By: Veronica Lynagh, VP of Strategic Initiatives, International Center for Creativity

Senior Nick Mahek didn’t know that he loved design, or that he wanted to be an industrial designer for that matter; but he leaned into his interests, sought God’s plan, and found himself at home amongst creative like-minded classmates at the ICC.

Coming from a family full of medical professionals, Nick sat down with his parents during his junior year of high school unsure of whether he wanted to pursue college, the military or something else. Nick felt like his interests were different than that of his families. He loved art and working with his hands, on top of that he shared he had always been a “shoe guy”. Being a shoe girl myself, I could relate, but Nick’s passion for the industry was evident; he said he is always sketching shoes, collecting shoes, following the latest footwear trends and his interest is evident when you get a glimpse of his studio space at the ICC.

Nick was familiar with Cedarville from his sister, a nursing student and soccer player. Upon visiting regularly for soccer games and making friends with other classmen Nick felt comfortable with the area and sought the advice of a Cedarville advisor who introduced him to industrial design. Interest piqued, Nick scheduled a tour at the old ICC building, deep set in the wood of Powell, Ohio.

“I walked in with Jim (Co-founder and President) and saw all the students working, models were everywhere, project pictures decorated the walls, it was a creative world I never really had experienced before and it got me excited; when I visited it in person that’s when I knew what I wanted to do…being able to see the ICC in full swing, that opened my eyes to industrial design.”

Coming to the ICC Junior year, Nick said he felt very welcomed and acclimated to the ICC quickly, which was helpful because, not knowing many of his ICC classmates, he felt a little like a freshman all over again. That quickly changed in being in a close-knit class of peers that spend round the clock time together, he describes his class like a “family” today.

Nick, like all other entering juniors, was submerged in sketching and new techniques he had not yet mastered with lots of practice and repetition eventually moving into Solidworks, CAD programs and rendering software. Rendering software helps a designer turn a paper sketch into an online 3D Model and render it out to make it look like a real product. “That whole process of sketch to rendering fascinated me” says Mahek.

Eventually Mahek dove deeply into architecture, product development, space, color, materials and finally his senior capstone project which takes up the bulk of his time today. Nick, along with his fellow senior classmates, will spend from Christmas Break to graduation working on their senior capstone projects. Initially, seniors pitch an idea or passion project to the administration around what they want to research, define, design, iterate and present on, if approved they work independently under the facilitation of their professors Gabe Pyle and Carlos Chang for the duration of the spring.

“Everyone is in the heat of it now and seeing everyone work on their own stuff and their own creativity coming to life is great; the ICC has prepared us as much as they can now it’s time of us to define what section of ID do we want to move into; me being a shoe guy my whole life it was an easy decision for me” said Mahek.

Upon speaking to an older gentleman in a medical boot, Nick found his capstone idea; to redesign the medical boot with a slimmer form, improved ventilation, and incorporating ecofriendly materials and technology to ensure the height of the boot off the ground matches that of the other shoe. Consumer insights and research led him to better define his problem, and he is teaching himself how to use a Virtual Reality Oculus headset with Gravity Sketch software to facilitate 3D product renderings.

“Through the software you can move yourself around the 3D object and finish it up, export it onto your computer and start rendering your object – or on the flip translate a 2D sketch, move it into gravity sketch and see it come to life.”

When asked what advice he might give to students that are either undeclared or coming from Cedarville’s main campus to the ICC campus he said, “Find something you are passionate about and chase after it with every bit of energy you have, and when you doubt yourself (as he admittedly did) give it to God, be confident in yourself and see where you end up.”

While he knows the journey will likely include a few steps, Nick is excited about a journey into the shoe industry in product design and being involved there from the ground floor daily.

To get in contact with Nick Mahek or to learn more about his capstone project as it develops he can be reached at: nickmahek@gmail.com.