Puzzle Creator Wins Dimension 3D Contest

By Sara Ferris

George Miller, owner of the Puzzle Palace in Sonoma, California, won the inaugural Dimension MV3dP Customer Awards contest sponsored by the Dimension 3D Printing Group, a business unit of Stratasys.

MV3dP is designed to showcase and reward customer narratives that best communicate the value of Dimension 3D printers. Entries are scored based on the value and benefit that the Dimension 3D printer delivers as well as creativity and unique qualities of the story.

Miller, a 3D puzzle modeler and designer, detailed how he discovered 3D printing and how his Dimension 3D printer (or as he calls it, "The Santa Claus Machine") has changed the way he does business.  Miller cited the Dimension 3D printing system's speed and ability to model complex designs as major advantages.

Judging the MV3dP contest was a panel of magazine editors: Joe Ogando of Design News, Tony Lockwood of Desktop Engineering, and Jeff Reinke of Product Design and Development.

For his essay, Miller won a one-year supply of ABS material and a 32-inch flat screen television. Click here  to view a video based on his winning story.

"Congratulations to George Miller for submitting a first-rate winning story," said Jon Cobb, vice-president and general manager of Dimension 3D Printing for Stratasys. "Over the years, we've heard customers worldwide singing the praises of their Dimension 3D printers.MV3dP is designed to encourage customers to tell more of these stories and our first contest did not disappoint. We had some wonderfully entertaining and interesting entries."

The object of this Puzzle Palace puzzle, called Free Willy, is to free the porpoise from the net. It requires 17 moves to turn Willy around so he can escape the net. The net, in the shape of a dodecagon, was made from nylon using SLS (selective laser sintering), Willy was laser cut from transparent blue acrylic.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company's website.