Hi RR:
I'd say the first thing you should decide is what kind of applications you'll be
looking at and how technical you are. Art can be handled somewhat differently and more
easily than engineering work, for example. Also, the applications will in many ways
dictate which of the myriad RP processes you need to use to accomplish the work. Each has
its benefits and limitations, as you may gather from the WWGRP site. You'll have to choose
a method.
The common denominator is grounding in a typical 3D CAD package like AutoCAD or
SolidWorks, etc. You need that no matter what you do. (My approach to this is
self-instruction, but there are lots of courses, etc.) If you already have some experience
with that stuff, and have decided which method of RP you'd like to learn, look for
Univ/Industry collaborations on Univ pages of the WWGRP. Many of these schools have
courses and hands-on workshops for the RP methods they have in-house. Their web sites
usually have descriptions of the courses or workshops, etc.
The rest is gaining day to day experience with the RP method of choice so that you can
make the machinery do what you want it to do. It's still as much art as it is science at
this stage of technical development. You'll need to find a way to get your hands on the
appropriate machinery to excel in practice.
There probably is no one course you can take that will give you experience with a large
number of methods of RP, but if you hunt you may find one that covers several popular
methods like SLA, FDM and SLS.
That's the gist.
Best regards,
Ed
Ed Grenda
Castle Island Co.
