Community
Fusion Design, Validate & Document
Stuck on a workflow? Have a tricky question about a Fusion (formerly Fusion 360) feature? Share your project, tips and tricks, ask questions, and get advice from the community.
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

What's your profession (Designer vs Engineer?)

12 REPLIES 12
Reply
Message 1 of 13
kat.ingalls
1292 Views, 12 Replies

What's your profession (Designer vs Engineer?)

Wondering what the demographic is here.
Are you a Designer? Engineer? Business-owner? Pro Maker? 3D artist? Student? ....some type of hybrid?

As for me, I majored in MechE and definitely love technology. But I feel both my interests and way of thinking both more in line with the way designers work. I think there's a lot of overlap in these disciplines. Engineers, makers, designers, entrepreneurs - I identify with all of them. We all love problem solving. And so I guess if I had to label myself, it'd be "problem-solver." 😉

Kat

Fusion 360 Social & Community Manager
twitter: @adskFusion360
facebook: /fusion360
12 REPLIES 12
Message 2 of 13
cekuhnen
in reply to: kat.ingalls

I very much agree with your "Overlap" opinion.

 

I have an undergraduate in color design with a focus on graphic object and interactive design. And for my masters I studied jewelry design and digital animation. In my work I pull from each discipline when ideas, concepts, research methods, creativity, or modeling workflows can be applied.

 

I am very happy to see AutoDesk focusing on T-Splines. I encountered many mature designers who think this is not usable for product design because nobody (they know of course) uses it.

 

I very much love to learn new technology and methodologies and that curisity and experimentation in workflows is also what I teach my students in my design classes.

 

 

This is actually interesting to see that now the software platform for engineers and desigers grows together being one language instead of two.

Claas Kuhnen

Faculty Industrial Design – Wayne State Universit

Chair Interior Design – Wayne State University

Owner studioKuhnen – product : interface : design

Message 3 of 13

Engineer then technical designer.

  I started as a manufacturing engineer optimizing high-speed SMT production lines. After getting sucked into business process improvement, I returned to the uni for a masters in mechanical design theory, with a committee equally weighted between engineering and the fine arts.
  I now perform and teach “technical design” — e.g., everything from dynamics & statics, to heuristics-based design, to digital prototyping.
  Over the years I’ve always wanted some software to merge the Industrial Design parts of technical design (where you sketch from the shoulder and move your head around a lot) to the Engineering (body locked up and the brain struggling with parameters).

  I’m optimistic about 360.

C

Message 4 of 13
cekuhnen
in reply to: colin.mcdonald

Out of curiosity

 

is there a need or reason for the way how Inventor or SolidWorks work?

 

Ashlar Cobalt offers a similar workflow with creating sketches and then using those for the surface - solid creation.

 

 

 

You cannot compare Ashlar to Rhino in any way because Rhino is seriously only a simple surface modeler without any construction history at all or other dyamic driven elements like sketch constraints etc.

Claas Kuhnen

Faculty Industrial Design – Wayne State Universit

Chair Interior Design – Wayne State University

Owner studioKuhnen – product : interface : design

Message 5 of 13
colin.mcdonald
in reply to: cekuhnen

 

Hi cekuhnen:
. . . I've often wondered myself -- I've used SW (in particular) for years, and been confused from the start by the underlying logic.
  I would guess that SW grew out of some strange mixture of what went before (back in the bad old days when I was still fiddling around with a commodore 64) and what Engineering (and Microsoft) wanted in the mid-90's.
  Inventor is better, with a much more obvious method-to-the-madness, but still follows the same history-based approach to controlling parameters. I've grown used to this, and now like the reassurance that it gives me.
  Once said though — I think there are many better ways to track design decisions without a “history button”. For example, I always tell students no never erase their manual sketching construction — it shows their decision making and adds a huge amount of richness to their work . . .
Cheers.

Message 6 of 13
cekuhnen
in reply to: colin.mcdonald

Hi Colin,

 

I very much agree. Actually because of the lack of CH in Rhino, I show the students a process to plan their project and save model stages, breaking it down to sketch creation, surface creation, object detailing(features).

 

It is a good way to make them aware of the importance of considering such methodologies.

 

Other engineers/designers mentioned actually the same to me as well, that they have the feeling that the profile/sketch 2D approach reminds them about the CNC technology.

 

I am very curious about how Fusion360 will implement the 3D sketch function as that for me would be curial to have to consider this application.

 

 

But I am also only a designer not engineer. So I am not sure of for example SW must have the design rebuild with SW surfacing tools for example to do then the simulation or evaluations (stress test etc.) with its engineering or if imported surface models will be sufficient.

 

Quite often I hear the story that the designers Rhino model always has to be rebuild fully in SW.

 

 

The client I work with mainly uses Rhino and does everything with it and actually has no need for SW - but it is a small studio not a large company like lets say Bissle or Black n Decker.

Claas Kuhnen

Faculty Industrial Design – Wayne State Universit

Chair Interior Design – Wayne State University

Owner studioKuhnen – product : interface : design

Message 7 of 13
mark.young
in reply to: cekuhnen

I studied Product Design, so I really loved it when you came out with something called Product Design Suite!

 

My job title is Design Engineer but I'm never really sure where the designing ends and the engineering begins, and ends.....I have to take ideas from concept to production tooling so I assume that covers most of both.

 

Then again to try and be more impressive I might say I'm a Product Designer, or even an Industrial Designer, or to be more scientific an Engineer...or just a Designer....

 

"errrr.... I make stuff?!"

