Case Study

Bastech Inc. is proud to have been selected to build the first annual Paul Laurence Dunbar Award.  In an effort to bring attention to "Dayton's literary son", an evening full of events honoring Paul Laurence Dunbar was planned.  The evening included a concert by the Dayton based chamber ensemble "Top Brass".  Top Brass performed new music based on the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar.  Bastech was selected to create the award to signify the perfect blend of high technology with traditional culture.

The Award
The Dunbar Award was created to honor on a yearly basis an American man or woman of Arts and Letters who has overcome adversity to achieve prominence in his or her field.The Award was designed by Dayton artist Willis "Bing" Davis, and was created by the Bastech Corporation, under the direction of Ben Staub, President of Bastech. Using reverse engineering and its Rapid Prototyping technologies, Bastech created the award of personal artifacts used by Dunbar during his career. His lamp, typewriter, Bible, and first editions of his works were digitally imaged and produced to scale for the award. This award will be reproduced each year and given to a chosen recipient. 

The Award Recipient
This years award recipient was David N. Baker.

Details of the Award
Bastech elected to build the award using it's Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) technology.  The material of choice was LaserForm ST-100, a powdered metal consisting of 420 stainless steel and bronze.  The award consists of original artifacts from Paul Laurence Dunbar, arranged by artist Willis "Bing" Davis.  The artifacts are built approximately 1/3 scale and mounted on a solid cherry base created by "Crossroads Cabinets" of Dayton.  The LaserForm ST-100 material proved to be an excellent creation method, combining the perfect combination of strength, detail and aesthetics.