{"id":29728,"date":"2015-12-17T18:43:58","date_gmt":"2015-12-17T23:43:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2015\/12\/17\/student-designed-solar-cars-are-printed-on-the-3d-printer\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T16:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T20:21:08","slug":"student-designed-solar-cars-are-printed-on-the-3d-printer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2015\/12\/17\/student-designed-solar-cars-are-printed-on-the-3d-printer\/","title":{"rendered":"Student-Designed Solar Cars are Printed on the 3D Printer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Northern<\/a>

Northern Essex Community College students Jeffrey Cuesta of Haverhill, CAD certificate, and Andrew Sheehan of Methuen, engineering science, work on the DeLorean they designed and built using NECC\u2019s 3D printer.<\/p><\/div>\n

Elizabeth Lee of Peabody has been a professional artist\u2014and octopus lover\u2014for 20 years, so when she was tasked with designing a solar-powered car for her Computer Aided Drafting II course at Northern Essex Community College, she knew she wanted to pay homage to her favorite animal. The result? An eight-tentacled vehicle that looks as funky as her imagination, and actually runs, too. And thanks to NECC\u2019s 3-D printer, Lee and her classmates have been able to bring their designs to fruition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love decorative creepy crawlies,\u201d Lee says, her hands adorned with an octopus ring and bracelet, as she works in the computer lab and shows off her ambitious car design.\u00a0 \u201cThis is where art and engineering come together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Elizabeth<\/a>

Elizabeth Lee, 45, of Peabody, CAD Certification student, with her octopus-inspired car design<\/p><\/div>\n

At 45-years old, Lee has spent two decades as an artist and graphic designer and already has a Bachelor\u2019s degree in art. Now she hopes to advance her career by earning a Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) certification<\/a> from NECC.<\/p>\n

Despite her work experience, Lee admits that she was a bit intimidated by the world of CAD and engineering. But these days, she says, \u201cI love it, love it, love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole world of engineering is so much less mystifying now and so much more attainable,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m 45. I feel like I\u2019m starting a whole new career path.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019ll have an excellent start on that career path thanks to her instructor, Jim Cahaly, an adjunct faculty member in NECC\u2019s engineering and technology department, and the North American engineering director for a large tech company. Cahaly says he runs the class more like a business, teaching the students the kinds of hands-on skills that they\u2019ll actually use on the job, from CAD, reverse engineering, and circuit design, to demonstrating and presenting their work as though it were a sales pitch to potential clients.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou won\u2019t get training like this at a big university,\u201d Cahaly says, and he should know. He hires new grads and often has to train them on the very things that are par for the course at NECC. Large universities often focus more on theory than practice, and their graduates actually need on-the-job training.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir skills aren\u2019t anything like what these guys are getting,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s where this advantage is really dramatic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Elizabeth<\/a>

Elizabeth Lee, 45, of Peabody, CAD Certification student, with her octopus-inspired car design<\/p><\/div>\n

Cahaly hopes his students move onto four-year programs after NECC, and that\u2019s the plan for mechanical engineering major Mike Komornick, 21, of Atkinson, NH. His thoughts seem to echo those of his classmates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really open to anything at this point,\u201d he says. \u201cAs long as I can solve problems and think creatively.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about the technology and engineering associate degrees and certificates offered at Northern Essex, visit the www.necc.mass.edu\/technology-engineering.<\/a><\/p>\n

With campuses in Haverhill and Lawrence, Northern Essex Community College offers over 70 associate degree and certificate programs as well as hundreds of noncredit courses designed for personal enrichment and career growth. More than 7,400 students are enrolled in credit associate degree and certificate programs on the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses; and another 6,700 take noncredit workforce development and community education classes on campus, and at businesses and community sites across the Merrimack Valley. Northern Essex is the only state college located in the lower Merrimack Valley Region of Massachusetts. For more information, visit the website at www.necc.mass.edu<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Elizabeth Lee of Peabody has been a professional artist\u2014and octopus lover\u2014for 20 years, so when she was tasked with designing a solar-powered car for her Computer Aided Drafting II course […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStudent-Designed Solar Cars are Printed on the 3D Printer - NECC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2015\/12\/17\/student-designed-solar-cars-are-printed-on-the-3d-printer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Student-Designed Solar Cars are Printed on the 3D Printer - NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Elizabeth Lee of Peabody has been a professional artist\u2014and octopus lover\u2014for 20 years, so when she was tasked with designing a solar-powered car for her Computer Aided Drafting II course […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2015\/12\/17\/student-designed-solar-cars-are-printed-on-the-3d-printer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-12-17T23:43:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-18T20:21:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"review\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"review\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2015\/12\/17\/student-designed-solar-cars-are-printed-on-the-3d-printer\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2015\/12\/17\/student-designed-solar-cars-are-printed-on-the-3d-printer\/\",\"name\":\"Student-Designed Solar Cars are Printed on the 3D Printer - NECC News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-17T23:43:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-18T20:21:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/9aa7f809aecda73fcfd75e3ba52a044f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2015\/12\/17\/student-designed-solar-cars-are-printed-on-the-3d-printer\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2015\/12\/17\/student-designed-solar-cars-are-printed-on-the-3d-printer\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2015\/12\/17\/student-designed-solar-cars-are-printed-on-the-3d-printer\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Student-Designed Solar Cars are Printed on the 3D Printer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"name\":\"NECC News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/9aa7f809aecda73fcfd75e3ba52a044f\",\"name\":\"review\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e574a5100d09afa7a07544531b1843473af5135d8e0f78bd847bdc9c9a7d451?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e574a5100d09afa7a07544531b1843473af5135d8e0f78bd847bdc9c9a7d451?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"review\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/review\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Student-Designed Solar Cars are Printed on the 3D Printer - NECC News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2015\/12\/17\/student-designed-solar-cars-are-printed-on-the-3d-printer\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Student-Designed Solar Cars are Printed on the 3D Printer - NECC News","og_description":"Elizabeth Lee of Peabody has been a professional artist\u2014and octopus lover\u2014for 20 years, so when she was tasked with designing a solar-powered car for her Computer Aided Drafting II course […]","og_url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2015\/12\/17\/student-designed-solar-cars-are-printed-on-the-3d-printer\/","og_site_name":"NECC News","article_published_time":"2015-12-17T23:43:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-18T20:21:08+00:00","author":"review","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"review","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2015\/12\/17\/student-designed-solar-cars-are-printed-on-the-3d-printer\/","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2015\/12\/17\/student-designed-solar-cars-are-printed-on-the-3d-printer\/","name":"Student-Designed Solar Cars are Printed on the 3D Printer - NECC News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-12-17T23:43:58+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-18T20:21:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/9aa7f809aecda73fcfd75e3ba52a044f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2015\/12\/17\/student-designed-solar-cars-are-printed-on-the-3d-printer\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2015\/12\/17\/student-designed-solar-cars-are-printed-on-the-3d-printer\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2015\/12\/17\/student-designed-solar-cars-are-printed-on-the-3d-printer\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Student-Designed Solar Cars are Printed on the 3D Printer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/","name":"NECC News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/9aa7f809aecda73fcfd75e3ba52a044f","name":"review","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e574a5100d09afa7a07544531b1843473af5135d8e0f78bd847bdc9c9a7d451?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e574a5100d09afa7a07544531b1843473af5135d8e0f78bd847bdc9c9a7d451?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"review"},"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/review\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29728"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29729,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29728\/revisions\/29729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}