So you’ve just been given a new class or work assignment. Right away, you’re inspired by what you think is an amazing idea and want to open up your CAD program and start designing right away. But as any CAD training graduate will tell you, that’s probably not the most effective way to launch a brand new project.
Even if your idea is a stroke of genius, it still needs to work its way through a planning process before it can perform at top capacity. The concept of following a planning protocol applies to students working on projects in their CAD design courses and industry professionals alike.
The Planning Cycle
There is a basic cycle of steps that should be followed in computer-assisted design as well as when launching any type of engineering project. Just imagine these steps forming a circle with the last step pointing back to the first, so you can repeat the process however many times you need.
Here are the steps:
- Identify the need and define the problem
- Research the problem
- Develop possible solutions
- Evaluate the alternatives and select the most promising solution
- Construct a prototype
- Test and evaluate the prototype
- Communicate the design
- Redesign
By following each step of the planning cycle, engineers are less likely to skip over a vital milestone – or forget to notice and resolve critical issues that could derail the project down the road.
Collaborating with Other Departments
The kind of projects you may work on throughout your CAD courses will help you develop creative and technical skills while teaching you how to work as part of a team. Working as a professional in the field, you will soon discover that the second to last step in the Planning Cycle – “communicate the design”- is one of the most important stages in project development, and should be considered throughout the process.
You won’t just have to communicate your ideas to fellow designers. You will need to share your designs with colleagues in other departments as well. As the project progresses, you will collaborate with professionals in charge of construction, the client who gives on-going feedback, and departments in charge of budgeting.
At this level, team-work involves understanding what other departments do and then combining that knowledge with your technical expertise. Knowing, for example, how long it takes the manufacturing department to build and repair items could help you effectively demonstrate how using the cheapest part isn’t always the most cost-effective solution.
Submit Multiple Proposals
It’s never a good idea to create only one proposal. In fact, if you want to increase the odds of getting your project approved, you should specifically design a different version of it for each department that you will ultimately need to work with. This allows you to not only pitch your proposal in one shot but also prepares you when there are criticisms of it external to your own department.
What planning steps do you think are most important for launching a design project?
