INSTRUCTOR PROFILE
Jeffrey Lupp
Founder/Educator at CAD LAB
I have loved creating design drawings for as long as I can remember. As a young kid I would create plans for everything from model airplanes to BMX bicycle frames. I think it is the process of being able to conceive an idea, think it through, and see it turn into reality based on a set of plans that I have created. As the son of one of the finest hand draftsmen that I have ever known, my training began early in life. When I learned to print, it was all Caps, equally spaced. When it came to homework, neatness, line weights, and clarity of vision always counted. For all of this I am grateful as it has been a great foundation to build from.
I have also been fortunate to have had some great mentors along the way such as the man who taught the 200 hour comprehensive drafting course I took in high school through the Vocational Industrial clubs of America, or my first CAD teacher in the Sheet Metal industry who later became my first building trades detailing mentor. My entry into the world of Computer Aided Drafting came as a result of my many years as a mechanic in the sheet metal industry, where I worked in many areas of the trade such as HVAC building mechanical, Architectural sheet metal, and the stainless steel and custom metal industry. In all of these areas I worked in the fabrication shops as well as countless field installations. I had reached a point in my career in the sheet metal industry where I was doing the design detailing for my own jobs. It was at this same time that the use of CAD was just starting to show up in the building trades, and I was drawn to it. I enrolled in the engineering program at a local community college thinking I would get some skills, and be able to use them in my work. At this time I had no idea that Computer Aided Drafting would become the core of the next twenty years of my career.
It was not long after that I found myself building a CAD department for a major mechanical company; it was during this six year run that I really cut my teeth in the world of Computer aided drafting, and all of the things related to this way of working. It was during this time that I become involved with Autodesk, first as a Beta test site, and then as a member of the Global Customer Council where I was an industry representative working with the AutoCAD development team on new functionality in the AutoCAD software, with all of this leading to becoming a course presenter at AutoDesk University.
I had been feeling the pull of starting my own design business for a long time, and wanted to branch into some new areas. Enter the next phase of my career – All Cadd Consulting Services. During the years of running ACCS I would continue to work inside of the sheet metal industry, but would branch out into things such as the piping industry, architectural drafting, custom casework, interior architectural design, and patent drawings. As well I did system analyses and set up for businesses to determine their CAD needs, setting up their hardware and software, and providing employee training. As ACCS had run its course, and it was time to move on
I now find myself re - immersed in building trades working for a major mechanical contractor, and working with cutting edge CAD technology in the world of building information modeling. The constant throughout all of this for the last fifteen years has been teaching AutoCAD and related software for the sheet metal workers of local 66 at our training facility. During this time I have taught students, developed curriculum, and brought forth teaching methods at all skill levels from the student turning on the computer for the first time, to the seasoned journeyman looking to learn the latest in CAD skills. It is the combination of all of this that has been the inspiration for the next step in this journey; The creation of the CAD LAB, an online forum where the design community can come together to explore All Things CAD.