Recently, Gerard Alcini, a community member, shared with us some of its designs (here). As a result, we decided to interview him to get to know a bit more about him and its passion for design. He never went to any art school but he got a creative sensibility and learned from passion and self-teaching more than something else. Here his story started starts:
Hello Gerard! Could you tell us about your personal experience? What do you love about your job?
Hi, I’m Gerard. I grew up in Washington, Michigan USA. Some of my hobbies are real estate, CAD design, hockey, waterskiing and boating.As a kid, one of my favorite memories was going for a boat cruise on my uncle’s 1957 Larson runabout boat “up north”. This is what spawned my interest in boating. Skipping forward several decades, I now live in Algonac MI, a small waterfront town rich in maritime history. The pleasure boating industry began in Algonac in the late 1800s and most Americans know of Chris Craft boats; this is where Chris Smith and his sons started the iconic company. It is my goal (and if I’m lucky enough) to build watercraft; ultimately becoming a DS customer, using CATIA to aid in the design and manufacturing of my creations.
My job is cool because DS pays me to sell the things I love- Design and Surface tools! I also benefit from decent industry exposure gained from pre-sales engagements; I feel fortunate to meet and build relationships with some very interesting and talented people across the country. Like any job, it’s not perfect; there’s some intense pressure at times- but ultimately, selling CATIA is an enviable one to have. It’s gratifying to let a customer know when something new and cool is released that makes their job easier or less stressed.
Where does your passion for design come from as you didn’t go to any design school?
I’m not a real designer but sometimes I have to act like one at work! Ok, seriously, I did not go to an art school but there’s no law stopping me or anyone else from trying to be creative. My father was a major influence in my life- he was extremely skilled and talented. He started out as a clay sculptor and worked his way up to an executive position for a large automotive supplier.
I went to college for EET (Electronic Engineering Technology) but my career path took a U turn after being offered an apprenticeship building wood die models in the automotive industry. This ultimately led me to NC programming when the industry went through a transformation from hand crafted models to 3 and 5 axis milling. This was a good segue to step into the cad development phase of product design. Years of experience gained in the studio environment helped me develop a keen eye for good design, which is critical to developing Class A surface- where good proportion is paramount. When it comes to design, whether a boat, car or sunglasses, I always try to improve upon what inspires me using some of the things I’ve learned.
Recently you posted images of a performance boat outdrive modeled in Imagine & Shape, could you share your experience and feelings in working with the software?
Imagine & Shape is probably my favorite CATIA tool other than Icem Shape Design (I am biased J). I learned Imagine & Shape by watching some videos and slowing them down to see the mouse picks, it’s pretty much that simple.
The marine outdrives, along with the peripheral components, such as nuts, bolts, oil lines, props and tie bars took about 8 hours. Admittedly, I am not at the top of my game with Imagine & Shape; so in my estimation, with a bit more time using this product, these components could have probably been done in 3-4 hours, maybe less. Of course, I am strictly speaking in terms of conceptual design. I do however, feel this product is good enough to do some production surface components; outdrives being no exception. I would also like to throw a bone to CATIA Live Rendering; an amazing product. I am almost embarrassed by the dearth of visualization experience I possess, so if you liked my renderings, 100% credit goes to CATIA Live Rendering.
Could you share with us the ideas and approaches that you used to create this boat?
I merged the design between two of my favorites, a Formula 382 Fastech and a 38 Hustler. I found it quite easy to take the cues from these two great boats, then fused them into one cool theme. The modeling uses a variety of techniques. I started by immersing images of my favorite designs using Sketch Tracer. Today, this can also be done in Natural Sketch. The modeling was done by combination of explicit, freeform based methods and a some parametric’s, for example; the air intake vents located on the bow rebuild with a value change. These vents may seem ridiculous but the idea is to compress the air and channel it underneath, to reduce the surface area contacting the water and generate lift/speed. The marine industry has been tinkering with “stepped” hulls forever but control issues arise as a consequence. My compressed air theory would (hopefully) reduce these issues….now if I could just get some CFD analysis.
Why do you think CATIA Creative Design is a powerful tool for designing a boat?
Well, for the early design phase, it’s obvious with Natural Sketch, Imagine & Shape and Live Rendering. In regards to CATIA Creative Design- specifically applied to boat design or in any other industry, it really is a new paradigm. It still allows designers to be creative but also adds collaborative communication with the processes downstream, such as packaging, marketing, engineering, FEA, CFD, etc... These folks get early access to the latest design creations, run their feasibility and analysis and dynamically provide the results back so the studio can make necessary changes without delay or paperwork. The value is easy modeling; quick feedback from engineering, enabling more iterations and or themes in a compressed time frame, facilitating a better overall end product…whew….
Did you realize others projects with CATIA Creative Design and/or CATIA Icem?
Through requirements of my job; I have worked with the aerospace industry as well. Their needs for high quality surface are greatly distinguished from the automotive sector. Surface simplification and accuracy are the top priority of lofting groups who are constrained by airflow analysis generated by NACA lift curves. As you can imagine, the criteria is strict but Icem has tools targeted for aerospace to improve quality and maintain accuracy. CPG is another industry where we are focusing efforts. Gillette is a great example of our creative design and Icem tools coming together to create, visualize and 3D print complex razor handle designs quickly.
And last but not least, what surprising thing could you reveal about you?
Well, I’m a “wanna be” entrepreneur. I owned and managed a variety of real estate over the years- commercial (office) and residential. I still have a vacation rental home in Orlando Florida near Walt Disney World, so here’s my plug…if anyone is interested in a great 3 night or longer getaway- with or without kids, please contact me for a great deal…
I also tinkered a bit in the restaurant and food industries. Back in 1997, (when I was young); myself and two friends (who, today, are incidentally both DS CATIA customers) decided to try our hand in a franchise called Jet’s Pizza. This franchise is now a top 20 pizza chain in the US. We were one of the early franchisees and had rights to an entire county, north of Detroit. Being new to Genesee County MI, the Jet’s name was not what it is today. Of course, still working in the engineering business, it wore us out- we were basically working two full time jobs over a 3 year span. While it had its good moments and generated a lot of crazy stories, we struggled to establish ourselves in a territory dominated by pizza giants Dominos and Little Caesars. We did, however, eventually get the store in the black and shortly after, were offered a buyout. Since this was a partnership, majority ruled and we sold the business. This was the biggest business blunder I ever made! The new owner is raking it in with multiple locations- oh well!
One disaster I took part in was a bakery business but that’s a long story; let’s just say, it served as an expensive lesson. I am not finished, just trying to recover for the next great opportunity….next time I will be yet more cautious and try not to get torched.
