Tuesday 16 November 1999
Regular Monthly Meeting

Our meeting shifted from the Indiana County Technolgy Center conference room to the CADD lab, where nine work stations were available for a hands-on experience with Computer Aided Drafting and Design. Our presenter was Ken Robinson of the staff of the Cambria County Area Community College, who also instructs the ICTC's Adult Evening Division CADD classes.

Ken explained the history of computer based design from its roots in US Defense applications. Members and guests were furnished a handout that lists major developments in computer operating systems, CADD, and other programs, since 1977. Another handout showed various designs that could be created with the basic functions of the CADD program, and members then made the designs based on the handout.

AutoCAD® Release 14, by Autodesk, is the dominant program among CADD offerings on the market. Ken's evaluation is that AutoCAD®, out of the box, is a difficult and challenging program, which becomes more versatile and easy to use when the various patches and modules that are available are incorporated into the main program.

Our thanks to Ken Robinson for a very informative program on a topic that we've rarely discussed at ICPUG.