Is Modeling Specialist a Thing?

I can say from having written a fair amount about at least two CAD packages, that in order to say something definitive, you really have to put a lot of time in on the software. Said another way – don’t take CAD advice from a casual user. You have to make an insane number of mistakes to be able to tell people what to do or not to do with any authority. To be that fluent in more than one system takes a lot of dedication, time, and storage space in your head. In most situations, your CAD administrator should be one of these people. Someone who should know more than your reseller’s tech support.

Unfortunately, this kind of person is fairly rare, and it is even more rare for anyone with authority to recognize that kind of talent. Talent with the tool, whatever that tool is, tends to get overlooked. Maybe companies are right to promote and/or hire people who understand their products over people who understand the design tools,, but from another point of view, it’s great to have no limitations on the tool, and a new perspective on the product.

I ask this question because I see a lot of people who think they are doing great design, but are really just hashing over old forms. Innovation maybe comes in the programming, but mechanical or ergonomic innovation gets left behind. You need someone who can really envision 3D geometrical stuff, and how it goes together to accomplish this, and I don’t think it matters whether the product is an airplane or a wristwatch.

Better yet, if you can sit the product expert and the geometry whiz down next to one another, you can at least get some idea of what the “what if” scenarios might look like. This kind of work for me has been very satisfying. I get to work on great products and add my own expertise in molding techniques, assembly methods, mechanical doohickeys that I’ve accumulated working on a wide range of product types from sports equipment and medical stuff to consumer products and industrial applications. My expertise in the software means the project isn’t limited by the types of geometry I can create, and my experience with molding and other techniques means your product cross-pollenates with ideas from other types of products. That can only be a win.

So to me, yes, there is a reason to hire someone other than a straight product specialist. No, I’m not an aircraft design specialist, but I would bring a lot of other expertise to your project that you might not even imagine that you could benefit from. No, I don’t specialize in computer enclosures, but I have a lot of problem solving skills and experience in various enclosure design that might bring something new to your project. I don’t specialize in furniture, but I’m not afraid of any modeling challenge, and you need a fresh perspective anyway.