Top L.A. Auto Design School Goes Head-to-Head with Detroit in Automotive Aluminum Competition

           Industry Leaders Award Student Winners and Showcase
                    Model Designs on Tuesday, March 23

WHAT: Students from two of the nation's premier auto design schools -- California's Pasadena Art Center College of Design and Detroit's College for Creative Studies (CCS) -- recently competed in the first-ever Automotive Aluminum Design Challenge. An all-star panel of highly respected industry experts will unveil the winners at a reception and press event at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) in Detroit, MI.

  WHO:  Sponsor:  The Aluminum Association, Inc.

        Competitors:  Pasadena Art Center of Design
                      Detroit's College for Creative Studies

        Judges:  Anne Anensio, Executive Director of Design, Advanced Design
                  General Motors Design Center
                 Robert Boniface, Chief Designer, Advanced Product Design,
                  DaimlerChrysler
                 J Mays, Vice President Design, Ford Motor Company
                 Csaba Csere, Editor-in-Chief, Car and Driver
                 Paul Eisenstein, Publisher, CarConnection.com
                 Dutch Mandel, Associate Publisher, AutoWeek

  WHERE:  Rivera Court, Detroit Institute of Art (DIA), Detroit, MI

  WHEN:  Tuesday, March 23, 2004
         5 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. EST (cocktail and hors d'oeuvres reception)
         5:45 p.m. EST Awards Ceremony -- Winners Announcement

Students, school representatives and industry leaders are available for telephone interviews before and after the official Awards Ceremony.

PHOTOS AVAILABLE: All ten of the finalists will be on display. These visionary designs give consumers a hint of what next generation designers expect to create for tomorrow's sport utility vehicles (SUVs). Photos will be available following the event.

PRNewswire -- March 22