Novice Users Win Competition

Novice Ashlar-Vellum users create winning entries in an international design competition after only three days with Cobalt™ 3D modeling software.

When Rodney Mackrell was notified that his design for a cell phone device put him in the finals of the prestigious LG Electronics Design Competition, he didn’t know whether to reach for champagne or aspirin. Before his work would qualify for final judging, he had to transform his design into a 3D CAD model which the LG Electronics lab would turn into a physical prototype.

Here was the headache: Mackrell had never before used 3D CAD software and he had only a day to finalize his entry. Mackrell’s professor, Azhar Mohamed, turned to Cobalt, Ashlar-Vellum’s 3D modeling software, to assist Mackrell and two other finalists. Mike Scott, a former Massey student agreed to assist. “I started on a Tuesday afternoon with Rodney and the other two entrants, Tee Smith and Andrew Packer…and the finished CAD files needed to be sent by Friday afternoon, so there wasn’t a lot of time.”

Constructing the model in Ashlar-Vellum software replicated the process of making the model by hand, which made it easy to understand.

None of these finalists had previous experience with CAID programs, but they all finished their work quickly and accurately. Mackrell attributed his quick success in learning Cobalt to its natural interface and ease of use.

The results of the final judging? Out of 1,962 entries from designers in 56 countries, Mackrell won the Grand Prize money and a three-week stint at LG Electronics to assist in the production of a working model of his design.

Tee Smith was given the Special Recognition award, receiving $2,000 (U.S.) for his efforts. Mackrell, Smith, and Mohamed praised Ashlar-Vellum design software for its role in making the winning entries possible.