On Wednesday, June 29, Westlake’s engineering team gathered in the conference room to attend a seven-hour class to brush up on AutoCAD skills and learn new techniques.

AutoCAD is a software used by a variety of design professionals, including engineers, for 2D and 3D computer-aided design (CAD) and drafting.

The hands-on class was provided by Rick Ellis, President of Cadapult Software Solutions, and covered the use of civil engineering tools in AutoCAD including alignments, profiles, sections, corridors, quantity calculations, and site grading techniques.

Becky Sailer, CAD Designer, of Westlake Consultants said the AutoCAD training was very helpful in understanding styles and the way they work with other components of the program. “I have been to classes in the past with Rick Ellis and as always feel it was very helpful and extremely informative.”

For the class, Westlake set up computers so our engineering staff could try out the techniques while Ellis instructed. The training course provided a great learning atmosphere for our staff and offered a great opportunity to stay up to date on the latest software features to best serve our clients’ needs.

“I learned a lot about how to set up projects and styles to use AutoCAD Civil 3D to optimize the design process,” said Ryan Crowther, PE, of Westlake Consultants. “Overall the training was very useful to me and I am looking forward to using the new techniques we were shown in future projects.”