My name is Rhea Martinson. I currently am a CAD/BIM technician at an engineering firm. I do a lot of work throughout the different projects that we have there: a lot of government projects, lots of commercial, residential projects as well too. So prior to VDCI, I was an interior designer at a furniture store, as well as a design consultant for a Windows treatments company.
I wanted to get back into the field, more into the technological side of the field. So, I started doing research on different types of online schools. VDCI just had a really nice reputation. They were accredited, and so I wanted to find my way back in that way. I was extremely busy Monday through Friday, and the type of way that the structure was, gave me the opportunity to learn. During the nighttime hours as well as get homework done in a timely manner, I was able to pace myself by just allotting about two hours per evening, whether I got a lot done or not. I took the CAD/BIM technology certificate and it was just enough time for me to be able to understand the software, understand using the different types of programs, all of the different aspects.
I had about four to five instructors in total. All of them responded in a very timely manner. Many times I was able to find the information myself, but within less than 24 hours, instructors were able to respond back to me, and many times they were even able to give me more information compared to what I asked, so it further emphasized on the information that I needed.
I was pretty excited when I found out that we can do a project of our own liking. When we were going to do our final portfolio thesis project, I wanted to just find something that was creatively inspired. I wanted to incorporate the different programs that I learned, the different types of methods and what we were taught.
So I was pretty excited to just delve into creativity and not exactly have a structure, meaning like my own deadlines, my own schedule, something that I can do from start to finish. I first started building everything through CAD with sizes, dimensions, the basic floor plan, and then extruded all of the walls, made everything 3D. And then afterwards I imported it into SketchUp so that I could be able to add a creative flare, a little bit more designer aspects, and a little bit more textures and colors afterwards. It was also helpful to do a video walkthrough.
I wanted to find a way to fast track myself back into this world. So VDCI just gave me that opportunity to where I was able to find a way to get back in, in a very swift manner and learn all of the programs, refresh all of my recollection of all of these programs again, as well as get a great education, as well as great support, um, and that helped me further enhance to where I am now.
