Teaching Newbies Inventor

[Daniel Morse]

At RPI, I am a Teaching Assistant for Engineering Graphics and Computer Aided Design. This is an introduction to general methods in CAD for all incoming engineering students. The method we use is having weekly assignments that emphasize different techniques (sketching, constraints, extruding, revolving, sweeps, drafting, and others). For the final, we have the students put together a large and extremely complex (for their relative inexperience) part which combines all of their skills and reinforces most of the problem solving skills that are needed for CAD. This method of various parts with different emphasis works very well. Now, I teach UGS NX 5 in this particular case, but being a skilled and experienced user of Inventor, I can tell you that it should work for that as well. The only thing my class doesn't teach is assemblies, and that is something that should be easy for you to add, just make all of the training parts they build designed to be put together in an assembly, and you've got a comprehensive training program that should really teach these guys how to work the program. Also, from personal experience, I can say I taught myself how to use Inventor a number of years ago back in high school just from having parts that needed to be modeled, and sitting down and figuring it out until it worked. This requires a great deal more perseverance and motivation to work, but it is also effective. Good luck with your new members.