The “autOnation” plastic sculpture, fabricated by Ferris State University’s Plastics
Engineering students in the Fall 2022 semester, awaits a home with a leading automobile
manufacturer or component provider.
An intricate plastic sculpture, “autOnation,” fabricated by Ferris State University’s Plastics Engineering students in the Fall 2022 semester, awaits a home with a leading automobile manufacturer or component provider.
Emeriti professor of Fine Arts Robert Barnum supported the Aesthetic Engineering for Polymer students of Larry Langell, an associate professor in Plastics and Rubber Engineering Technology, in producing this four-foot-tall work. The students fashioned the sculpture from a drawing concept created by Barnum, a rare production for plastics engineering because of the prominence of organic shapes and edges.
“This is the fourth project in the Plastics and Rubber Engineering Technology/Aesthetic Engineering collaborative,” Barnum said. “We have placed three light-emitting diodes in the base to accentuate the entire creation, and before it is presented for installation, we expect to add more.”
Langell said the seven students in the Plastics and Rubber Engineering Technology 290 course were exposed to issues during autOnation’s production that will serve them as professionals.
“It is painstaking to create the statue elements in acrylic plastic, a real trial, error and learning process,” Langell said. “The fittings of the various elements must be perfect, so we were learning as a team throughout our work on this creation.”
Langell said a CNC router acquired by the College of Engineering Technology in 2014 was essential to creating this statue. He credited former College of Engineering Technology Dean J.K. Yates’ work for placing that technology on campus, benefiting current students.
“A technical development occurred during the semester, which took the router out of service for a week during our production schedule,” Langell said. “Our students learned to work through that unexpected development and meet their project timeline.”
Alex Chappell, of Whitehall, is in his last semester for a Bachelor of Science in Plastics Engineering Technology. He described working on autOnation as “a great learning process.”
“It was cool to take something from a drawing on paper and see it come to life,” Chappell said. “This is not the molded production we have in laboratory sessions. It was a great experience to complete renditions of statue elements to see what worked and what did not.”
Langell and Barnum said they would welcome industry partnerships to support the financial aspects of these projects. In addition, both instructors look forward to promoting Ferris’ Plastics Engineering Technology program by offering autOnation for an installation.
“We have program alumni who can donate more than adequate supplies of plastic in pellet form, but a four-by-eight-foot sheet of acrylic plastic in the thickness can be up to a $1,000 expense,” Langell said. “We hope to grow this idea to where corporate support allows for more of these artistic designs.”
“We hope to put autOnation in the lobby of a ‘Big Three’ automaker’s headquarters or place it with a leading parts manufacturer,” Barnum said. “That would be a wonderful testament to the level of excellence in the Ferris Plastics Engineering Technology program.”