Eddt

[astoria]

Hey. Anyone currently taking the EDDT program at SAIT or graduated from it? I'm currently studying something else but I don't like it so I'm thinking of switching.

Thanks.

[TL_]

I graduated from EDDT last year. And if memory serves me right there's some other members on here that took the same program as well. What would you like to know about it?

[astoria]

Did you like the program? What are the instructors like? Was it difficult for you to find a job? Do you enjoy your current job?

Do you have any advice?

Thanks.

[TL_]

I loved the program personally. You have 3 options going into your last semester on what to study (civil, piping, structural). I went with the piping option. Most of the instructors were great. There were a few bad ones when I was there but, I believe there's only one bad one left from what I've heard. I had a job lined up a month before graduation but, things are slower this year. I was speaking with the piping instructor and only 6-10 students actually have jobs lined up this year. I can't say how the job market looks for civil/structural but, I'd say it's about the same for those as well. I love my job! The environment is great, the people around me are very knowledgeable and always willing to help out, and the money is good as well.

My advice for you would be to see if you can get in for "Student for a Day" through SAIT and sit in the classes and see if it interests you. The program can be pretty stressful workload wise, especially if you end up choosing the piping option.

[ercchry]

i know the drafting douche is gone now, and if that fat cow isnt teaching strength of materials anymore, it should be a good time

but yeah, cprogram relies on some pretty decent math skills

[ajooo]

Originally posted by ercchry
i know the drafting douche is gone now, and if that fat cow isnt teaching strength of materials anymore, it should be a good time

but yeah, cprogram relies on some pretty decent math skills

LOL fat cow... i know exactly who you're talking about.

i agree with everything TL_ said, really good program for a job that is in demand (however things are slow right now)

[trollolhah]

I graduated last year from EDDT with Civil major.

I love it, compared to Kinisiology/bizshit at UofC for 1 year. I took the Fast Track AutoCADD level 1-3 in the summer, 1month or so.

I then signed up and finished EDDT.

Classes are around 25-32 people, you stay with the same group for the first year (2 semesters), same class schedule, then third and fourth semester you end up with a mix of students.

ya I didn't like the fat cow either, nor the bald iron-man

[TL_]

I hear the fat cow was bad. But, I still think that Romanian lady I had was even worse. Hell, I'm surprised I ended up with a decent grade in that class with her teaching methods.

[aznlee]

I graduated 3 years ago,
Overall I agree with everyone above, Its a pretty solid course and is good to get your feet wet.

The program will give you some flexibility, I graduated from Civil major and went into structural after school so it leaves options open because the first 3 semesters you do a little bit of everything.

There were a few really bad Instructors but as far as I've heard, they are all gone now.

Originally posted by TL_
I hear the fat cow was bad. But, I still think that Romanian lady I had was even worse. Hell, I'm surprised I ended up with a decent grade in that class with her teaching methods.

I had both the fat cow and Romanian lady and yes, Romanian lady was worse.

[ercchry]

any other classes figure out how to unlock the excel sheet based assignments?

i think she figured it out when we all had perfect scores on the assignments. then half the class failed the tests

[TL_]

We never got excel based assignments when we were there. They had switched over to "WebCT" an online system where the assignments were stored. It would randomly select questions for each person out of a large pool. I found most of the calculation ones were pretty simple since most got the same question but, with different values for the variables.

[Jonel]

If you are looking into going to the Piping side on your last semester. May I suggest you look into the Process Piping Drafting course instead? I took it in May 2010 and graduated November 2010 and learned exactly what the EDDT students learned (a couple of my co-workers and some friends took that course). Because it's a 7month course instead of EDDT's 2 years, be prepared to come in to school even on the weekends and staying late nights. You will have no social life, as you will be in classes from 8am to 5pm and the amount of homework they give you can be really stressful.

For me personally, I found it to be a great course. Tons of great teachers like Helio Colaco, although you're bound to get at least one bad one such as the one who taught our Natural Gas Processing course.

We got to use PDMS, Microstation 2D&3D, AutoCAD 2D&3D and ProCAD. I know that for the people that took the EDDT course a few years back, never had the chance to use Microstation. I'm not sure if that has changed. Although these are rarely the exact same software you'll be using after you grad, it gives you a good insight into the designing method as well as basic drawing skills. I mostly use Smartplant 3D and some PDS, and PDMS has definitely helped me get a good grasp on using both. I still use AutoCAD 2010 to do my line shoots or pipe spacing / maintenance access studies.

Most of what I learned in this career designing wise, I basically learned from my 2nd job after grad. On my 1st job (same one I did my practicum with which SAIT has helped me get an interview in) I got to learn quite a bit about producing Isometric drawings and some basic backdrafting. Basically, mostly excel spreadsheets and administrative duties. You'll learn pretty quickly, that you have to be just a tad bit organized when the time comes to produce drawings of the 3D model you did.

What you learn in class are really the very basic but none the less gives you a good foundation, hell I still use my blue piping standard book from SAIT all the time. With that in mind, don't expect to be designing within just a few months after graduation. You have to earn their trust, which depending on the company and the people you work with, can be quite hard. Never be afraid to do any tasks they give you. They understand you're a junior and most of the guys who has been doing this for years are more than happy to mentor you. On the flip side, don't be an idiot. If they're teaching you how to do something, take notes and screenshots, anything you can refer to later when you need to do it again, or just as a refresher. Nothing irks them more when you ask the same exact question 10 times in 1 week.

It's definitely a great career to be in if you like to be constantly challenged, as vendors/clients never seem to make up their mind on certain aspects of the plant and when they do, they expect you to react to it in a ridiculous short amount of time. Also it can be quite intimidating when you get to tackle your first Pipe Rack, Heat Exchanger Structure, Firewater Package or Train Loading Docks. But since you learn something new quite often, it never gets boring and is pretty rewarding after you see them construct something out on the field that you designed.

In regards to the pay, you definitely can't complain about the money, especially once you get some years/projects under your belt and become a contractor. Just don't expect to be making 100k in 4 years. This industry can be really tough when it's slow, but when it gets busy .. kaching. But do try to stay at a company for at least a year or two if you're a junior. Don't be too picky at it. And you never know, you might luck out and get a really great one as your first one.