Seasoned Star Trek design expert Doug Drexler has joined the Series V staff.

Drexler, who has previously worked on The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and done visual effects work on Voyager, will be a junior illustrator for series V, according to StarTrek.com. He will be working alongside Michael Okuda, Herman Zimmerman and John Eaves as part of the team responsible for creating the look of the new series.

Most recently, Drexler's work was seen on our screens in Voyager's 'Unimatrix Zero,' where he was responsible for the design of the intimidating Borg Tactical Cube while working at visual effects company Foundation Imaging. He was also involved with Star Trek as part of the Scenic Art Department on Deep Space Nine. Prior to this, Drexler was known primarily as a makeup artist. Trek fans will remember his work on The Next Generation episode 'The Inner Light' in which Drexler performed the task of aging Captain Picard.

The artist has worked on several high profile projects outside the world of Star Trek. He was awarded an Oscar in 1990 for his work on the Special Character Makeup in the film 'Dick Tracy.' In that film he turned Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacinto into the characters 'Big Boy Caprice' and 'Mumbles.' Drexler has also worked as a makeup artist on the films 'FX,' 'Poltergeist III' and 'Three Men and a Little Lady.' He is responsible for visual effects work on the TV series 'Starship Troopers' and 'Max Steel,' and worked as a designer on the Star Trek films 'Generations,' 'First Contact' and 'Insurrection.'

Outside film and television work, Drexler has several other contributions to the Star Trek universe. He worked with Michael and Denise Okuda to illustrate 'The Star Trek Encyclopedia' which describes itself as 'The ultimate reference book for all Star Trek fans!' He illustrated and co-authored the 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual and the 'Star Trek Sticker Book.'

Drexler will be working alongside Michael Okuda, Herman Zimmerman and John Eaves as part of the team responsible for creating the look of the new series. The original report on the Official site indicates that the production and start date for Series V will be announced "in the next few weeks." This would suggest that a deal with UPN is finally nearing completion, as that was the major factor preventing the producers from making any announcements. Now that the future of UPN itself has been secured, and the network has in fact even been able to acquire 'Buffy, The Vampire Slayer,' it is now probably also in a position to finalise its bid for Series V. The original report on Drexler's apointment can be found here on the Official Star Trek Site.

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