Students Combine Style With Affordability in 'My First Car' Concept
16 September 1998
Students Combine Style With Affordability in 'My First Car' Concept Designs; Center for Creative Studies Transportation Design Students Participate In 10th Annual Steel Industry Summer Intern Program DETROIT, Sept. 16 -- The assignment: create a concept
proposal for a vehicle that appeals to youthful first-time car buyers and
costs less than $16,000. The outcome: three eye-catching vehicle designs
that combine steel-intensive architecture with sleek design features.
The students' success is evident in their exciting designs, which include
a compact coupe, a hatchback and a sport utility vehicle (SUV).
The three interns, students at the Center for Creative Studies (CCS)
transportation design program, leveraged steel's high strength and low cost to
meet the project specifications. The design exercise was the centerpiece of
the 10th annual summer internship program, sponsored by American Iron and
Steel Institute (AISI).
"This project was challenging because it offered students the opportunity
to be creative while working under real-world cost and marketing constraints,"
said Carl Olsen, chairman, transportation design program at CCS.
The students, Damon Depeyster, of Shelby Township, Mich., Brian Dunty, of
Punta Gorda, Fla., and Sean Ehlert, of Brownsville, Texas, unveiled their
vehicles to professional automotive designers, members of the media and steel
industry representatives today.
The Luna
To emphasize a lunar theme throughout his vehicle design, Damon Depeyster
incorporated distinct feature lines resembling a crescent moon into the front
and rear hoods. "I used parabolic architecture in designing this vehicle," he
said.
Depeyster chose to design his vehicle using a Saturn coupe platform, a
popular-selling vehicle among first-time buyers. "Texture gives the vehicle's
skin strength, as well as personality," he explained. "Because I consider
personality to be a major purchase consideration among first-time buyers, I
wanted the Luna to reflect this. So I incorporated different textures on the
vehicle body to give strength, save weight and augment its individual style."
The Photon
Brian Dunty's goal for his concept car design was to provide young buyers
with an efficient, high-performance vehicle. "Hot-rods and hot-hatches were
my inspiration," he said. "I took the best features of both vehicles and
created a solid, practical design theme."
Dunty designed his hatchback with lots of cargo space. The European-style
rear doors are hinged sideways, allowing for easy in-and-out access of the
vehicle. The large front doors are augmented by two rear-hinged doors that
can only be accessed once the front doors have been opened.
The Halo
Sean Ehlert researched the market to see which sport-utility vehicles
(SUVs) were interesting and appealing to first-time buyers. "I wanted to
design an SUV that catered to individuals with active lifestyles," he said.
"I also wanted the design to have a strong identity."
The Halo uses variations in color to give it what Ehlert terms "a
memorable look." The two-door SUV is designed to carry four passengers
comfortably, along with things such as golf clubs and camping gear.
After attending a briefing early in the semester to learn the project
specifications, students attended a briefing to learn more about the steel
industry's UltraLight Steel Auto Body (ULSAB). ULSAB is the steel industry's
showcase of lightweight, low cost, high performance technologies. The
students also received advice in brand image from General Motors Corporation
marketing staff.
"This year's internship program is valuable for the students because it
provides them with an opportunity to see how material and cost can impact a
vehicle's design," said Darryl Martin, director, Automotive Applications,
AISI.
The Center for Creative Studies provides an internationally prominent
environment for educating artists, designers, musicians and dancers. The CCS-
College of Art and Design is one of the nation's leading private, degree-
granting visual arts schools with programs in crafts, fine arts, graphic
communication, industrial design, animation and digital media, interior design
and photography. Pre-college and community education in music and dance is
offered through the CCS-Institute of Music and Dance.
American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) is a non-profit association of
North American companies engaged in the iron and steel industry. The
Institute comprises 48 member companies, including integrated and electric
furnace steelmakers, and 173 associate and affiliate members who are suppliers
to or customers of the steel industry. For more news about steel and its
applications, view American Iron and Steel Institute's website at
http://www.steel.org.
The Automotive Applications Committee (AAC) is a subcommittee of the
Market Development Committee of AISI and focuses on advancing the use of steel
in the highly competitive automotive market. With offices and staff located
in Detroit, cooperation between the automobile and steel industries has been
significant to its success. This industry cooperation resulted in the
formation of the Auto/Steel Partnership, a consortium of Chrysler, Ford and
General Motors and the member companies of the AAC.
This release and other steel-related information are available for viewing
and downloading at American Iron and Steel Institute/Automotive Applications
Committee's website at http://www.autosteel.org.
