Focus On Instructors: Al Whitley

“As an architect you design for the present, with an awareness of the past, for a future which is essentially unknown.” ~ Norman Foster

Al Whitley has taught for UC San Diego Extension for 25 years, and is a principal at WhitleyGroup, an architectural practice that provides specialized CAD and BIM support for commercial, biotech and government projects. He and his staff have received numerous awards for their work on project efficiency optimization, project documentation and computer visualization. He teaches an array of classes for UC San Diego Extension, including AutoCAD, 3DS Max, and Revit. We invite you to take a moment and learn a bit about Al and his work in the industry.

How did you get started in the CAD business?

I had just gotten out of the US Navy, as a Supply Corps Officer. Always wanting to be an architect, I put my resume on the street. An architect called me for an interview. We met–and he said, “I’m willing to give you a job, but you’ll be working on a computer, and using this new software program called AutoCAD.” Well, of course, I said “yes,” and started working on AutoCAD version 1.0. At the time, there were about seven firms in San Diego using AutoCAD.

What is your all-time favorite project and why?

Most of the work we do at our office involves BIM Facilitation, where we work closely with design/build teams, virtually (in 3D) resolving construction issues before the projects are built. My staff and the technology solutions we use are pretty amazing, and I’m thrilled to be involved in process–but my all-time favorite project is a retreat we recently completed in the local Cuyamaca mountains. The owners are “regulars” at the Ahwahnee in Yosemite. They enjoy the work of (architect) Gilbert Stanley Underwood and wanted their retreat to express the pleasure they experience when visiting the Ahwahnee and others Lodges that Mr. Underwood designed. So, I had to do my background research, and spent a few months traveling to Yosemite, Bryce Canyon, Zion and at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to enjoy Mr. Underwood’s designs (not to mention hiking in those wonderful National Parks). The project in Cuyamaca uses the “Parkitecture” vocabulary–and I was able to use the technologies we have on hand at the office to show the clients their retreat before it was built; to get real-time design feedback using GoTo software to fine-tune the design while we were online together; to optimize energy efficiency, maximize views, integrate passive solar design, and to create many wonderful architectural details virtually–and then a few months later, to see those design solutions being built in the real world. Now that the project is completed, one of the coolest things is that the technologies we used are invisible–but when you visit the retreat, you are taken back in time, you enjoy a slower pace–and the fact that there are deer and bobcat living in the forest alongside the retreat makes the project very, very special.

What are the key elements to include in a robust CAD portfolio?

My first question is “What is CAD?” If you think of CAD as only 2D project documentation (Computer-Aided Drafting), you’re really selling CAD short. CAD is “Computer Aided Design.” The technology itself is robust–and its breadth includes drafting, documentation, building information modeling (BIM), design visualization, energy analysis, simulation and virtual design and construction (VDC) solutions. Today, a CAD-literate person knows AutoCAD, Revit, 3dsMax and many other CAD-based programs. Autodesk, the parent company of AutoCAD, has done an excellent job of evolving and standardizing the user interface across all of their programs–once you learn the interface in one program, you feel at home in their other programs. If you want to learn CAD, start with AutoCAD–as you gain more exposure to the technology, you’ll understand how you want to increase your skills with other Computer Aided Design technologies.

What are three key pieces of advice you’d give to aspiring CAD students?

Pay attention to detail, practice, and keep an open mind–to maximize your use of the software’s potential. The people who take our AutoCAD, Revit and 3dsMax classes have professions which are quite varied. The people who succeed using CAD are detail-oriented. CAD is a tool. You use CAD to convey your design. If you are in the construction industry, you need to understand construction and use AutoCAD and Revit to communicate your design. If you’re in theatre design, then you’ll want to learn 3dsMax to convey the lighting you’ll be using on stage. CAD is applicable to many professions. Some of our students are mature, and they bring some significant non-CAD experience to the table. Their strength is their professional experience–and CAD is the tool they are using within their profession. Think of CAD as part of your professional development. The technology will always be evolving and you’ll always be learning.

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The Titanic Arrives Next Week

Carl H. Larsen, long-time San Diego journalist and freelance writer, is a resident expert on the Titanic disaster. He has visited many of the sites tied to the fatefully sunken ship. He is teaching a course starting in April on the disaster, The Unending Voyage of the Titanic, to explore the Titanic story from the ship’s creation, through its sinking, its discovery on the ocean floor—and its continuing hold upon us today. One class meeting includes a guided tour of the San Diego Natural History Museum’s Titanic exhibition, where enrolled students will get into the exhibit at a substantial discount. Other class meetings will feature guest speakers such as UC San Diego literature professor Steven Cox, and Barbara Chronowski, a San Diego actress who worked on the Cameron movie in Baja California for six months, has since become another Titanic “rivet counter,” giving talks about working on the film, the ship, and the expected roles of “first class” women during the Edwardian period.

Both in pursuit of his passion and to prepare for the anniversary, Larsen has been wading through the 90-plus new books due to publish in conjunction during the anniversary of the shipwreck.

“The books come in all varieties,” he notes, “from an examination of gay passengers and crew aboard the ship to a new Sherlock Holmes mystery set aboard the Titanic and which involves a submarine.”

First, the class will discuss a pictorial summary of the Titanic story by the editors of Life magazine. Larsen notes, “With Titanic, you usually see the same photos over and over, but the Life editors have scoured photo archives and have found some gems I hadn’t come across, including an overview of the extravagant funeral procession held for John Jacob Astor IV, the wealthy American who died in the disaster.”

Next, John Maxtone-Graham, the dean of authors who write about ocean liners, has detailed the use of the Titanic’s Marconi “wireless” system to summon rescue ships.

And, finally, historian Hugh Brewster takes a deeper look at the careers and lives of many of the first-class passengers, including one who was a well-known artist leading the committee evaluating designs for the Lincoln Memorial.

Larsen recently attended a San Diego preview of the James Cameron film “Titanic,” being re-released in early April, this time in 3D. “It’s much more vivid,” he said. “Especially Gloria Stuart, the actress who portrays Old Rose. And, the post-sinking scene of hundreds flailing in the 31-degree ocean brings home the enormity of what happened.”

Take some time to discover the many ties San Diego has to the Titanic’s tale, hear special details and tidbits about the hands-on history from those who know the tale, stem to stern, and discuss how this epic disaster has come to be “one of the great mythic events of the 20th century,” often recreated in literature, music, film and theater.

Carl Larsen, MS in Journalism from Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, is a freelance travel writer. A longtime San Diego journalist and a former section editor at the San Diego Union-Tribune, he currently writes for Creators Syndicate. His most recent excursions have included travels to the UK and N. Ireland on the Titanic Trail. He is teaching The Unending Voyage of the Titanic, starting Wednesday, April 4, 2012.