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John Ward of the Mississippi Department
of Transportation
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Jackson, Mississippi, USA —
This month the MicroStation Today user spotlight shines on
John Ward from the Mississippi Department of Transportation (DOT).
John gave us an overview of how he uses FileFixer, RefWriter
and Microsoft Office Importer to keep Mississippi DOT’s
CAD standards up to par.
MicroStation Today: Please give a brief description of your
CAD history.
John: I graduated with special honors from a local community college
in 1982 with an Associate’s Degree in Drafting and Design.
Straight out of school, I started working with the Highway Department’s
Roadway Design Division.
In the late 1980s, our state legislators passed a transportation
bill that provided the funding to upgrade highways across the state.
I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of the design team
leaders to provide support as CAD was implemented throughout all
of our departments.
So, here I am today as CAD Applications Manager for the Mississippi
Department of Transportation (DOT) Roadway Design Division. Our
division is responsible for the design and drafting of all the state
highway construction plans.
With the help of those around me, I created our CAD standards and
used them to implement all the MicroStation-related menus and program
add-ons we now use to design in MicroStation. The changes that I
have been through over the years have all been exciting, challenging
and sometimes frightening, but I have been able to move forward
with enhancements and maintenance of our in-house standards and
design tools.
Looking back, I feel honored to have been able to work with the
people at Mississippi DOT and companies such as Intergraph, Bentley
and Axiom to help me take part in building what I think is a successful
use of CAD throughout the years. If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll
have a few more left ahead.
MST: What are some of the problems you encounter
and how do Axiom products help solve those problems?
John: I have used Axiom products for a long time. FileFixer has
been extremely helpful for helping me repair MicroStation V7 design
files. I could stumble my way through the EdG utility, but in many
cases FileFixer was the only way I could have repaired some
of the design files.
Another Axiom product that we have used over the years is RefWriter.
Our users have to use a lot of reference files in their workflow
and RefWriter significantly reduces time spent switching
between multiple files. Users just click on an element in the reference
file and it becomes the active design file where changes can be
made.
We also have to do a lot of quantity calculations. Spreadsheets
really improve the speed and quality of doing calculations. Microsoft
Office Importer does a superb job of bringing that data into
MicroStation design files and automatically updating the design
file when the spreadsheet changes.
MST: What would you like to be doing in 10 years?
John: I hope I can retire from regular work around that time. My
oldest son should be out of the house by then. My youngest daughter
is nine, so hopefully in ten years she’ll be getting close
to moving out also! Then I can find something relaxing to pass the
time such as drawing, painting and photography so I don’t drive
my wife crazy.
MST: What’s a book you wish you’d written?
John: It’s ironic, I write technical manuals all the time,
but I don’t like to write. It definitely wouldn’t be anything
computer-related. I love good action and adventure stories, so it
would have to be something along the lines of Star Wars, Indiana
Jones or James Bond.
MST: Any predictions for the future of CAD?
John: I’m not very good at predictions. I’m almost always
wrong! However, if I had a wish, I would like to see a better way
to communicate with computers. I think the keyboard and mouse have
to be replaced with something better. Perhaps voice controlled computers,
but that would have to be improved with better “AI” [artificial
intelligence]. If someone could solve this, it could definitely
be the next big thing in everything we do with computers.
MST: Thank you John.
John: Thank you.
Call
now!
For more information on FileFixer, RefWriter and Microsoft Office
Importer contact an Axiom MicroStation Consultant today! Call 727-442-7774
extension 9696 or e-mail 9696@AxiomInt.com.
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