in my 5y of industrial engineering before modeling, I've always seen Z axis up. And the rule of the thumb was always made with the right hand (I hated it) also to know which direction was positive, or even how the screws work internatinally by convention too.
Maybe it is a thing that changes with the countries? But first time I saw Y up was in modeling, after some years into it, because of Maya and Unity (always worked with max and unreal)
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Maya, U3D and ZBrush always F'd my mind