe Davis shared so useful information. I think by using his points your students will succeed in it. I'm thinking about making my own business in this field (I also built a great career as a CAD teacher). But I have some challenges with creating a business plan, but I found a lot of materials on this webpage so I hope it helps me because I have less knowledge in intersecting subjects.
I would like to know from an author: how did you already with involve this new point in teaching?