Inside OCC w/ APEXX 1 and renderPRO stack, 2016.
Jason Pohl, the industrial designer well known to BOXXers, as well as fans of the long running television series, American Chopper, is taking on a new role as a SOLIDWORKS “Industrial Design Champion.” As such, his design process will be recorded for others to view and learn as he creates custom parts from initial concept sketches to 3D sculpting, programming, and machining of the final product. Pohl’s workflow will demonstrate his unique creativity, as well as the capabilities of SOLIDWORKS.
As a loyal BOXXer, Jason will be running the popular engineering and product design software on a new APEXX A3, the latest BOXX workstation purpose-built for SOLIDWORKS. Featuring the new, heralded 16-core AMD Ryzen™ 5000 processor (4.9GHz). Pohl’s BOXX workstation also includes an NVIDIA RTX 4000 GPU, Samsung 980 Pro SSD, and 64GB of RAM.
Jason Pohl’s APEXX Denali
Processor: 16-core AMD RYZEN 9 5950X Processor (3.40GHz,Turbo 4.90GHz)
System Memory: 64GB DDR4-3200 MHz (4 - 16GB DIMMS)
M.2 Storage: 1.0TB SSD NVMe/PCIe 4.0 M.2 Drive
GPU: NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 8GB
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Professional Edition 64-Bit High End
Software Applications: Microsoft Office 2019 Home and Business Edition (No Media
“The most impressive and powerful workstations come from Texas, and all my designs are brought to life with a BOXX,” says Pohl. “These machines are custom built for my unique workflow. I’m a BOXXer for life.”
Pohl’s devotion to the Austin, Texas-based computer hardware manufacturer has been further cemented by his experiences with legendary BOXX Technical Support, the pros he swears by whenever he needs a little system expertise.
Pohl w/ his first BOXX, 2004.
“I’ve been with BOXX since 2004” he exclaims, “and the tech support is absolutely amazing. You NEVER feel like you’re on your own. When you call, a human answers the phone which is more important to me than ever before since I am now my own IT department.”
So, does the arrival of his third BOXX workstation, the APEXX Denali, mean Pohl is retiring his second BOXX workstation, the venerable, ultra-compact APEXX 1 that he (over the course of many years) shuttled back and forth from his home office to his design studio inside Orange County Choppers (OCC)? Not hardly.
“I’m using my APEXX 1 and renderPRO (dedicated rendering node) as an in-house render farm for my animation business,” he says. “These machines don’t quit. They just want to work.”
In addition to the Denali, BOXX also highly recommends its APEXX S3 as a purpose-built SOLIDWORKS workstation.
Beyond bikes: knife design
As with BOXX, Pohl has a long and storied history with SOLIDWORKS, including the custom motorcycle he designed and created for the company. That bike now resides inside Dassault Systemes’ North American headquarters in Waltham, MA. From the very beginning, Pohl chose SOLIDWORKS as his go to design application because it combines engineering data and nuts and bolts manufacturing techniques with chopper design artistry.
Speaking of techniques, SOLIDWORKS recently added cloud-based 3D Sculptor to its ever-expanding 3DEXPERIENCE WORKS portfolio, enabling designers to quickly create complex, organically shaped 3D models. In fact, 3D Sculptor includes a variety of functions that empower users to quickly create highly stylized 3D geometry by pushing, pulling, or sculpting it to a desired shape.
Industrial design champ at work
As a SOLIDWORKS Industrial Design Champion, Pohl views his role as much more than that of a celebrity spokesman or product endorser. His goal is to inspire the next generation of designers by demonstrating the power of the 3D Experience Works Portfolio. From educational seminars to user group meetings, he’ll share his vast design and manufacturing knowledge on video, as well as through live, in-person demonstrations. As a result, his viewing audience will not only learn about SOLIDWORKS and his design process, they’ll also benefit from the full range of his experience—including 3D printers, CNC machine manufacturers, hardware companies, and tooling partners.
“I’m excited to share my experiences with other designers and inventors,” says Pohl. “With a healthy imagination and the proper tools, I really do believe people can create just about anything.”
In addition to the Denali, BOXX also highly recommends its APEXX S3 as a purpose-built SOLIDWORKS workstation. Learn more by visiting BOXX SOLIDWORKS Solutions or contact a SOLIDWORKS performance specialist as 877.877.BOXX.
About Jason Pohl
Standing at the crossroads of design and technology, American designer Jason Pohl earned a BFA at the Illinois Institute of Art. As an artist/animator at Incredible Technologies, he worked on various video games. As lead designer since 2004 at Orange County Choppers, he’s provided state-of-the-art designs for Fortune 500 companies and individuals from all over the world. Pohl, a father of three and longtime resident of New York’s Hudson River Valley says his favorite project is always “the next one.” www.JasonPohl.com