The Medusa Project Open Design team is growing at a rapid rate, so I thought it would
be a good idea to introduce all our team members and supporters in a new post. I will continue this practice
posting new team members as we move along.
Acknowledgements:
I would like to say a special thanks to the TechShop and
Will Brick who’s sponsorship of two 9 month memberships are the core foundation
of the Medusa Project’s success. The Detroit shop is an amazing space
filled with new and experienced makers and thinkers all working toward their
dreams while freely exchanging knowledge and ideas. It’s such a powerful
exciting sense of community and is the most important part of the Medusa
Projects mantra Creativity, Cad and Community.
Thank you all for your support!
To join us send me an email eric.pinkel-AT-us.mackevision.com
New Members
Ed Martin: (Supporter/Consultant)
Senior Marketing Manager for Autodesk
I would like to thank Ed Martin to our team. Ed stopped by
the Mackevision office last week to get a complete overview of the Medusa
Project. He will be helping us create a awareness in the Autodesk ranks about
our project and he will be leading the charge to get us on the main-stage at
Autodesk University for the Keynote.
Tom Weisz: (Supporter/Consultant)
Mackevision Creative Advisor
Tom is a great guy who I have had the fortunate opportunity
to share an office with at Mackevision J
He is passionate about process and tools that empower creative professional and
he has an incredible ability to connect the dots of emerging technology and
ground breaking artistic process. Tom has been excited about the vision of
Medusa Project from the very beginning and his experience, persistence and
network of executive creative professionals make him an invaluable part of our
success.
Joseph Wurcher: (
Supporter/Consultant ) Autodesk AU Program Development
I contacted Sandy
Profeta at Autodesk and inquired about when the submission opening for
AU. She passed our project on to Joseph who contacted me with an interest in
our project. He is currently acting as a silent observer, but as the AU
selection process begins he will be an invaluable asset in our effort to gain
admittance to AU. He is also our point of contact for our special request to
place the Medusa in a highly visible location during the show.J
Chris Hall: (Supporter/Consultant/Builder)
Autodesk Program Manager MFG/M&E
Chris is a longtime friend and Co-worker. Since his role is
part manufacturing and media and entertainment He is the perfect Autodesk fit
for our creative to CAD build team. Chris will be proving Fusion 360
support and training. He is also a long time RC enthusiast and will
provide input on all aspects of the build, as well as, helping us lead the
charge for AU submission.
Joshua Smith: (Sponsor/Consultant)
Owner of MakerGeeks
Joshua is an amazing DIY multi-rotor enthusiast who is
sponsoring our project with his newly developed 16x16 Zyon 3d printer and
supplies to tackle the difficult task of printing the large Medusa thin-walled
plastic exoskeleton components. He is also providing us with much needed
3d material and 3d printing expertise on large scale 3d prints. Joshua has committed
to shipping us a Zyon in 4 weeks. We are so excited about its arrival in the
near future.
Mandee Mikulski: (Supporter) Director
of Development Academy of Model Aeronautics
Mandee is a current supporter of our project. She has shared
invaluable insight on fundraising, social media and marketing of the Medusa
Project. She has dedicated herself to helping share the news of the Medusa
project to the AMA community. As we move forward she will hopefully help us
involve the Medusa open design message at RC aircraft events in North America.
Kyel Engelhart: (Sponsor) Mackevision
Senior Retoucher and Photographer
Kyel has recently agreed to sponsor some of his valuable
time to capture our flights and build process. Kyel’s creative professionalism
and eye for detail will be critical to communicate the Medusa message as we
progress.
Contributing Members
Peter Rubins: (Sponsor) Concept
Artist
Peter created and gifted our team with the HK painting
for the opening of the site. His work is an inspiration to us all.
Jim Scartz: (Sponsor) Owner
of Monto RC
Jim is the designer and Sponsor of the Medusa motors, The Avroto
3520 400Kv. He has been running performance
evaluations on his engines with 17inch carbon fiber props. Jim has also went
out of his way proving us with 33% off purchase’s from his store, Monto RC,
making it possible for us to achieve first flight in mid-April.
Harry Arnold: (Builder/Sponsor)
Owner of Detroit Drone
An avid multi-copter builder who upon my first meeting
explained that he could make almost anything fly. His UAV experience and
expertise with the Detroit Fire department and other regional authorities to
help saves lives is a gift to our project and our community. Harry is a
fellow TechShop builder and I have enjoyed our long talks about details of
flight design and 3d prining. Harry will be our lead test pilot as well as the
official UAV electrical system engineer consultant.
Eric Nantel: (Consultant/Sponsor)
RobotShop Lead UAV Specialist
Eric has designed one of the most incredible V-Tailed quad
copter on the market. His skill, ingenuity and UAV design construction
and manufacturing experience is key for the success of our project. Eric
has been very generous with his time helping with a wide range of challenges
with building one of the largest V-Tailed Multi-rotors in existence.
Will Brick: (Sponsor) Manager
of Detroit TechShop
Will is providing us with a focus point for our team with
his generous sponsorship of two TechShop memberships for the Medusa Team. He is
also a RC enthusiast and has been influential in organizing and communicating
information on our project within the TechShop community.
Dave Gill: (Sponsor) President
of Npower Software
I have worked very closely with David and the nPower team on
development of their Power NURBS plug-in for 3ds Max. He has graciously
sponsored a version of the software for our project and is dedicated to
publishing project information to their users as soon as we have it available.
Heiko Wenczel: (Sponsor)
President Mackevision Detroit
I have been working with Heiko at Mackevision for 5 years.
He is an excellent leader and accomplished RC copter pilot. He has been our
biggest supporter proving design hardware and rendering support for our team.
He is focused on helping us achieve additional funding and support for the AU
presentation. To be sure, Heiko is always looking to take things to the next
level, so expect things to have a Mackevision professional polish for the final
presentation. Heiko will also be our AU pilot and will be involved in helping
us get things flying in the right direction.
Leon Carpenter: (Sponsor/Consultant)
Producer/Account Manager
I work with Leon every day and he is a great daily source of
inspiration for our blog and ideas for fund raising and marketing. He has also
offered to help us with capturing interviews and progress reports as we
progress.
Vaughn Gernhardt: (Builder/CGI/Consultant)
Mackevision CG Specialist
Vaughn was my first point of contact on the project. He is a
very creative professional and been my sounding board on so many of my ideas
from the beginning. Once we have completed the 3ds Max modeling he will
be leading the animation and rendering pre-visualizations including materials,
environment, VFX and rendering. Once Vaughn gets a hold of the 3ds Models we
can expect great things.
Joe Palma: (Consultant/Visionist
) Mackevision CG Specialist
Joe is my number one sounding board. We meet multiple times
a week discussing everything from web marketing to structural engineering. He
has turned on so may light bulbs in my head over the course of the project to
date. As we move forward he will continue to add relevant insight and
constructive criticism to help us achieve our final objective.
