What: Four-pound, eight-inch, patina-finished bronze statue of twisted chains with alternating holes and bent saddles rounded into a loop.

Who: Designed by Professor Carlo Séquin of electrical engineering and computer sciences, a specialist in computer-aided design (CAD), and fabricated by metalworker Steve Reinmuth in his Eugene, Oregon, studio.

Why: Created as a trophy for winners of the Eurographics Awards, presented last April in Crete, to honor individuals who have significantly advanced the field of computer graphics.

How: Geometric blueprints were developed on Sculpture Generator 1, a CAD program Séquin built. Reinmuth produced the trophy using lost-wax investment casting, from a model created through rapid prototyping, then polished and oxidized the surface for color.

History: In 2003, Séquin and Team USA–Minnesota entered the Snow Sculpture Championship in Breckenridge, Colorado, with the same design. Their 12-foot-tall snow sculpture, titled Whirled White Web, took silver. 

Did you know? Visiting Berkeley Engineering scholar Ivan Sutherland’s 1963 Ph.D. thesis describing his Sketchpad software, which allowed a user to draw on a computer screen, represented the first-ever graphical user interface and established the foundation for the entire CAD industry.

Go to http://www.eg.org/about/awards for more.

By Megan Mansell Williams | Photo courtesy Carlo Séquin