The cohort

Eight weeks, part-time, online. Small groups of eight to twelve engineers with up to five years of experience in mechanical design.

Who it is for

• Design engineers, technologists and students in their final year who use a parametric CAD system every week.
• People who want a clear, honest picture of what AI tools can and can't do in day-to-day design work.
• Any CAD package is fine. Most participants use SolidWorks, Inventor, Fusion, FreeCAD or Onshape.

Weekly plan

1. BaselineChoose a part, model it the usual way, record time and decisions.
2. Prompting for geometryDescribing parts precisely enough that an assistant can help without guessing.
3. Constraints and design intentFinding the constraints an assistant silently invents, and fixing them.
4. Tolerances and fitsStack-ups with an assistant, verified by hand.
5. Materials and loadsFirst-pass calculations, sanity checks and when to stop trusting a quick answer.
6. DrawingsFrom model to a drawing a workshop can use: views, dimensions, notes.
7. Design reviewPeer review of each other's parts with an AI-assisted checklist.
8. Field noteWrite up your results. Notes are published with your permission.

Apply

The first cohort starts on 2 Jan 2027. It is a pilot group of up to twelve people; we reply to every application within a week.