The very first project I did in VIA Design - for outside clients, that is.

Here is the story about this project that was posted on an October issue of Omaha World Herald newspaper in 2004.

 

Helping Move Ideas Forward

When local entrepreneur Doug Anders needed to develop a unique product idea, his friend, UNO Professor Steve Bullock, knew the Via Design Lab was the place to go. Anders, owner of Cybotic Health Technologies, had a patented concept for a robotic stretching machine — a flexibility device that takes the user through a set of carefully calibrated stretches based on their individual tolerances. "Our engineers were working on operational drawings," Anders says. "But I wanted a 3-D model that would show the robot's functionality and cosmetic appeal so that others could visualize how it works."

Lingyun (Liz) Zhu worked from a drawing Anders provided to create the three-dimensional computer model. Knowing he wanted to show movement, the senior Management Information Systems student relied on her own artistic skills and special 3-D modeling software to imagine and simulate what the machine would look like from all angles. The design provided Anders with a dynamic illustration to show others interested in his invention. Because of Zhu's work, he says, his company has partnered with KUKA Robotics, an entrepreneurial business housed at PKI's Scott Technology Transfer and Incubator Center. Anders will be working with KUKA to build a prototype of the machine - bringing his idea to fruition. "We're very happy with what Liz and the lab have provided," he says. "She's taken an idea and given us a real-life experience through animation that we are expanding on." 

This is the original sketch I got from client.