Tom Carbone

Education

I received my BFA Crafts from The College for Creative Studies in 2002 while employed full time at Chrysler Corp.

While at CCS I studied ALL Crafts; Ceramics, Wood, Metal, Jewelry, Glass, etc.

Teaching

I began in 2016 at my Alma mater teaching shoe making and leather working.

I have created for these classes extensive documentation and taught 101, 102, 203, 303, 403, and 409 in the Fashion Accessories Design department under Department Chair Aki Choklat.

I teach Shoe making, patterning, general leather working.

Machines I have expertise on at CCS include all industrial sewing machines, including the Blake stitcher, and Landis12 L, Pfaff high post wheel feed, Juki cylinder arm, ATOM Flashcut (CAM cutting machine,) Camoga leather splitter, classic leather skiving machines, heat press, shoe finishers,laser printer and more.

Study Abroad

In 2018 and 2022 I lead teams of students on Study Abroad trips to Europe.

Technical Expertise / BIO

With over 40 years of Automotive Engineering and personal making experience I have learned at least 6 different CAD systems. Along with a multitude of machine dedicated software for CAM.

The current CAD systems I use regularly and often together are CATIA and Rhino. For shoe patterning I use Shoemaster and Jevero.

The CAM systems I use at the moment are Atom Flashcut, Glowforge (Laser,) Fusion 360, and Mach 3.

CATIA and RHINO

CATIA’s strong point and what makes it so difficult to use is its history-based method. Creating a model that is entirely parametric AND will not crash when changes are made takes years of experience. Once you have worked this way it is difficult to go back to conventional modeling.

Rhino’s history is very limited and breaks with future changes easily. This is one reason I often work them together. Another reason is that they each were intended for different users and so they each do the same things just differently.

Like with anything it’s about knowing which method or software is most likely to give the desired result. 

Shoemaster & Jevero

I work primarily in the prototype, bespoke, sample, and educational area of shoe making.

Shoemaster is an older software that has some amazing capabilities especially going back and forth from 3D design to 2D pattern.

Jevero is a very modern software and is currently 2D only.I’ll be teaching it to Grad students in the near future. Jevero is designed for and used in industry. Jevero is a RHINO plug-in. That is really advantageous because RHINO is so universal.

Advanced Vehicle Engineering (AVE)

I retired from Chrysler in 2014 after 28 years in Advanced Vehicle Engineering and over 35 years in the auto industry that included GM, American Motors, Chrysler (Daimler-Chrysler,Cerberus, Fiat-Chrysler)

It’s difficult to sum up over 30 years in AVE. I was trained in the exclusive area of manual drafting referred to as “Body Drafting.” These were full scale drafts of the vehicle body with multiple parts on top of each other. Ultimately the draft was what was used Exactly to make the body parts, so accuracy was critical. CAD was introduced to the drafting rooms in the early 80’s and so over the next 10 years we migrated completely away from board drafting.

In AVE we did everything to set up any proposed next vehicles. Over the years I worked on every single physical component of the entire vehicle from bumper to bumper, from the roof to the ground, from doors to windows. Exterior, interior,vehicle layout, human factors, ergonomics, occupant packaging, product planning, patents, test property design, product evaluation, design analysis,competitive analysis, structural analysis

I worked on the iterative process of structural analysis to help develop the level of safety and performance that is assumed in every car. We set up each area of the vehicle, (referred to as Vehicle Packaging) the engine compartment, the interior, seating, dashboard, door systems, etc.

I think my favorite thing of all was Human Factors. An area of expertise invented at UoM after the war. I learned from a second-generation master who learned from the guys that invented it. Human Factors is the science of how humans interact with machines. With this science the entire automotive industry around the world adopted most of these practices. These concepts, guidelines, and understandings make it possible for any driver large or small to see, touch, reach for, fit in, get in and out of, and see out of the vehicle! It was truly inspiring to work with the teams of people trying to make the best product we could.