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time for a new profession?

borf

New member
im not ranting, but i am considering leaving mechanical design for
something more creative. about 70% of my work is in drawings, which i
dislike. its not really what i imagined when i got an a.a.s.
after 4 years.



i like pro-e but would like to be able to use its modeling, rendering
& animation capabilities every once in a while... you know - the
fun stuff. i know this sounds naive but this doesent have to mean
game/movie design (im too old for that) does it?...perhaps something in
between, a compromise.



maybe you work in a segment of industry (tech illustration?) or a
discipline (industrial design?) which doesnt require so much attention
to detail and allows more creativity. if so please share your opinion.
 
Both worlds exist.


I'm doing a daytime job where industrial design and creation is at a minimum (and unpredictable as to 'when' and 'how much'), and a lot of the work is modifying drawings, notes, ... or model things from the past and recreate the (scanned) drawings. Often not that exciting, to say the least.


I also run a freelance business where I make new things, thinking with the customer on how to solve things, often putting lots of energy in making nice pictures for the catalogue or movies for sales purposes. Drawings are minimized to the rate that there is just enough to get the stuff produced, so this can even be inspection dimensions only when the models are communicated as CAD-translations.


I also do "digitizing" for customers. But there also it's the visual aspect that intrests them : pictures for catalogues, manuals, graphics for websites.


So don't panic, you just have to find the right leads.


Alex
 
It sounds as if the split between drafting and design is specific to the place you're working. When I started doing this 12 years ago it was all drafting and the opinion of designers was that they didn't have time to do the menial task of drafting.Now I'm doing mostly design (with very little drafting) and I hear from those doing analysis that they don't want to do the menial task of design. I don't run away from drafting, in fact I find it a bit refreshing with the attention to detail.


One of our corporate mandates is that we spend 10% of ourtime in training. There's currently not many training classes available so I'll take online training courses to get familiar with aspects of ProE I don't currently use. That way I'm gaining experience even if my company doesn't gain from it.
 
[AHA-D wrote"both words exist"]


I second the motion. I work with a technologies and product developement company and i have the opportunity to draft,design,manufacture,rapid prototype(fdm),IPA rendering. Some times i have so much to do in such a short deadline that the presure is so much that i go home thinking that i'll get fired if i don't finish in time. But when acomplish my tasks the relief so good that i feel that took a tonof concrete of my head. So becareful what you wish for.



Edited by: arroyopr
 
there just one question that you have to ask yourself.. is it worth letting go of this after being involved in mechanical design for 4 years? aha is right on finding the right lead, i myself have been in mechanical design for almost 4 years, leaving mechanical design is out of the question.. i'd say exploring some new field of job after gaining this precious 4 years of experience will slash out a big your pay..


this is life of today's world.. i don't know about other places but here in my place, we are expected to be involved i a lot of things, from design to assembly, troubleshooting and even sometimes service.. well, ask yourself more questions before you take your next step..
 
Many mechanical engineers that I have talked to have many of the same feelings that you are expressing. It is the result of profession changing. I work for a multinational corporation and see the BS everyday. The work of an engineer for many manufacturing companies has changed to an all inclusive job. At one time an engineer would work to develope and idea and pass this idea on to a lower paid designer to do the grunt work. Now days, the engineer has to develope the idea, work on detail drawings, purchase parts, track project schedules, build prototypes, do administrative duties, deal with customers. The list seems to get longer and longer. The real kicker is many large corporations hire people to do these side activites that require little brain power but pay these people almost as much as an engineer. I know, because I have seen it time and time again. O by the way I am a mechanical engineer.
 
zzzingrol said:
... The real kicker is many large corporations hire people to do these side activites that require little brain power but pay these people almost as much as an engineer....


True enough AND the reason I couldn't live in the old company any longer. Plus the fact that everything gets done slower and "wronger" that way. You tell the guy something, he runs to production with what he thinks he understood and comes back with an answer that is only a new problem for the next meeting, and so on, and so on ...


There used to be a time when designer, toolmaker, test engineer, production guyand sales responsable all sat together and decided what direction to head for. Everyone agreed on a compromise and was informed on what to expect and the product hit market in 3 months instead of 3 years.


Well, that's progress for you ...
 

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