By Air, Land and Sea, Art Center is Changing the Transportation Design Industry, One Graduate at a Time

Considering the great turmoil and upheaval currently plaguing the U.S. automotive industry, it’s not surprising that Art Center’s Transportation Design Department is being called upon to meet the needs of a changing industry. The department has long served as a catalyst for innovation, and 60 years after its creation, the program is transforming its philosophy and curriculum in order to prepare students to become the next generation of designers who will revolutionize and re-think transportation design.

The Transportation Design Department was founded in 1948 as a part of Industrial Design, focusing primarily on exterior automotive design. This approach has been very successful, and it’s still working—students graduating last year were hired by both Honda and Mercedes. The industry is changing, however, and so is the department’s educational model.

It was in response to industry changes that Transportation Design Department Chair, Stewart Reed, saw a need to broaden the department’s focus for its students. First, said Reed, “We’re going beyond cars.” Until recently, 95 percent of the department’s training has been in automotive design. Some alumni may have gone into motorcycle design or design for air or water vehicles, but their core training at Art Center was always in cars. But there is now an emphasis on a broader view of transportation.

“Today, we are preparing our students for fields such as aircraft, marine, mass transportation and personal mobility design—a type of approach that sets us apart from other design schools and gives students the edge they need for a changing industry,” said Transportation Design Department Director Jay Sanders.

Another distinguishing feature is Art Center’s prime location in Southern California, near the companies leading emerging fields such as new mobility and alternative energy, and with easy access to the automotive companies in the Pacific Rim who are piloting new technologies and transportation solutions. “Many of our students are being hired after graduation at design studios based in Asia,” Sanders said.

A class on motorcycle design was offered for the second time last fall term, and projects in boat and aircraft design are being planned for future terms. “More students are seeking independent studies in water and aircraft design,” explained Reed, “and so the department is doing more to develop relationships with these companies.”

Beyond individual vehicle design—whether it is for land, air or sea—the issue of sustainable mobility has received heightened interest in the department. The ideas and strategies presented at the College’s annual Summit on Sustainable Mobility have sparked the creation and enhanced the curriculum of new courses on sustainable mobility. (The most recent Summit was held in February 2009). All students are now required to take a class on mobility in order to gain a deeper understanding of the broader context of transportation by considering infrastructure and urban environments. One class worked with USC architecture students to look at the transportation problems in Shenzhen, China. Students proposed a variety of solutions to urban congestion in Shenzhen, including small personal transportation devices, mass transit and other commuter possibilities. In another course, students studied the impact of the Gold Line light rail line on commuters throughout California’s San Gabriel Valley and examined the Mobility Element of Pasadena’s General Plan, focusing on specific aspects such as “pedestrian design” to encourage walking and enliven public spaces.

In addition, the concept of sustainable mobility has extended beyond the classroom into real-world applications through the College’s Sponsored Projects. Last year alone, student have examined myriad issues, including the safety and efficiency of transporting passenger goods and services over long distances for Volvo Trucks; new ways to create more synergy and efficiencies among Honda product lines; the development of compelling and eco-friendly designs for the “Bus of the Future” in collaboration with Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus line; the creation of a Scion vehicle that considers the entire life cycle of the vehicle, thereby conserving materials and energy; the development of new opportunities for harnessing human power for the SRAM Corporation; and, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Model T, exploring a similarly revolutionary vehicle that can compete against non-consumption for Ford.

Sanders stressed that this new direction has not been in response to the problems plaguing the Big Three automakers, but rather represents a gradual shift in the department’s approach over the past few years. “Even before these most recent problems, we’ve all known that there is a crisis regarding fossil fuels, adequate mass transit and sustainable options—these are things that we have been exploring in the department for some time now,” he said.

To meet market demand for fuel-efficient vehicles, several new classes have been added to the curriculum. Vehicle Technology and Vehicle Architecture classes require that students look at all sorts of propulsion systems and receive an introduction to how new, fuel-efficient cars are packaged. Automotive Engineering is another course that has been brought back into the curriculum after a long hiatus, also with a focus on both fuel-efficiency and safety. “Students have to possess a broad understanding of total vehicle systems—in other words, adding responsibility to their passion for transportation design,” said Reed.

Yet another new focus for the department is on interior design. “In the past,” remarked Sanders, “graduates have wanted to do exterior design, seeing interior design as plan B. We want to promote interior design as an exciting and viable option.” In fact, the department is so interested in exposing students to the industry of interior design, whether it’s in cars, boats or planes, that it has hired alumna Tisha Johnson TRAN ’99, whose specialty is interior design, as a full-time faculty member. Vehicle interiors are becoming increasingly important, Sanders said, because “people are starting to understand that this is where they spend the majority of their time.” Historically one of the least green aspects of a vehicle, students are examining interiors with an eye toward sustainability and how to incorporate it, along with human/machine interfacing, into interior designs.

Sanders stressed that transportation design is still a viable option for design students. “There is still a great future for students who want to design automobiles, motorcycles, buses, trucks, aircraft and watercraft—anything that gets people and things from point A to Z,” he said. “There will always be need for these designers, and we still believe that by training the very best, we will be able to help our graduates get jobs and have successful careers.”