What does the Kool-Aid man, a cat, and Avatar all have in common?

They’re all things that special effects artist and technician Jason Lopes has worked on during his time in Hollywood, and on Friday, January 20, he came to our school to discuss his job.

Throughout the three 45 minute lunch periods that Mr. Lopes presented, he talked about projects like designing Tony Stark’s suit from Iron Man at the beginning of his career to a Pistachios super bowl commercial his company did with Stephen Colbert.

“Mr. Lopes presentation was both entertaining and intriguing, and opened my eyes to the possibilities in engineering careers,” says Maggie Popovich, a sophomore. Through mixing technology like scanning systems and 3D printing, and artistry like sculpting and conceptualizing, he creates incredible products that make films, commercials and television much more exotic.

Senior Tyler Harth says that “The presentation was very insightful and informative on the process of how these elaborate robots, armor suits, and props in films and commercials are created.” Bringing in a professional that uses technologies like CAD (Computer Aided Design) and 3D printers some students are learning in engineering classroom helped to connect the importance and relevance of learning new technologies to students involved in STEM here at school.

Hearing from such an esteemed and accomplished creator doing well-known projects really made an impression on students interested in similar fields, and now everyone who came to the presentation has a little more insight on a career that makes magic come to life.

Senior Kaja Kropidlowska said that attending Mr. Lopes’ presentation “was the most inspiring and useful time leading to my possible future career as an engineer.” Students were awed and inspired seeing the different places a degree in engineering or cad could take them, which ultimately was the goal of the presentation. “We could learn that behind the biggest success stand great passion and hard work.”