Engineering CAD

**Engineering CAD**
Engineering CAD
Type	Inquiry
Category	Lab
Description	Teams will read a set of engineering drawings and collaborate to CAD parts in OnShape and then incorporate these parts with provided components to create an assembly.
Event Information
Participants	2
Allowed Resources	A laptop capable of running Onshape (required, per participant); mouse (wired or wireless); laptop charger; writing utensils;
Approx. Time	50 minutes
History
First Appearance	2026
Latest Appearance	2026
Rotates	Yes
Forum Threads
Additional Resources
Image Gallery	Link
Official Resources
Website	soinc.org/engineering-cad-c
Division B Results
1st	Longfellow Middle School
2nd	BASIS Cedar Park
3rd	Solon Middle School
Division C Results
1st	Phillips Exeter Academy
2nd	Falmouth High School
3rd	Adlai E. Stevenson High School

Engineering CAD is a Division C event for the 2026 season. It was previously a trial event in Division B and Division C for the 2025 season. The competition involves creating a computer-aided design (CAD) based off engineering drawings during the event time.

Competition

Teams are given a set of paper engineering drawings and a starting OnShape document with all other parts needed for assembly. Teams will use either their own or event supervisor provided OnShape accounts and will work collaboratively to model and assemble the drawings. The goal is to model the parts as close to the original as possible.

Teams need to model 2 to 3 components for 1 assembly in regionals and 4 to 6 components for 1 assembly in state and nationals.

Scoring

Highest score wins.

Total score = Individual Part Scores (IPS) + Individual Assembly Score (IAS)

A perfect match in each part/assembly is worth 100 points. Answers cannot be worth negative points and will be worth a minimum of 0 points. The maximum score is 300 or 400 for regionals, and 500, 600, or 700 for states and nationals (depending on the amount of parts).

The IPS is determined by comparing the total mass of each named part as specified in the engineering drawings to their correct mass values. Points for each part will be calculated as:

IPS = $100 (1 - | Δ_{m a s s} |)$

where

$Δ_{m a s s} = | \frac{m a s s_{s t u d e n t} - m a s s_{c o r r e c t}}{m a s s_{c o r r e c t}} |$ .

The IAS is determined by comparing the x, y, and z components of the Center of Mass (CoM) of the named assembly as specified in the engineering drawing to its correct mass value. Points for each part will be calculated as:

IAS = $100 (1 - \frac{| Δ x C o M |}{3} - \frac{| Δ y C o M |}{3} - \frac{| Δ z C o M |}{3})$

where

$Δ_{C o M} = | \frac{C o M_{s t u d e n t} - C o M_{c o r r e c t}}{C o M_{c o r r e c t}} |$ .

The tiebreaker is modeling time. Shortest time wins. Time is measured from the moment the "start assignment" button is pressed to the moment the "submit" button is pressed. Any work done after submission is not graded.

Resources

OnShape Student Guide

OnShape Event Supervisor Guide

OnShape Learning Center

OnShape CAD Challenges

Practice Tests and Answer Keys

OnShape Wiki