where to get projects or internship to improve part design skills using Onshape?

paschal_anaedu

I have an understanding of the basic tools in the part studio. I desire to gain the necessary skills and experience to land a job as a 3D designer using Onshape. How do I go about this?

MDesign

when someone posts a question here and asks for help….See if you can solve it yourself. super fast way to learn…imo

if you can solve problems and teach others how….you have a skill set that is HIGHLY desirable over just pure CAD skills.

MDesign

when someone posts a question here and asks for help….See if you can solve it yourself. super fast way to learn…imo

if you can solve problems and teach others how….you have a skill set that is HIGHLY desirable over just pure CAD skills.

andrew_kleinert

https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/27040/where-to-get-projects-or-internship-to-improve-part-design-skills-using-onshape

In my own experience, and my 3D Design world is a world that leads to physical things …

Being able to use a pen to draw lines and curves is analogous to being able to drive 3D CAD to use primitives to create geometries.

Being able to efficiently use a pen to write legible characters of the alphabet is analogous to being able to drive 3D CAD to efficiently model.

Being able to use a pen to form words with those characters is analogous to being able to drive 3D CAD to model complex parts.

Being able to use a pen to form coherent sentences is analogous to being able to drive 3D CAD to create designs that are functional and fit-for-purpose.

Being able to use a pen to form prose of correct syntax is analogous to being able to drive 3D CAD to create things that are manufacturable and scalable. They are durable and reliable. They follow physics.

Being able to use a pen to write a pulp fiction best seller that makes $$$, is analogous to being able to drive 3D CAD to create things that bring great value. They follow economics.

Being able to use a pen to write a literary masterpiece that fills the reader's soul with joy, is analogous to being able to drive 3D CAD to create things that fill the user's soul with joy. They are art.

A few possible places to start:

• Model existing things. Buy a cheap ballpoint pen with a cap and model it. Buy a slightly more expensive retractable pen, pull it to pieces and model it. These things might seem simple, but they're surprisingly complex.
• Consider how things are made. Modelling something that looks good is a very very different thing to modelling something that is manufacturable. We are blessed to live in an age where we can YouTube how many things are made, and that's valuable. But it's not as valuable as smelling the oil and grease of a production facility, which has tolerances, and reject rates, and bald production engineers who have lost all their hair trying to take unmanufacturable designs to production.
• Be mindful of everything you use. How was it made? Critique its design. What decisions went into its design? How usable is it?
• Prototype and iterate. We are blessed to live in an age where 3D printers are cheap and accessible, with cheap consumables and a growing choice of materials. Try this exercise: 3D CAD Design a knife, a fork and a spoon without any reference to real ones. 3D print them. Then compare what you created off the top of your head to the real knives, forks and spoons that you've held in your hand for almost every day in your life. How close did you get? Did you get the size right? The aspect ratio right? Did you capture the correct number of prongs on the fork? How do the 3D prints feel in your hands compared with the real thing?