During the boom years of the Celtic Tiger, architects, engineers, and anyone involved in design and construction were so busy that there wasn’t time to think. Although that frenetic activity has stopped, it is not all doom and gloom, as one benefit is that there is now time to look at the efficiency of the process and in particular, the role of design software.
So not only is 2009 an opportunity to make better use of the extensive functionality of your AutoCAD products, it is also the ideal time to move to the next stage of the process – Building Information modelling (or BIM ). Twenty-five years after the introduction of computer-aided design (CAD ) to the PC, most people are still only using their high-powered computers as electronic drawing boards.
CAD, however, has now evolved, first in manufacturing and now in architecture and civil engineering, into a product modeller. Creating a single integrated and intelligent design model offers huge potential time-savings, improved designs and fewer errors compared with standard CAD.
Championed by CITA (the Construction Industry Technology Alliance ), used by an increasing number of architects and engineers, and now being taught in many third level colleges, BIM aids sustainable design by allowing the physical building to be electronically constructed, structurally analysed, and optimised for energy efficiency.
Amicus Technology has 16 years’ experience assisting companies and individual users to make better use of their CAD software. Its experience over that period is that many users are not using their existing CAD software as effectively as they could, through lack of training and awareness of new tools in its design software. Also, few companies have effective standards in place for their electronic drawings, leading to lost time and errors as information moves around the project team.
So whether you just want to improve your all-round PC and word processing/spreasheet skills, be a better CAD draughter, implement CAD standards in your office, or move to the next level of CAD i.e. BIM, Amicus Technology are here to help you with advice and training.
For details of IT and CAD courses see the Amicus advertisement or visit www.amicustec.ie or to discuss your particular needs call Mark Green on 091 776122.
