John Goodson John Phillip Goodson ( born ) is a studio model maker and digital modeling artist for Industrial Light & Magic ( ILM ) who worked on three prime universe and two alternate universe . He was first a model maker on and then became the model supervisor for and . As ILM ' s model project supervisor on " First Contact " , Goodson supervised the creation of the ten - foot physical model of the that was used in conjunction with a CGI version . Goodson was interviewed for the special feature " Industrial Light & Magic : The Next Generation " on the DVD of " First Contact " . In 2009 , Goodson became one – having switched around 2004 from making models the traditional way , to constructing them digitally – of the relatively few ILM veterans , still employed at the company at that time , to work on the re - imagined alternate universe " Star Trek " movie franchise , when he worked firstly on the digital models and simulations for the 2009 movie , and subsequently on the 2013 movie as digital artist . His work on the latter earned him a VES Award nomination , his first for " Star Trek " . In November 2014 Goodson became again reacquainted with the " Star Trek " franchise when he was invited to become a part as consultant of a team of experts – including a host of former " Star Trek " alumni – to oversee a new restoration of the original eleven - foot " Enterprise " studio model , residing at the Smithsonian ' s ( NASM ) , for its 50th anniversary . Having accepted the prestigious assignment , Goodson was flown in in May 2015 for the team ' s first meeting on 13 May . Career outside " Star Trek " . After graduating in 1988 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts , Product Design from the North Carolina State School of Design , John Goodson landed his first job at ILM as model maker the same year , and has , essentially , never left . His first film project with ILM was " Ghostbusters II " in 1989 , followed by " Back to the Future Part II " that same year . His subsequent film credits include " Die Hard 2 " ( 1990 ) , " Batman Returns " ( 1992 ) , " Mission : Impossible " ( 1996 ) , " Starship Troopers " ( 1997 ) , " X - Men " ( 2000 ) , the 2001 remake of " Planet of the Apes " , " Terminator 3 : Rise of the Machines " ( 2003 ) , and " Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man ' s Chest " ( 2006 ) . He was also a concept designer on 1999 ' s " Star Trek " parody " Galaxy Quest " and did uncredited work for films like " Pearl Harbor " ( 2001 ) and " Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets " ( 2003 ) . In addition , Goodson did model work for all three of ' highly - successful " Star Wars " prequels . For the first two – " Episode I : The Phantom Menace " ( 1999 ) and " Episode II : Attack of the Clones " ( 2002 ) – he was credited as a concept model maker ; for the last , " Episode III : Revenge of the Sith " , he was a digital artist . In 2007 , Goodson made his one and only ( short ) foray outside ILM , to work as a concept modelmaker / digital artist at ImageMovers Digital , but returned to ILM within a year in May 2008 . Since then he worked on the more recent projects , besides " Star Trek " , " Iron Man 2 " ( 2010 , for which he received his first award nomination , the VES Award in the category " Outstanding Models in a Feature Motion Picture " , though , ironically . he had not received an official credit ) , " Hugo " ( 2011 , on loan to Matte World , as he was responsible for supervising the digital matte paintings used in that feature ) , " Mission : Impossible - Ghost Protocol " ( 2011 , earning him his second VES Award nomination in the same category , again ironically uncredited ) , " Red Tails " , " Battleship " ( both 2012 ) , and " Transformers : Age of Extinction " ( 2014 , earning him his fourth VES Award nomination , yet again not won ) . VES Award . John Goodson has received the following he Visual Effects Society Award nomination for his work on " Star Trek " in the category Outstanding Models in a Feature Motion Picture ,