Tauranga, New Zealand, is a bit off the beaten path. Nestled into the Bay of Plenty on the country’s North Island, Tauranga probably does not come to mind when you consider CAD talent, but there resides one of the foremost users of Solid Edge software on the planet.
Sean Cresswell has established himself as one of the most prolific contributors to Siemens’ Solid Edge Forum worldwide. Over the last two years, Cresswell has posted nearly 2,300 messages on the Solid Edge Forum and, in doing so, has helped users from across the globe solve everyday problems such as resizing balloons in a drawing and using metadata in drafts.
But to become as well versed in a software as Cresswell, you need a ton of experience. Fortunately for the Solid Edge community, Cresswell’s been designing with Siemens’ product for more than a decade (1999, version 7), most recently, helping design beautiful public installations for his company, Streetscape.
Cresswell’s Work at Streetscape
New Zealand’s Streetscape is a street furniture and lighting company that specializes in the design and manufacture of products meant for the outdoors. Because of that, Streetscape’s designs have to withstand the punishments of the elements, the wear of human use and, maybe most importantly, the scrutiny of the public.
For the last 11 years, Cresswell has been the design manager at Streetscape, organizing everything from the design to the manufacture of the company’s various public projects. As design manager, he uses Solid Edge every day to validate models and make sure that press-bend and laser-cutting operations—the backbone of Streetscape’s designs—are running smoothly. Take for example the award-winning Lobster loos, the creative public toilets that Streetscape built on Queen’s Wharf in Wellington, New Zealand.
According to Cresswell, “Everything aside from the concrete slabs that make up the loo’s foundation was built by Streetscape.” Although the design of the loos might look simple, that's more a product of Cresswell’s skill as a CAD technician than it is a reflection of how easy this project was to manufacture. Although it’s not obvious at first, each of the lobster’s red scallops had to be bent in multiple directions to lend them the correct curvature.
Translating the architect's design into a manufacturable product wasn’t simple. First, Cresswell and his team had to take a 3D model, render it flat and then figure out how to bend each piece so that they accurately represented the architect’s desires. Doing this once really wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but doing this over 100 times and ensuring that no pieces would interfere with one another was another matter. Nevertheless, armed with good tools and years of experience, Cresswell and Streetscape got the job done.
Lobster loos, one of Cresswell's favorite and most ambitious projects.
Cresswell admits that, although the lobsters were complex to design, once they were installed, they were the most rewarding project that he had ever worked on. It doesn't hurt that they’ve been one of the country’s most popular.
Going Beyond Being a User
At Solid Edge University 2015, Cresswell was honored by Siemens for his dedication to the Solid Edge community. Siemens picked up the cost of the event and accommodations, and Cresswell endured one of the longest flights in order to attend. Many in the audience could not wait to meet the man who had helped them with some of their most taxing Solid Edge challenges and shower him with thanks.
When asked why he has dedicated so much of his time to helping out strangers with their myriad CAD queries, Cresswell responded, “Early on, Siemens started giving kids free educational licenses to learn Solid Edge. I saw that a number of them had questions, and I knew the answer. It was natural for me to step in and help.”
Soon, Cresswell wasn’t just helping students with their CAD questions, he was helping a world of people with complex design challenges. “Look, one of the other reasons that I like to help people is that I see a lot of skills being lost as people retire.” Cresswell continued, “If I can pass on some of these skills and help bridge generations, I’ll be doing something good for manufacturing.”
With typical hard-working humility, Cresswell demurred when asked how he was handling all of this celebrity. “I do this because I like helping people. I enjoy being an educator.”
Beyond being an educator, Cresswell is also an excellent ambassador for Solid Edge and an inspiration to CAD users—regardless of their software stripes.
Siemens has sponsored ENGINEERING.com to write this article. It has provided no editorial input. All opinions are mine. —Kyle Maxey