“From nearly every aspect of the oil & gas industry, there is no limitation to what we are finding our students in,” explains Brian Maitland. Maitland serves as the Academic Chair of the School of Design at PTI. With more than 25 years of experience in both the CAD industry and teaching students, Maitland demonstrates a particular enthusiasm about the opportunities he is finding for his students, specifically those in the oil & gas industry.

1. NATURAL GAS & OIL INDUSTRY:
CAD Skills & Career Opportunities

2. What is a
drafter?
drafters are entry-level visual assistant to designers, engineers, and architects. They translate the given information and turn it into working drawings that represent the ideas and concepts of the designers, engineers, and architects. Drafters use CAD programs such as: AutoCAD, MicroStation 2D & 3D, Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Civil 3D, Creo (Pro- Engineer), SolidWorks, and Inventor.

3. Get Ready For the future
The coursework and hands-on experience you receive from a career college like PTI are just what energy employers are looking for. Companies are searching for qualified CAD graduates with a solid skill set to fill many different positions in equipment design, industrial design, Civil Surveying and many others. Let’s take a look at the career opportunities and relative skills needed to succeed as a CAD professional in the Natural Gas and Oil industry.
”
“
There are potential opportunities for CAD students in literally every aspect of the Oil and Gas Industry, from pre to post and everywhere in between. I can hardly wait to see what the people in five years from now are going to be doing.
- Brian Maitland, Academic Chair, School of Design, PTI

4. Responsible for creating wiring and layout diagrams used by workers who erect, install, and repair electrical equipment and wiring in communication centers, power plants, electrical distribution systems, and buildings.
”
“
One of the companies we work with told me they literally have thousands of drawings backlogged because they have so much work that they can’t get ahead of it, hiring more and more students
to help catch up.
Electrical Power Distribution Drafter
- Brian Maitland, Academic Chair, School of Design, PTI

5. Electrical Power
Distribution
Drafter
Design and draw wiring and layout diagrams.
Supervise installation of electrical equipment and systems.
Supervise repair of equipment and wiring.
Create visual guidelines for construction purposes.
Specify dimensions, materials, and procedures.
Draw in minute details of structures.
Use Computer Aided Design and Drafting systems.
Create and store drawings electronically.
Program drawings into automated manufacturing systems.
Explain concepts to construction workers.
JOB Duties
& Skills

6. Civil Survey Drafter
Responsible for preparing drawings and topographical and relief maps used in civil engineering projects, such as highways, bridges, pipelines, flood control projects, and water and sewerage control systems.
”
“
Our students are dealing specifically with the surveying aspect of things and doing the drawings that relate to that. We even have students going out and getting surveying positions, a really big industry right now with so much available work in it.
- Brian Maitland, Academic Chair, School of Design, PTI

7. Civil Survey Drafter
JOB Duties
& Skills
Draw maps, diagrams, and profiles, using cross-sections and surveys, to represent elevations, topographical contours, subsurface formations and structures.
Correlate, interpret, and modify data obtained from topographical surveys, well logs, and geophysical prospecting reports.
Finish and duplicate drawings and documentation packages, according to required mediums and specifications for reproduction, using blueprinting, photography, or other duplicating methods.
Review rough sketches, drawings, specifications, and other engineering data received from civil engineers to ensure that they conform to design concepts.

8. Responsible for preparing drawings used in the layout, construction, and operation of oil and gas fields, refineries, chemical plants, and process piping systems.
”
“
Our grads are getting positions
in a wide variety of positions, ranging from more traditional industrial pipe drafting, to fire protection, in both 2D and 3D applications.
PIPELINE Distribution Drafter
- Brian Maitland, Academic Chair, School of Design, PTI

9. Prepare layout and design of complex offshore/onshore piping design systems using 2D and 3D Bentley AutoPLANT third party software.
Assist in preparing man-hour estimates.
Producing quality piping design layouts, layouts of various process skids, orientation of process equipment with nozzle locations and interconnecting piping.
Generating piping line list and tie-In list when required.
Be available for site and vendor visits as required.
Assist engineers and designers in resolving piping design issues.
JOB Duties & Skills
PIPELINE
Distribution
Drafter

10. Mechanical Drafter
Responsible for creating drawings that exhibit the detail and method of assembly for a variety of machinery and mechanical devices.
”
“
When we have Mechanical students come in they’re very focused on the type of position they are looking for. They have a definite endpoint goal.
- Brian Maitland, Academic Chair, School of Design, PTI

11. JOB Duties & Skills
Develop detailed designs for mechanical equipment and controls.
Provide details on component descriptions.
Resolve design problems.
Review and analyze specifications.
Compute mathematical formulas to develop and design detailed specifications for components or machinery.
Compute dimensions of materials and purchase accordingly.
Correct operating deficiencies.
Mechanical Drafter

12. Responsible for working in offices, where they work closely on projects with architects. Occasional visits to construction sites may be required when a drafter needs to collect some information about the land or structure.
”
“
The Architectural Drafters are laying out where things need to be before they are actually built, Approaching their work from a more theoretical standpoint, they are open to a variety of positions.
architectural Drafter
- Brian Maitland, Academic Chair, School of Design, PTI

13. Create visual guidelines for construction purposes.
Explain concepts to construction workers.
Prepare engineering drawings that detail plans and specifications.
Prepare drawings for the facilities and structures that house instrumentation and transmission equipment.
Create designs used in the layout, construction, and operation of oil and gas fields, refineries, chemical plants, and process piping systems.
JOB Duties & Skills
architectural Drafter

14. Let’s Get STARTED!
The PTI Computer Aided Drafting program can prepare you for a career in the dynamic Oil & Gas industry. The coursework and hands-on experience you will receive are just what energy employers are looking for.
The following companies come to PTI
to find qualified CAD graduates to fill positions in equipment design, industrial design, Civil Surveying and many others:
Range Resources Chevron Simplex Grunell HRG Inc. Phillips Tank & Structure Master Machine Company McCarl’s Inc. Hatch Gateway Engineers Elliott Resource Environmental Jacobs Engineering Michael Baker Company HDR Engineering Cimation

15. Pti.edu
Sources: http://www.americasjobexchange.com/electrical-drafter-job-description, http://job-descriptions.careerplanner.com/Civil-Drafters.cfm http://www.studentscholarships.org/salary/138/drafters.php, http://www.rigzone.com/jobs/postings/402078/Piping_DesignerDrafter.asp#sthash.oMiwddZz.dpuf http://www.americasjobexchange.com/mechanical-drafter-job-description, http://resources.alljobopenings.com/architectural-drafter-jobs http://www.americasjobexchange.com/architectural-drafter-job-description
For graduation rates, earnings, and educational debt information, please visit us online at pti.edu/disclosures.