CAD | Architecture | Design | Life

I started 1CADSource.com in April of 2007, which marked the official launch of my adventure in self-employment, as the principal of a CAD drafting and architectural services firm based in San Diego, CA. The launch of this Blog roughly corresponds to my (insert best guess here) th birthday on October 8th of 2007.

Industry Experience

My professional background is in architecture, engineering, and construction, having worked in positions varying from CAD operator to Project Manager. My first CAD job was back in 1992, using version 10 of AutoCAD, which still had a DOS component (yikes, I’m older than I thought.) *Very* young at that time, I started as a part time, temporary drafter. Not so long afterwards, I was managing the CAD department of 5+ guys, some with grad degrees in architecture. The average age of the group was roughly mid-40’s (not counting me.)

Fast foward to present day, I’ve performed in Job Captain and Project Manager roles for some of San Diego’s larger firms such as SLA and HMC, and not so large firms, like Public, and others.

My most recent project management experience includes one of the Student Center remodels at the University of California at San Diego, as well as the Metrome Condominium mid-rise tower in the East Village area of downtown San Diego, which included heavy Construction Administration responsibilities.

Most recently, I’ve completed two *very industrial* site improvement projects, contracted as design-build for Gordon-Prill General Contractors (my client) and General Dynamics-Nassco (their client) at the Nassco Shipyard location at 28th street in San Diego. The project’s included a specialized concrete pad and rail system reinforced adequately to support a mobile, 200 ton steel crane used in ship fabrication.

Education

I majored in Architecture for 2 years at Cuyamaca College in El Cajon, CA. Later, I transfered to San Diego State University, where I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Communications (changed my major, having become disillusioned about my prospects in Architecture, partly owing to the recession of the late 80’s and early 90’s in Southern CA and elsewhere.) However, my career in this industry was well underway upon graduation, having worked full time during most of my undergraduate studies.

At this point in my career, I have logged sufficient education and work experience (and then some) to test for registration as an architect in the state of CA. Beyond establishing a solid client base, the next big item on my agenda is preparing for (and passing) all nine sections of the architectural licensing exams. After that of course is the oral examinations, which I hear is even harder to pass than the written sections, purely due to the subjective nature of the testing process. I won’t even be concerning myself with how difficult that may or may not be, since passing the 9 written sections is more than enough to keep me occupied for now.