Instructor Insights | How to CAD Almost Anything | Aeronautics and Astronautics | MIT OpenCourseWare

In the pages linked below, Andy G. Eskenazi explains how and why he developed the CAD workshop he taught in the Independent Activities Period of 2024.
Students’ Reasons for Enrolling in the Workshop
Reverse Engineering as a Design Technique
Learning to Use CAD Software
Free Alternatives to Proprietary CAD Software
None, except “willingness to have fun and think outside the box!” (to quote the workshop syllabus).
“How to CAD Almost Anything” was taught for the first time in the Independent Activities Period of 2024.
130, including 2 alumni and 2 community members
Due to classroom space limitations, only approximately 35–40 students attended in person; the rest joined remotely or watched the course videos asynchronously. Of the in-person students, 10 different majors were represented: Aeronautics and Astronautics (15%), Architecture (3%), Chemical Engineering (5%), Materials Science and Engineering (3%), Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (18%), Math (3%), Mechanical Engineering (44%), Nuclear Engineering (3%), and System Design and Management (3%). These students hailed from 6 different countries (the United States, Canada, Germany, India, Japan, and Sweden) and 13 states and territories (California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Texas, and Vermont).
About 60% of the enrolled students had not heard of CAD before or had a very limited prior experience with any CAD software.
The workshop took place over the course of nine two-hour sessions.
Outside of class, students practiced CAD skills in SolidWorks and worked to build a comprehensive design portfolio, in the form of a presentation showcasing the different in-class projects and CAD skills they had mastered.