Student
CAD Software is Priced to Your Advantage
by
Charles Robbins
Many years
ago, the 1970's to be more exact, my only exposure to the world
of computer aided design was through a main frame system that
cost nearly $250,000 a seat. By the 1980's, Autodesk released
software brought that number down to a few thousand dollars,
but this was very expensive for newcomers to learn innovative
skills. As a college instructor in the 1990's, educational software
was still around $1200 per copy, but presently in 2006, the
companies representing the powerful design software's are releasing
their systems at an extremely advantageous prices.
Not only
have I and my staff professionally trained nearly a thousand
individuals in the industry, but we constantly are barraged
with inquires as to how to learn to communicate efficiently
with the computer aided design programs and to do so economically.
Well, with the major players in our market making their products
available to schools, teachers and students at very low prices
or free, then another inhibitor to training future drafters,
designers, architects and engineers is eliminated. We presented
a report to a national college system last month and in my report,
Autodesk, Bentley Systems, IBM, PTC and Solidworks all had products
that are affordable to many high school and college students.
In our experience, my staff and I have never found a student
that could not earn $200 to fund their own education and purchase
their own training software.
Many times
for ease, we direct our students to Journeyed.com, a distributor
of educational materials and they have AutoCAD 2009, Pro Engineer
Wildfire 2.0 and Solidworks 2005-2006 education versions available
for anyone providing proof of their enrollment in an instructional
program. I have personally used their services and have sent
hundreds of students in their direction for CAD software for
many years. IBM CATIA software is available at http://products.engineering.com/catiastudent
/index.htm in
a very competitive fashion with all four of the other systems
mentioned in this review. Bentley Systems has PowerDraft available
for free downloading and states on their website that by providing
easy access to their software, their contribution towards education
"helps students and professors incorporate architecture,
engineering, and construction technology into the classroom,
increasing the number of career-ready engineers."
My staff
and I agree with the Bentley Systems' statement and we are pleased
to present this information to the World Class CAD patrons looking
to purchase their own packages. If you require a letter from
our organization to purchase any of the educational software,
then you must officially register
for your World Class CAD account. After registering you
may contact us and let us know that you require a letter stating
you are a World Class CAD student.
