Next comes a series of essential, though often tedious, tasks. Jo Kallal, professor of consumer studies, explains that the sketch must be turned into a pattern and the pattern into a sample garment. Various fabrics must be tested to determine which best suits the design. Then, the sample pattern is drawn over and over again, with each version incrementally larger or smaller until the pattern exists in a full range of garment sizes.

Once the fabric is selected, Kallal says, different ways of arranging the pattern pieces on the bolt of cloth must be tried, with the goal of finding the layout that wastes the least amount of fabric.

In the past, and today in many small design firms, all those time-consuming jobs are done manually. But, increasingly, designers in firms of all sizes use computers to work faster and more efficiently and to give them more flexibility in experimenting with different creative ideas. This technology--known as CAD, for computer-aided design--has been used in the University's apparel design program since 1982.

One of the first three university programs in the country to get CAD technology, the Department of Consumer Studies in the College of Human Resources, Education and Public Policy has continually upgraded its computer lab to keep pace with the cutting edge of the industry. Beginning this year, students will have the use of brand-new software that will enable them to translate their designs into three-dimensional computer images.

"The software was donated by Gerber Technologies, and we're one of the first apparel design departments in the country to get it," says Kallal, who instituted the department's original CAD lab 18 years ago. "It will be extremely helpful to students as they learn how to get the results they want. Students need to be able to visualize their two-dimensional pattern pieces as a three-dimensional garment, and this software enables them to do that."

The ability to use CAD technology also is a highly marketable skill for students to learn, says Julia Shaw, CHEP '91, senior product specialist at Lectra Systems Inc., another CAD company that has donated software to the UD program. She calls the new technology "one of the most important areas of growth" in the business.

"Luckily for design and merchandising students, there is still a great 'knowledge void' within the apparel industry," Shaw says. "Graduates with CAD skills can easily slip into the industry and experience job security based on computer knowledge alone."

The apparel program's CAD lab, which once housed only two computers, now has eight stations where students can work. In addition to the software that transforms a flat pattern into a three-dimensional view, other programs allow students to use a computer mouse equipped with a wheel to draw a garment and then see what it would look like in various colors, weaves and weights of fabric. The lab also features an oversized drawing board, where students can spread out a pattern and move an electronic cursor over the paper or muslin pieces, digitizing the design into the computer.

Starting as sophomores, apparel design majors become familiar with the CAD technology by using the lab as one component of some courses. Later, two courses are offered that focus entirely on CAD--one on fashion design and forecasting, the other on mass-market apparel design and product development.

"We don't just teach them how to use the technology," Kallal says. "We teach them how to use it within the context of solving design problems, because that's what it's all about." *