2005 President's QSA Winner: Scott Lincoln

The students in UC’s College of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning (DAAP) are famous for their creativity. Because of his ability to bring their creative visions to life, Scott Lincoln has emerged as one of the students’ favorite figures within the DAAP community, and now, a 2005 winner of the President’s Quality Service Award.

Lincoln is the manager of DAAP’s Rapid Prototyping Center, a facility where plans created by DAAP students through computer-aided design are turned into parts and prototype models.

It’s a busy place during most of the academic year, but literally can run non-stop in the final two weeks of a quarter as students rush their projects to completion. The center is open 24 hours a day at that point, with Lincoln having logged as many as 96 hours on campus during one such week.

Three times, DAAP students have organized "Thank You" parties in Lincoln’s honor to express their appreciation.

"Scott Lincoln is by far one of the most dedicated, helpful people I have ever met," says Barbara Brattain, a fifth-year student in Industrial Design. "There are few people in the country with his knowledge in rapid prototyping."

"Scott is a most dedicated and highly valued staff member," adds DAAP Dean Judith Koroscik. "His expertise and dedication stand out above others, and that’s saying a lot because we have so many extraordinary staff members in DAAP."

Lincoln has outstanding skills in prototyping, developed through 12 years of model-making at Hasbro, three years at Formica’s International Design Center and 18 years of experience in fine woodworking.

He began in the Rapid Prototyping Center by volunteering for six months before becoming the manager two years ago. Since then, the number of projects completed each quarter has more than doubled, with 98 percent of the projects completed on time.

Gerry Michaud, associate professor of design, praises Lincoln for both his expertise with machinery, techniques and software and his ability to deal with students of all levels. "Scott exemplifies the UC|21 policy of putting students first!" says Michaud.

The center produces intricate and complex projects for students, including full-car models, gears, wheels, 4-axis parts and 5-axis parts.

His expertise this summer once again showed why DAAP is the nation’s top design school, relates Professor of Design Henry Hildebrandt. "He assisted my third- and fourth-year architecture and interior design students this summer and again in the winter quarter to produce some of the most beautiful models and complex shapes for architectural and interior design modeling solutions that I have ever witnessed," Hildebrandt says.

"He in fact helped the summer studio class produce work that was displayed and presented to this year’s National Interior Design Educators Council’s Conference in Savannah. This was the first time models generated from rapid prototyping technology were presented to interior design educators at this forum, and set UC’s Interior Design program far above other programs, including Kansas State, which is ranked as the No. 2 program behind UC’s No. 1 ranking in interior design."

The ultimate word on Lincoln’s drive for service probably ought to come from him, via the mission statement he wrote for the Rapid Prototyping Center.

"The best result achievable by all the technology and practice in our Rapid Prototyping Lab is a graduating student who has absolute confidence in his or her ability to design products that can and will be made," Lincoln wrote. "I wish to dedicate my professional life to making this result attainable to every student who uses this lab."