Just a question about this, but I know that in AutoCAD, creating this sort of thing is a piece of cake (in either Solid, Polygon Mesh, NURBS, or Surface).
As someone else mentioned, a simple "extrude" would work.
Or, in AutoCAD, there is the "PressPull" command, which would allow the creation of a smooth solid (which can then be converted to Surface, NURBS, or Mesh).
And there is also the "Loft" command, which works similar to the "extrude" but it gives you a path along which to loft, and a starting and ending state.
And, the really nice thing about AutoCAD is that the surface topology generally stays really clean.
Then, it's just a matter of exporting the object to Maya (this is how I've got most of the objects I have been practicing with in Maya, in Maya to begin with).
Making human faces/bodies is a little more complex in AutoCAD, but it isn't impossible either