ELKHART — Once a week, Jeff Lindke receives an email from a local manufacturing or design company, each with a similar message: “Do you know of any students who would be interested in working for my company?”
Lindke is an instructor at the Elkhart Area Career Center and he cannot graduate students out of his computer-aided drafting (CAD) program fast enough to fill the demand in Michiana.
“When the RV industry crashed several years ago, many of the draftsmen left the area,” Lindke said. “I have more jobs than students to fill them. I cannot get enough guys and girls out of here.”
CAD is the practice of using computer software to create, modify, analyze and optimize designs, most of which are three-dimensional. The skills are used in many industries, from RV manufacturers who need new parts for their latest models to architectural firms who need to create 3-D floor plans before beginning construction on a new building.
A search of “CAD” on a job site like Indeed reveals dozens of full-time job opportunities in Elkhart, Mishawaka, Goshen and other surrounding communities.
“There were years when I was begging companies to take students, but not any more,” Lindke said. “Every student that wants a job in the industry has an interview before they leave here.”
DRAFTERS IN TRAINING
In Lindke’s CAD class, which is open to juniors and seniors from high schools throughout the region, students develop knowledge and skills in architectural and mechanical drafting.
In a recent project, Lindke challenged his students to create a new design for earbud holders.The students started by researching existing designs and the flaws with the existing products, and then proceeded to creating a hand-drawn sketch of an original design. After taking the necessary measurements — some students opted to add an earbud holder to the back of an iPhone case — the students started drafting their final product in CAD software.