Message 8 of 13
cekuhnen
in reply to: mark.young

Mark I feel ya, too many interests here on my side as well.

 

But shouldnt a designer also be parcially an engineer or at least know somewhat some of the technical requirements?

 

In an ideal world we should study both engineering and product design inside one degree (maybe 6 years then).

 

Hybrids have the weak parts but I think they are also great bridge builders.

Claas Kuhnen

Faculty Industrial Design – Wayne State Universit

Chair Interior Design – Wayne State University

Owner studioKuhnen – product : interface : design

Message 9 of 13
kat.ingalls
in reply to: cekuhnen

Hear, hear! 🙂 I definitely think the two disciplines should be more integrated. I understand the need for specialization, I just don't understand why design/creativity/empathy are seen as "opposites" of technology/optimization/engineering. Where did that view come from? 

Glad to hear there's other people riding the middle of that "spectrum." 🙂

Kat

Fusion 360 Social & Community Manager
twitter: @adskFusion360
facebook: /fusion360
Message 10 of 13
cekuhnen
in reply to: kat.ingalls

That is a very good question Kat.

 

Maybe because out of misunderstanding, competition, fear, or also lack of education?!

 

I remember many just giving me a funny look when I talked about polygon modeling.

It is like a peer mentality. I use Microsoft Windows because everybody else does it.

No I do not question the establishment and no I do not look outside the box to see if

there might be something else useful.

 

There are those who like to explore what a software could do and those who want to

know the do the right thing.

 

 

True, my character animation background is kinda odd in the field for product design.

But when it comes to posing figures, testing ergonomics, or also using bend techniques

from character animations, they work much faster and better then the stiff tools CAD systems

only provide.

 

And few of my students who were open to that saw the greater flexibility to this.

 

 

Some see CAD as a means to build the model for manufacturing. I teach the students to see

CAD simply as sketching in 3D and this is still a part of the design thinking process where

you explore, compare, and decide.

 

Aftewards once decissions are made you can then still go and build the model in the appropiate

software.

 

 

But at last things change now. Grasshopper got quite popular for experiments designers.

And with T-Splines now in a much bigger package and with a bigger name gets more reputation.

 

Some of my former students actually also told me about encounters with engineers that found

the creative freedom of T-Splines fantastic because they saw the potential compared to their Pro-E.

 

 

Maybe because the designer software and engineer software were so different in what they can

model, people started to judge each other.

 

Engineers cannot design - Designers make stuff that does not work.

Claas Kuhnen

Faculty Industrial Design – Wayne State Universit

Chair Interior Design – Wayne State University

Owner studioKuhnen – product : interface : design

Message 11 of 13
Oceanconcepts
in reply to: kat.ingalls

Well, my background is in art and anthropology- later on I got involved with technology and started working on user interfaces, integrating both physical and electronic / software aspects.  I see myself as a user of tools, and a tool maker.  Engineering has a toolbox, design has a toolbox, but the most interesting things happen when you don't get stuck in one set of tools. The way Fusion helps to blur the lines is one of it's best aspects.

- Ron

Mostly Mac- currently M1 MacBook Pro

Message 12 of 13
cekuhnen
in reply to: Oceanconcepts

Ocean,

 

I noticed that people with an art background are actually much more open to different workflows.

 

I very much agree with your view of the tools and toolbox. I see it the same way.

 

Maybe in art they train you more to be explorative while in applied arts or design it is a lot more restrictive and result orientated.

 

What I did for my MFA has nothing todo with product design, but the research I did for my show also informs on a conceptual and interlectual level the way I design.

 

A product is more than a function being packaged into a shape. And currently it seems also the industry starts to realize that to be good in design you have to go beyond form follows function and what marketing can sell and broaded the typical sell orientated ethnographic research approach and consider also a deeper design anthropology.

 

 

Dell HP most of the PC makers are an example for typical research and marketing failures. The made producs that work but completely cancel out cultural relevance and changes in consumer culture.

 

Apple on the other side was able to not only deliver a product people wanted but also made people realize what they should want.

 

On a consumer level they were much more successful to produce a product that sells and also affect our perception / expectation.

 

 

I remember talks with students that said they like ID more because they are problem solvers unlike artists, to which I pointed out that in my MFA art work the concepts are all research driven and solve creative problems as well.

 

The areas are different but dont explude each other I think - rather can complete each other.

 

Art can be more free, while manufacturing has to be able to be sold.

 

The trick is to let them all infuse each other.

Claas Kuhnen

Faculty Industrial Design – Wayne State Universit

Chair Interior Design – Wayne State University

Owner studioKuhnen – product : interface : design

Message 13 of 13
aalzagax
in reply to: kat.ingalls

MD, General Digestive Surgeon, ISIP (Surgical innovation program) Fellow.

 

I've been drawing things (objects, from backpacks to cars and airplanes) since I was 12, I love to do/create/modify things with my hands and that's why when I finished highscool I had medicine (to become a surgeon) and industrial design as my only two options. Surgery won anyway and I'm super happy about it. Anyway, since I was 16 I tried many CAD programs, from simple ones to sofisticated ones, never passed from doing a torus, they where all very complicated to me (also, I didn't have a design purpose then).

Fusion 360 has eneabed me to -for the first time in my life- put my ideas in a real 3D model, design complicated (to me) mechanizms and ultimately 3D print my prototypes. It's amazing, now I can give my ideas to engineers so they can make them a real!

Can't find what you're looking for? Ask the community or share your knowledge.

Post to forums  

Autodesk Design & Make Report