IFAI Expo 2010 was held in Orlando, Florida on October 27-29, 2010. MPanel was represented by MPanel Support Team members Timothy Akes, Alan Stewart, Andrew Askwith, and Barbara Derrick.
The IFAI Expo 2010 Shade Sail Workshop
MPanel software was recently invited to assist with a workshop to design, produce and install a shade sail structure, hosted by Polyfab USA LLC. The focus of the workshop, a bright blue shade sail, was installed onto the Orange County Convention Center the day prior to the opening of the IFAI Expo 2010.
The shade sail was designed by Timothy Akes of CAD Effects (our US and the Americas representative, St. Louis, MO), using MPanel software, with assistance from MPanel's home office in Wales, UK.The structural engineering was handled by Gary D Foreman PE SE AIA PA of Ft. Myers, FL. using MPanel FEA (Finite Element Analysis).
MPanel Support Team meet customers at the IFAI Expo
Andrew Askwith and Dirk Cos of Lightweight Manufacturing.
Tim and Andrew talk boat covers with Mike Erickson and his team from Canvas Designers
Tim and Erik Jarvie of EIDE Industries.
Alan and Tim explaining how MPanel works.
Tim show MPanel features to Othon Juarez of AT Architectural Textil and Bruce Hutchinson of Eclipse Canvas.
Waiting for the show floor to open.
Tim discusses MPanel with prospective customers from KPLAR.
Thanks to OCCC, permits and permission from Orange County were handled quickly. Jeremy Olson of Pioneer Awnings in Orlando, FL agreed to make and install the shade, and did a great job in a very short period of time.Polyfab USA donated the fabric, stainless steel shade sail hardware and shade sail edge webbing.W.L. Gore donated the color-matched Tenara thread.
The shade sail was installed the day before the workshop, so that workshop attendees could inspect the job, and the Expo attendees could see some ofcapabilities of all of the products involved.
In the end, everyone learned a lot about the tools, processes and even the pitfalls that are associated with developing and installing shade sail structures. In return the OCCC got a shaded outdoor area and a flash of color that can be seen from many locations around town. All in all, it was a quite a team project that turned out great!
