CAD, CAM, & BIM

The Engineering Tips Our Experts Live By Delivered to Your Inbox


|
By

Develop good learning habits in just minutes a month with SolidProfessor’s inbox learning series

Think back to why you decided to become an engineer — what urged you to take on this challenging field? Was it your curiosity to understand the world around you? Did you want to make cool stuff? Was it the paycheck? No matter your motivation, you chose this field, and it’s up to you to make your mark on it.

A great way to do that is by developing good learning habits to continually develop your skills and stay informed about changes in the industry. We’ve designed our inbox learning series as a low-commitment — and free — way to kick off your continuous learning efforts. Here, I’ll walk through exactly how our inbox learning series can help you create good learning habits in just a few minutes a month whether you’re a seasoned engineer or an engineering student. You’ll also have the opportunity to subscribe to the topics you’re most interested in, and we’ll deliver that content directly to your inbox.

In this Article:

Set up a trigger that prompts you to engage in learning at expected times

Developing good learning habits starts with consistency. Experts agree that having a trigger, or an anchor, that prompts you to engage in learning at regular, expected intervals is a great way to create a habit. The trigger should occur at the frequency with which you want to partake in that habit. For example, if you want to start a daily learning habit, you need a daily trigger to remind you to engage in that behavior at that cadence.

With our inbox learning series, you’ll receive an engineering tip about the CAD software of your choice about once a week for the duration of the series. Whether you’re new to developing a continuous learning mindset or you’ve been here before, this trigger will keep learning top-of-mind without demanding countless hours of commitment. This makes it easier to stay on track with your goals while ensuring you’re always learning something new.

Create micro-goals that keep you on the path to achieving your larger objective

When I’m ready to create good learning habits or make a life change, I often fall into the trap of blowing up my current way of doing things and setting lofty, unachievable goals. However, that’s a short path to failure. Instead, start out small by creating micro-goals, or determine the minimum amount of work required to keep you moving toward your larger objective. These micro-goals will keep you on track, and if you deviate once or twice, it’s much easier to get back on the straight and narrow.

SolidProfessor’s inbox learning series requires that you open an email and watch a short video a few times a month. Pretty easy, right? Try setting a micro-goal of consuming our monthly engineering tips, and see how that works for you. If you skip an engineering tip or you don’t have time one month, no big deal. Jump back on board as soon as you can and keep moving forward.

Evaluate your plan and make any important adjustments

At regular intervals, check in with yourself and see if your micro-goals are still working for you. Are you progressing toward your larger objective? Is the time-commitment too much or is it not enough? Monitoring your progress will ensure that you keep moving forward at a pace that’s right for you. However, no matter your next steps, keep the original triggers in place to maintain the consistent timing of your learning.

After receiving a few of our engineering tips and watching the inbox learning series videos, check in with yourself. Have you been meeting your micro-goal of viewing videos every month? Was it easy to keep up with or did you struggle? If you’re craving more engineering tips and free CAD software tutorials, start supplementing the inbox learning series with our free online tutorials. The first five videos in all of our courses are free to view, so you can always start there. Or, try signing up for an inbox learning series for a different software program.

Start developing good learning habits today by signing up to get engineering tips about your favorite CAD software

 

We provide a broad range of CAD software tutorials, giving you the option to really hone in on the platform you’re mastering at the moment. Our instructional videos and engineering tips are easy to understand and applicable to anyone who wants to improve their engineering design skills, whether you’re a student, instructor, novice engineer, or seasoned expert. Click to sign up or learn more about each series.


AutoCAD Certified User Exam

  Getting certified comes with myriad benefits, from making you more hireable to giving you more salary negotiating power, and much more. However, the AutoCAD certified user exam isn’t something to take lightly, and many engineers spend months (or years) preparing for it. Kick off your AutoCAD Certified User training with our eight-part inbox learning series. In this series, our engineering tips will give you the knowledge you need to know about:
  • Which topics and subject matter to focus on in your studies
  • How to efficiently and accurately use measuring tools
  • The best way to approach layer properties
  • Understanding polylines, blocks, and dimensions
Bonus: We also answer some example questions to give you a better idea of how to think through the exam problems.
Sign up or read more about the AutoCAD Certified User Exam series.
Sign up

