Arrington, Tennessee – The New Approach School for Jewellers is enhancing its CAD training with MatrixGold.
The CAD Academy at the Arrington, Tennessee, jewellery school offers courses in programs such as ZBrush, Rhino 3D and Keyshot to turn students into versatile “cadsmiths” who can design and model jewellery.
Now the school has announced a partnership with Stuller-owned Gemvision, creators of MatrixGold software.
Students at NASJ will be able to take one- and two-week intensive courses in MatrixGold to master 3D modelling in the software. MatrixGold is also integrated into the school’s eight-week Dynamic CAD programme, which covers a variety of software.
Commenting on the new MatrixGold curriculum, NASJ Founder and President Blaine Lewis said, “This partnership brings together two sides of the spectrum. On the one hand, you have industry giant Stuller, where users can get everything from cast grain to tooling to finished fixtures.
“On the other hand, you have the most respected trade school in the industry [that] trains jewellers to be the best bench jewellers.”Lewis founded NASJ to provide hands-on instruction in jewellery design, fabrication, bench jewellery skills, repair skills and stone setting.
The school was founded in Virginia, but is now located about twenty miles outside of Nashville.
NASJ specialises in visual teaching methods such as high magnification videos of live demonstrations and interactive learning.
Christopher Mendola, a 3D artist and art director who has created thousands of 3D models, illustrations and animations for books, videos, magazines and commercials, is the director of the CAD Academy.
