Submitted By
Miro Gawinski (Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School)

Project Description
Seeing in a student the unmistakable thirst for knowledge can be extremely motivating for a teacher, discovering what tools to use, to quench that thirst can be a life long quest. Certainly, the evolution of the design drafting related professions, from pencil and paper to computer and Internet technology has provided teachers with a significant motivational tool. The relatively short learning curve of these tools allows teachers and students the opportunity to undertake a variety of problem solving projects, which would otherwise be impossible, but which satisfy the students’ educational needs. Our job, as teachers, becomes one of removing any technical obstacles to learning and providing our students with useful problem solving tools that will enable them to pursue architectural or engineering related careers.

The pursuit of CADD (computer assisted design and drafting), as a realistic teaching tool was partly motivated by industry needs and post secondary requirements. Our graduates successfully complete their work experience and obtain employments based on their above average CADD skills. They collaborate with local industry to find unique CADD solutions to real world design problems. They are able to get credit for their secondary school design drafting courses at Red River College and Lethbridge Community College. Their performance at university in architecture or engineering is enhanced by their high school design drafting credits.

Measuring the success of student performance in a future career, based on his/her high school classroom performance can at best be speculative. However, if we compare Crocus Plains Design Drafting students with other high school students in Manitoba, Canada and North America we see a very high success rate. For example, in the Manitoba Skills competition CPRSS design Drafting students consistently win on the average 4 out of 6 medals in the Mechanical and Architectural CAD competition. At the Canada Skills Competition we have also placed above average for one school, with one student winning the gold medal and representing Canada at the World Skills Competition. Crocus students annually compete in the University of Carlton Industrial Design competition and place in the top four. A number of students have competed in the International Mechanical and Architectural CADDIES placing in the top three.

These successes have led us to believe that students outside of Crocus Plains should be made aware of these exciting career opportunities in design drafting. Three years ago we partnered with Earl Oxford Elementary School to introduce their grade 7 and 8 Industrial Arts students to the world of CADD. Initially we had the younger students work with their high school counterparts in our CPRSS classroom. This proved difficult, so we arranged for an Internet hook-up between CPRSS and Earl Oxford so students wouldn’t have to leave their own classrooms. Utilizing “PCanywhere” the students were able to acquire the necessary CADD skills to produce their project drawings. This method proved successful and resulted in students obtaining a higher level of understanding of the design and manufacturing process.

We next became associated with a number of students at Wawaneesa School, who were anxious to explore the world of design drafting and its related careers. These high school students registered in the Drafting 9G on-line drafting course, which is an introductory pencil and paper based drafting course. As the students progressed through the learning modules of the course it became apparent that a change of tools might be appropriate. After extensive consultation we introduced the students to CADD. This change resulted in a couple of students registering for this years Manitoba Skills competition and all students wanting to register for a 10G CADD course.

The experiences and knowledge we gained in working with high school students in the world of CADD convinced us that the Province of Manitoba CATIA initiative would further expand our tool and skill inventory in a cutting edge, positive direction. Thanks to the efforts of engineering.com we have a number of copies of CATIA in our classroom and are just beginning to implement its use by our students. Our efforts are limited by the number of installed copies of CATIA we have. However this is not preventing our students from experimenting with this new tool. Last year saw Crocus Plains’ students involved in the first Discovery project. The students designed and assisted in the manufacture of a hovercraft. The project was a very realistic and successful introduction for the students to the world of engineering, fabrication, and manufacturing. One group of students, propose this year to take the discovery project to another level by implementing CATIA as the design tool of choice. The competed Discovery hovercraft project will be presented at the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Conference in March. Crocus students propose to design and create 3D models of all working components for this year’s hovercraft. Another group of students are discussing the desire to use CATIA to design, model and test a F1 Racer. A preliminary model is attached to this submission. In both cases the students are anticipating the building of working models. The two projects offer a variety of design and drafting educational experiences, from entry level to an advanced level. The students eagerly look forward to the collaborations with our local engineering community that projects of this scale will require.

We propose to continue incorporating CATIA into the senior high school curriculum and will submit the Hovercraft project for you appraisal as soon as it is available.

Associated Files
wheel.3DXML (11kb)
body.3DXML (73kb)
F1_Racer.3DXML (112kb)

NOTE: To view any of the 3DXML files, you will need to install Dassault Systemes' 3D XML Viewer