Fusion 360 - A Cost Friendly CAD/CAM for Apprenticeship Education

Figure 1 Punch and Plate Assembly in Fusion 360

In investigating barriers to attracting and retaining apprentices in Ontario, Lopata et al.’s (2015) study revealed that prospective apprentices are worried about their finances and costs to get started in the trades. This concern is the same for Tool and Die Maker and Machinist apprentices as it is for others. After purchasing tools, and basic personal protective equipment, apprentices still have to budget for an expensive personal computer, one that comes with Solid State Drives, a powerful video card, and a processor capable of speeds over 3.2 GHz, such as those recommended for popular CAD and CAM software programs like SOLIDWORKS (Dassault Systèmes, 2022) and Mastercam (CNC Software LLC, 2022). Of course, many apprentices choose to skip on buying the computer, but they risk not learning valuable trade skills when they arrive at a Training Delivery Agent (TDA), such as an Applied Arts and Technology College, for trade school.

Having students without home access to computers powerful enough to run CAD or CAM software puts instructors in a tough spot when considering how to deliver curriculum: do they choose to incorporate standard trade technology (Clemons, 2006) into their design classes knowing some students will be at a disadvantage? Or, should the instructor revert to teaching outdated, paper-based, sketching techniques that are rarely practiced in industry? In my experience, professors reluctantly opt for the latter choice in the absence of an affordable substitution for computer powered design skills.

Recently, however, I had the opportunity to try Autodesk’s (2022) cloud-based CAD/CAM software, Fusion 360, and believe that this software overcomes two key cost barriers for apprentices. Firstly, because Fusion 360 is powered by cloud computing, the system requirements are such that most PC’s that an apprentice could either afford, or rent from a school’s library, would be powerful enough to run the software. Because the design files are also stored on the Autodesk cloud, students do not require a dedicated laptop and can access their files from any available computing device. Secondly, Fusion 360 is free for educational purposes so apprentices, as long as they are registered with a TDA, can use the CAD and CAM functions of the software from home with no extra costs.

This will be my first semester exploring Fusion 360 with my apprenticeship students, and I will be excited to share my findings!

Resources

Autodesk. (2022). Fusion 360 for Education. Fusion 360. https://www.autodesk.ca/en/products/fusion-360/education

Clemons, S. (2006). Constructivism pedagogy drives redevelopment of CAD course: A case study. The Technology Teacher, 65(5), 19–21.

Dassault Systèmes. (2022). System Requirements. Solidworks. https://www.solidworks.com/support/system-requirements

Lopata, J., Maclachlan, C., Hondzel, C. D., Mountenay, D., Mayer, V., & Kaattari, T. (2015). Barriers to attracting apprentices and completing their apprenticeships. Workforce Planning Board of Grand Erie: Canada.

CNC Software, LLC. (2022). System Requirements. Mastercam. https://www.mastercam.com/support/technical-support/system-requirements/