 

Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing (GD&T)

  Not every engineer really digs into learning GD&T techniques, which can result in an inability to effectively communicate the functional intent of their designs. With the inbox learning series, you’ll receive nine educational videos that will:
  • Give you an introduction to datum on drawings
  • Provide a thorough explanation of theoretical datum vs. datum features
  • Build your knowledge on surface flatness, as well as flatness drawing callouts and tolerance zones
  • Help you take control of your designs through a position overview and explanation of drawing requirements
And this is only the start! If you want to brush up on your GD&T, this is the series for you.
Sign up or read more about this nine-part GD&T series.
Sign up

 

Inventor Certified User Exam

  In this five-part video series, you’ll explore the most important topics and features that are sure to show up on the Inventor Certified User Exam. The videos will also provide you with engineering tips such as:
  • Test-taking advice from experts who’ve aced the exam
  • How to efficiently use the navigation bar, parameters, and ribs
  • The best top-down design tactics, as well as styles and standards
  • Practice questions and how to approach them
There’s much more to explore in this series, and it’s a great way to compliment the studying you’re already doing.
Sign up or read more about the Inventor Certified User Exam series.
Sign up

 

Mastercam Mill 2D

  Mastercam Mill 2D is one of our most in-depth inbox learning series. Experts in the field provide engineering tips that’ll set you up for success, whether you need to learn how to:
  • Orient a part for toolpath creation
  • Select the right machine tool for manufacturing
  • Set up tool settings and material type
  • Increase production accuracy by correctly setting up machine tools and parts
  • Increase innovation in your designs and show you how to create quality CNC code
If you use Mastercam Mill 2D, this inbox learning series will elevate your skills in just minutes of instruction a month.
Sign up or read more about the multi-part Mastercam Mill 2D series.
Sign up

 

SOLIDWORKS 2018 Update Training

  Upgrading to a new version of SOLIDWORKS can be both exciting and stressful. You have access to new features, enhancements, and bug fixes, but you must learn how to leverage them for the upgrade to be successful. As the leading provider of SOLIDWORKS education, we have scoured the SOLIDWORKS 2018 update. Our engineering tips cover how to:
  • Interact with SOLIDWORKS 2018 interface using a touch-enabled device
  • Use SOLIDWORKS 2018 to automatically generate rough shapes with Touch Ink tools
  • Create surfaces from mesh geomtry
  • Gain more control over your designs with the Misaligned Mates tools
There’s much more we’ll dive into throughout this series of engineering tips, and you’ll leave the series with a deeper understanding of how to leverage your new software update.
Sign up or read more about the multi-part SOLIDWORKS 2018 update training series.
Sign up

 

SOLIDWORKS Tips and Tricks

  Do you have questions about how to use SOLIDWORKS more efficiently? With nearly two decades of experience serving the SOLIDWORKS community, we’ve answered thousands of SOLIDWORKS questions. In this series, we’ll give away our answers to the top 30 FAQs on topics ranging from:
  • Sketching
  • Part design
  • Equations
  • Curves
Whether you have a list of questions on your mind right now — or you’re still familiarizing yourself with the platform — this series can help close gaps in your understanding of SOLIDWORKS.
Sign up or read more about this multi-part SOLIDWORKS tips and tricks series.
Sign up

 

Additive Manufacturing Technologies

  We didn’t forget about the 3D printing, additive manufacturing gurus! We discuss the cutting-edge technologies making 3D printing possible in this seven-part additive manufacturing inbox learning series. In this series, you’ll receive engineering tips that cover:
  • FDM printing, material jetting, and binder jetting
  • Vat photopolymerization (SLA & DLP) and sheet lamination
  • Directed energy deposition (DED), as well as powder bed fusion (SLA & MJF)
As additive manufacturing and 3D printing continue dominating industry conversation, you’ll gain the knowledge you need to make informed decisions about how they can benefit your company.
Sign up or read more about this additive manufacturing technologies series.
Sign up

 
Tony Glockler
About the Author

SolidProfessor Co-Founder and CEO, CAD junky, sailer, surfer and former world traveler (before kids, that is).

Related Articles
Related Articles