If you’ve got the inclination to draw, design, problem-solve and just plain figure it out, you need to check out a career in computer aided design and drafting!

Computer aided design (CAD) is used in product, architectural, graphic and engineering design, and in industries as varied as aerospace engineering, landscape architecture and jewelry design. The need has never been greater for employees with computer aided design skills. CAD helps designers prepare drawings, specifications, parts lists and other design-related elements using special graphics- and calculations-intensive computer programs.

When you train for a career in this constantly changing field, you learn to prepare technical drawings and plans used by production and construction workers to build everything from manufactured products — such as toys, toasters, industrial machinery and spacecraft — to structures such as houses, office buildings and oil and gas pipelines. The computer drawings provide visual guidelines, show the technical details of the products and structures, and specify dimensions, materials and procedures.

“CAD” originally stood for computer aided drafting, since in its early days it merely automated the manual drafting process. Now, CAD usually means computer aided design since most software includes 3-D modeling and computer-simulated operation of the model. “CADD” incorporates both: computer aided design and drafting.