September 13 – 17th. Burlington, VT
Design Engine sent Alias-Maya instructor, Joel Koster, to the Burton Snowboards Headquarters in Burlington, Vermont…
Burton’s snowboard bindings design team was looking for another intuitive 3D capability to put in their industrial designer’s tool-belt; so, they told Design Engine Education to send somebody on over. They initially were looking to use Autodesk Maya software in their concept design process but then decided to go with Alias Studio to address more complex surfacing issues that their industrial design concepts address. The industrial designers at Burton were looking for a more intuitive way to understand the free-form curves and shapes they were coming up with in a 3D environment. Alias Studio software is a premier surfacing package that really allows designers the flexibility to create concept iterations quickly and get instant feedback as to how the binding surfaces flow into each other.
Burton’s headquarters has skate ramps to keep their employees and pro-athletes in practice during the off season. Next to the headquarters are a half pipe and a professional wooden masonite bowl to keep the creative juices flowing and to blow off steam when things get tight. Therefore, I was sure to bring my skateboard with me to ride the ramps at lunchtime and after work with fellow students and other Burton employees. It was nice to have a semi-relaxing activity to take your mind off the grind – and grind some coping instead.
I’m looking forward to going back to Burlington to ride my Burton snowboard rig during the winter season.
Article Written by: Joel Koster
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