CAD Education, Careers, History & Community brings together the people and institutions behind computer-aided design. It covers careers, skills, training, certifications, the history of CAD, pioneers, software companies, standards organizations, user groups, conferences and technical publications.
Explore This CADpedia Section
Use this section to plan a CAD career, find learning paths and understand the people, companies and communities that shaped the field.
CAD Careers
Key topics include CAD Drafter, CAD Designer, CAD Technician, CAD Engineer, Mechanical Designer, and Civil Designer. Additional entries will expand the subject with definitions, methods, examples and related standards.
Representative topics: CAD Drafter, CAD Designer, CAD Technician, CAD Engineer, Mechanical Designer, Civil Designer, Electrical Designer, BIM Modeler.
CAD Skills
Key topics include Technical Drawing Skills, 2D Drafting Skills, 3D Modeling Skills, Parametric Modeling Skills, Surface Modeling Skills, and GD&T Skills. Additional entries will expand the subject with definitions, methods, examples and related standards.
Representative topics: Technical Drawing Skills, 2D Drafting Skills, 3D Modeling Skills, Parametric Modeling Skills, Surface Modeling Skills, GD&T Skills, BIM Skills, Programming Skills.
CAD Education
Key topics include CAD Degrees, Engineering Degrees, Technical Diplomas, Vocational Training, Online CAD Courses, and CAD Textbooks. Additional entries will expand the subject with definitions, methods, examples and related standards.
Representative topics: CAD Degrees, Engineering Degrees, Technical Diplomas, Vocational Training, Online CAD Courses, CAD Textbooks, Practice Drawings, CAD Exercises.
CAD Certifications
Key topics include Autodesk Certifications, SolidWorks Certifications, Bentley Certifications, Siemens Certifications, PTC Certifications, and GD&T Certifications. Additional entries will expand the subject with definitions, methods, examples and related standards.
Representative topics: Autodesk Certifications, SolidWorks Certifications, Bentley Certifications, Siemens Certifications, PTC Certifications, GD&T Certifications, BIM Certifications, Vendor-Neutral Certifications.
History of CAD
Key topics include History of Technical Drawing, Early Computer Graphics, Mainframe CAD, Minicomputer CAD, Personal Computer CAD, and The Rise of 3D CAD. Additional entries will expand the subject with definitions, methods, examples and related standards.
Representative topics: History of Technical Drawing, Early Computer Graphics, Mainframe CAD, Minicomputer CAD, Personal Computer CAD, The Rise of 3D CAD, History of Parametric Modeling, History of BIM.
CAD Pioneers
Key topics include Ivan Sutherland, Patrick Hanratty, Pierre Bézier, Paul de Casteljau, Charles Eastman, and John Walker. Additional entries will expand the subject with definitions, methods, examples and related standards.
Representative topics: Ivan Sutherland, Patrick Hanratty, Pierre Bézier, Paul de Casteljau, Charles Eastman, John Walker, Samuel Geisberg, Jon Hirschtick.
CAD Companies
Key topics include Autodesk, Dassault Systèmes, Siemens Digital Industries Software, PTC, Bentley Systems, and Hexagon. Additional entries will expand the subject with definitions, methods, examples and related standards.
Representative topics: Autodesk, Dassault Systèmes, Siemens Digital Industries Software, PTC, Bentley Systems, Hexagon, Nemetschek Group, Bricsys.
Standards and Professional Organizations
Key topics include ISO, ASME, ANSI, buildingSMART, OGC, and IPC. Additional entries will expand the subject with definitions, methods, examples and related standards.
Representative topics: ISO, ASME, ANSI, buildingSMART, OGC, IPC, NIST, AIA.
CAD Community
Key topics include CAD User Groups, Professional Forums, Open-Source Communities, Developer Communities, CAD Conferences, and Trade Shows. Additional entries will expand the subject with definitions, methods, examples and related standards.
Representative topics: CAD User Groups, Professional Forums, Open-Source Communities, Developer Communities, CAD Conferences, Trade Shows, Competitions, Educational Communities.
How CADpedia Organizes This Knowledge
Each topic is developed as a separate encyclopedic entry. Definitions explain the terminology, reference pages document standards and formats, software profiles describe platforms, and practical entries connect the concepts to professional workflows. Related pages are linked across categories so readers can move from theory to software, standards, files and industry applications without repeating the same information.