Team Spotlight: Adel Matar

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Adel Matar is a senior product specialist for solidThinking in Italy. While his roots lie in Lebanon, in his beloved home village of Ain Ebel, Adel combines his dual Lebanese and Italian cultures to bring a unique and intriguing perspective to industrial design. Adel applies creativity to all of his pastimes, whether they involve developing cartoon models, experimenting with the latest technology and interactive video games with his kids, or sampling delicious cuisines. Of all of his dynamic activities and passions, the one constant has been his passion for solidThinking, and creating an inspiring and collaborative user experience for the design community. Learn more about our veteran colleague Adel below.

Q&A with Adel Matar

How long have you been working with solidThinking?

I started working with solidThinking in 1999 and I have to say that from that moment I fell in love with the software. It is why I'm still here to this day, and I'm passionate about continuing with it.

Where do you feel your field/industrial design is headed?

I see industrial design as beginning to have a stronger tie with interior design and furniture design.

What do you feel is one of the biggest challenges in your field?

The biggest challenges include:

• Developing low-cost, yet high-quality products
• Developing products that can be manufactured efficiently
• Last but not least, creating new, unique designs that are realized into aesthetically pleasing products

What is your fondest memory with solidThinking?

My fondest memory with solidThinking is the team itself. We are a good-natured, collaborative team.

In your personal opinion, what do you think is the most game-changing feature or benefit that solidThinking offers its users and why?

The greatest benefit that solidThinking offers is freedom. There are a lot of software applications out there that allow you to create 3D models. But solidThinking allows you to truly express yourself and to focus on creativity instead of having to be a guru or a specialized 3D modeler focusing on modeling techniques. Designers don't have time to lose while modeling, what they need is creativity. Designers want creativity.

Can you share an interesting fact or anecdote about solidThinking users?

I remember a veteran and enthusiastic solidThinking user, entrepreneurial in nature, and who started using the product many years ago, without any training. He was eager and proud to learn and use the software by himself without any outside help. But from time to time he called the technical support team for assistance, and we were pleased to be of service. Over time, I noticed a pattern that some of the obstacles could be easily resolved through a brief training session. I suggested a training session to him a few times but he insisted that he wanted to master the software on his own. I remained persistent in my offer and he eventually accepted. After the course, he was very pleased and expressed that the exercise helped him change his mind about learning to use software completely on his own, but that he can look to collaboration for learning best practices. Not only did he become a more enthusiastic user, but he is now also a friend. He has remained a loyal and valued user through the years, as well as witnessed the improvements and overall evolution of solidThinking to the user-centric product it is today.

Where were you born?

I was born in the village of Ain Ebel in southern Lebanon, but I moved to Beirut with my family when I was very young. Ain Ebel is a small village and a lovely place to spend summer holidays. I still have many friends, relatives and fond memories there, and I enjoy visiting it every two or three years.

Who is the most influential person(s) in your life?

This is really a tricky question. To be honest I have had one or more influential persons in each stage of my life, and if I think about them today they make me smile a lot. I have to say that the most influential person in my life is my father, even if we did not spend a lot of time together. I left Lebanon when I was just 20 years old. He was a responsible, dependable and patient man, and his words were always wise. I think that to a certain degree another influential person in my life is myself, because many times, growing up outside of my home land, I didn't have anyone but myself to depend on.

What was the last book that you read?

The Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson.

What is your favorite electronic or technology gadget?

The Microsoft Kinect for Xbox, for its advanced gesture recognition, facial recognition and voice recognition capabilities. I especially like it because a lot of developers are taking the Kinect technology and making things that go way beyond the initial idea to render 3D environments and to model 3D objects by using the gesture recognition without any gloves or a suit.

From time to time, I also like it because I can play video games with my children without a controller.

What is your favorite place?

Venice. It is a lovely and romantic place, renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks.

What is your pastime or hobby?

Believe it or not, my hobby is 3D modeling and animation. I like to model and animate 3D cartoons, and a few of my 3D cartoon models are created with solidThinking using the sub-D technique.

What is your favorite food?

My favorite food is Lebanese cuisine, not just because I’m Lebanese – well, maybe a little – but because there are so many delicious dishes. I could literally fill up a long page with all of my favorites. I also love Italian cuisine.

From both cultures I like the simplest dishes the best: “kafta bi tahina” with French fries, and pasta al pesto Genovese. Pasta al pesto Genovese was the first dish I tried when I moved to Italy. I was initially very disappointed in the meal and being new to the country, a bit disgusted, but ironically it is now is one of my favorite Italian dishes.

How do you want to be remembered?

To be honest I’ve never thought about how I want to be remembered, but perhaps, I would like to be remembered not for what I did but for my sensitivity, compassion, character—simply an overall good person, someone who genuinely cared for others.

Thank you Adel

Be on the lookout for more on the solidThinking team in future Team Spotlights.