See Tech Go
In less than five years, Tustin-based CTEK has become known for fabricating innovative products that include one-of-a-kind futuristic cars for the entertainment industry, unusually contoured glass panels for the likes of Frank Gehry and artworks for major artists such as Robert Graham and Liz Larner. The company also designs and produces its own projects, among them the new Ford Thunderbird.
“We started in 1997 with five people making automotive clay models. Our idea was to find new solutions through existing technology. Now, with 50 people working here, we’re a pretty diverse group of designers, engineers, technicians and fabricators,” says Eric Adickes, president of CTEK.
CTEK--the name is derived from Creative Technologies--works in a variety of ways. Sometimes the company both designs and fabricates a project, as in the Ford Thunderbird body kit and the new Breez system of contoured safety glass panels for architects; sometimes people come to CTEK with a plan or model and the firm creates it.
The Breez system glass panels, which architects can fit together to create walls, are among CTEK’s most recent designs. The firm started producing them after it created contoured glass for Gehry’s glass draperies in the Conde Nast dining room in New York City.
“It’s unlimited what we can do here,” says Javier Valdivieso, executive vice president. “We’re like a hobby shop in a way. We’re the missing link for a lot of designers because many designs cannot be executed without knowledge of technology. Most of the things we do have never been done before.”
CTEK technicians begin with a clay model, running a 3-D laser scanner over it to transmit the shape into a computer. “Once we have that information, we dump that into a machine that prints the specifications out,” says Valdivieso. With the resulting data, a full-scale cast is molded from rigid foam. The foam is then covered with clay to create a hard surface. For some larger works, the firm uses aerospace metal tooling to strengthen the form. The exterior of the piece can be finished in any number of ways, using bronze, paint or another surface material.
L.A.-based artist Robert Graham created a small-scale model of the statue of Mary for the new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, from which CTEK fabricated the 8-foot-high statue as well as small souvenirs that are exact replicas. The firm also fabricated Graham’s 30-foot-high bronze doors, which will stand at the entrance to the new cathedral, and his design for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt monument now in Washington, D.C. CTEK’s customers range from high-culture to populist: The company often works for Disney Studios using similar techniques, enlarging Disney characters to as much as 40 feet high for theme parks.
In one section of the 24,000-square-foot CTEK facility, work continues on an energy-efficient motorcycle, the “c2c” (coast to coast) project designed by Doug Malewicki, Len Stobar, Bob Schureman and Joe Valencic, all on the faculty at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. This summer, the three-wheeled two-seater--looking like a small, low-flying jet plane--will drive from Long Beach to New York City on 24 gallons of gas at speeds up to 75 miles per hour. CTEK is one of the sponsors of the prototype.
The firm also fabricated two molds of the futuristic cars for Steven Spielberg’s science-fiction movie “Minority Report,” starring Tom Cruise, due in theaters this summer. “They gave us a computer design, and we turned it into a drivable unit,” says Valdivieso. By using the computer, CTEK can make in three months what would take six to eight months with any other technique, Valdivieso says. “And the accuracy is perfect,” he adds.
CTEK is especially proud of its work in laminated safety glass, including the large glass boulders that light up in front of the recently renovated Cinerama Dome theater on Sunset Boulevard, which the firm fabricated for Gensler Architects. It also created curved 14-foot-high glass walls for the new Shell Museum in the Netherlands and curving glass for the handrails of a spiral staircase in a Corona del Mar home.
“Many of these projects are very challenging,” says Valdivieso, “so we have to rethink existing technology, tweaking it and combining it with our craftsmanship to create the designs. Every project is different, but that’s what we all like about working here.”
CTEK is on the Internet at www.ctek-on-line.com. For more information about the c2c project, go to www.c2cproject .com.
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Kathy Bryant may be reached at kbryant@socal.rr.com.
