Re: DEX Expo
It is not often that I take exception to your articles, but your recent comment, "In Canada specifically, colleges are stuck in providing two- and four-year programs, teaching in a way that doesn't allow the graduate to begin working immediately," merits a strong reply.
I have a very strong academic bent and may be a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to universities. A university's function is to provide fundamental tools for students to advance the fields of study; they are not there to provide a "pool" of employees for industry. Technical schools and trade schools are there for that purpose.
A university should not be providing "trained monkeys" for industry. The scope of the work undertaken by graduates is so broad that it would not be possible to address all areas. It is best that the tools required to address this be developed. Industry has the financial obligation and burden to provide the training, not universities.
Co-op type programs are great and it could be implemented as part of the curriculum. These positions should be paid position, and not intern-type of free employment. - Dik Coates
The editor replies: I quoted the panel members' view of colleges and universities, and I believe that they all were strongly oriented towards the trades.
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Which of the four speakers at the DEX EXPO mentioned the "work ethic system." I have spent some time googling this morning and this system seems to be a new concept, even for the four people on that panel. - Lee Teschler, executive editor WTWH Media LLC
The editor replies: I did not know any of them, and was tweeting the panel discussion live. From the exhibition Web site, I got the list of names. I believe it was the first two who spoke about the system:
- Marcus Ewert-Johns, president of the BC Alliance for Manufacturing
- Brian Haugen, director of education and engagement at the International Union of Operating Engineers
- Rich Gibbs, president of Neutron Factory Works
- Brian Holmes, vice president and gm of Columbia Plastics.
Re: TwinMotion Free from Unity
[From the editor: I had downloaded the free TwinMotion software from Unity, to find that it did not work on my laptop. Unity tech support replied to me through Twitter Direct.]
"I see that this pc have a graphic card that not meet the requirements to running twinmotion. Keep in mind that the software is based on the unreal engine and provide a real time environment. At a cost of a gaming card or high end professional card." - Unity tech support
Re: Computers in Design
When I was teaching mechanical engineering, I would tell my students that the Boeing 747 and the moon rocket were designed using paper and pencil. I don't think they believed me. I have heard it claimed that the the British Admiralty couldn't launch a battleship until the weight of paper equaled the weight of the ship.
And a further comment on the note about the "spiral designs displayed by galaxies." Nova did an interesting episode that touched on this topic. It seems that the spiral arms of galaxies, the curve of a snail shell, and the pattern of sunflower seeds can all be seen to fit the same basic curve defined by the Fibonacci series. - Bill Fane
The editor replies: Gosh, mister Fane, did they even have paper back then?
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Useful and interesting updates; thanks. I still have my drafting tools, even use them occasionally, some from (my) age 13 efforts. Conceptually, we grizzled veterans can draw anything manually, need arising. Needed in 21st century? Notwithstanding digitized 3D modeling, there are still multiple forms that are fussy and time-consuming to crank out of applications...
BTW: Blame technology? Cars drive drunks, spoons make one fat, keyboards derive illogical conclusions, produce illogical assertions. - Michael David Rubin, architect
The editor replies: I loved the intimacy of working with manual drafting tools on the vellum -- even the erase dust was real!
Mr Rubin responds: Ha! Yes, eraser dust building up on our ears & noses by 11 pm; wife/girlfriend complaining about shaking it out of our clothes later? I always preferred a generous scattering on drawings, to take up worse crud; then, insisted on the print shop to "bring up the background," simply to darken the linework back up to clarity in the prints.
Yes, enforced intimacy, of sorts, in hot weather (who had A/C?), when one removes shirt, places old towel on edge of drafting board to to intercept sweat from stomach onto vellum/mylar. Seriously, Ralph, I've always found that the best design professionals have at least basic manual skill. Something about the hand-eye-brain loop. Or, so it has seemed -- taking nothing away from the digital-only design generations.
Maybe just an architect's view of the work. Although the design intelligence of mechanical/civil/structural guys I've known often enough has come out in their having hands-on skill w/ tools, repairs, maintenance, diagnostics of equipment & systems, etc.
Keep up your fine & informative work.
Re: Scaffolding
Did you mention scaffolding in [last week's] newsletter? I have some customers that uses Pon Cad for that. See meccad.net/software-cad-3d-scaffolding - Ragnar Thor Mikkelsen www.designdata.no, Norway
The editor replies: The newsletter had the incorrect header, unhappily; scaffolding is this week's topic.
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