Engineering and Graphic Design
Description
Engineering Graphics and Design (EGD) teaches internationally acknowledged principles that have both academic and technical applications. The emphasis in EGD is on teaching specific basic knowledge and various drawing techniques and skills so that the EGD learners will be able to interpret and produce drawings within the contexts of Mechanical Technology, Civil Technology and Electrical Technology.
Engineering is a profession that is well respected in South Africa and in order to become an engineer one is required to read and interpret different types of schematic drawings. EGD provides the basis for these skills. In the past this subject was called Technical Drawing and was purely Mechanical Engineering based, but with the changing world and scope of education, the syllabus was changed to include Civil Drawing and Architecture which altered the scope of the subject dramatically and made it more relevant to a wider variety of future careers. Since the change, EGD has grown dramatically in numbers, both from the number of schools who have seen the merits of offering the subject and in the numbers of pupils who choose EGD as a subject to Matric.
Some topics covered are:
Architectural design: Designing basic houses and home additions
Mechanical Assembly Drawings: The drawing and assembling of mechanical parts and what they look like when cut in half Civil Drawing: The drawing of simple houses from foundation to roof level Perspective Drawings: Showing what houses and buildings look like in three dimensions
Drawing Analysis: The study of and interpretation of drawings and their symbols
Truncated Developments: Being able to open a shape to its flat form for the manufacturing process
1st and 3rd Angle Perspective Drawings: Drawing an object as seen from different sides. (i.e. the Top, Front and Side Views)
Isometric Drawing: The drawing of a mechanical object in a three dimensional form.
Purpose
The aims of this subject are to:
- Learn the design process
- Draw and interpret both Engineering and Architectural Drawings
- Learn complex manual drawing techniques
- Learn a variety of AutoCAD (Computer Aided Design) packages
- Complete complex design projects, looking at comparative research
- Time management skills
Curriculum
- General drawing principles for all technological drawings
- Free-hand drawing
- Instrument drawing
- First- and third-angle orthographic projections
- Descriptive and solid geometry
- Mechanical working drawing
- Civil working drawing
- Isometric drawing
- Perspective drawing
- Electrical diagrams
- Interpenetrations and developments
- Loci of helixes, cams and mechanisms
- The Design Process
- CAD (Computer-Aided Drawing/Design).
Should I take this subject?
EGD provides the fundamental knowledge and drawing skills required for many career opportunities.
Careers
Careers related to Engineering and Graphic Design can be found in the Trades and Engineering Fields.