By Nate Schmidt

From Eleanor: This is the second entry in our series highlighting design inspiration and know-how from the Shapeways Crew community members. Nate Schmidt is a signal engineer living in Jacksonville, Florida who uses 3D design and printing as a form of expression and sells his creations on Shapeways as LHDesign.

I was driven by a personal tragedy to learn 3D design. I have always been attracted to the feeling you get when creating something, whether it be through wood working, gardening, or cooking. I work as an engineer, and have never really considered myself artistic or really even creative. I now find that designing has a therapeutic effect on me.  I find it’s relaxing to lose myself in a design and, for a time, shed off some of the stress and worries of daily life.   

My foray into design began when my daughter, Lucy, was born with a rare and very serious congenital heart defect.  We were extremely lucky and discovered it early. When she was a week old she underwent open heart surgery to correct the defect.  For the next few weeks I sat by her bed in the hospital obsessing over one little organ, that was so vital and yet so delicate. 
It wasn’t long after bringing my daughter home from the hospital that I can across a news article about 3D printing and all of the amazing possibilities the technology had for changing the future. I was astonished to learn that all I had to do was learn how to design in 3D and I could make anything I ever wanted. I made it a goal to make a unique piece of jewelry as a reminder of my family’s struggles and, ultimately, our victory. 

Learning a software package was the next step in my journey. Right away I chose Blender. I was so impressed with all it could do, the community that supports it, and, of course, the price (it’s free).  I soon discovered that learning how to design was a bit more of a challenge then I had expected. I’m sure any of the Blender users out there will understand where I’m coming from.  I was so frustrated for the first week or two, that I almost quite right then and there. I was like a child who was ready to run, but still hadn’t learned to crawl yet. I had this great idea in my head, and all I had to do was get the stupid software to realize it! I stuck with it and while I love Blender now, but we had a rough start and the learning curve is very steep.

I gradually worked up enough skills to make the Anatomical heart pendant that I had set out to create when I decided to learn 3D design. I opened a shop on Shapeways and it’s great to know that others are wearing this symbol that I created to honor my daughter’s strength. It is my intention that it may provide comfort to someone else whom is affected by heart defects or heart disease and serve as a symbol of hope.