GM's New Hummer Comes to Class, Accelerates Education for Young Designers Date: April 7, 2000 By: Mary Bridget Reilly Phone: (513) 556-1824 Archive: General News Young designers in the University of Cincinnati's industrial design program are working this quarter with designers from General Motors Corp. in a special studio. The 17 students are developing concepts for the Hummer, a consumer-market version of the military's Humvee, which GM will be producing. As part of the studio, the students meet with GM design staff every week via UC distance learning facilities. Three designers from GM are bringing a prototype Hummer for the students to examine and experience from 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, April 8. The Hummer will be parked on UC's College Court Drive, the roadway that runs off of Clifton Avenue and proceeds adjacent to the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. The college is located at the corner of Martin Luther King and Clifton. Click here for a West Campus map. Look in the top, lefthand corner of the map to find College Court. The ongoing auto design studio at UC is led by Jim Berns, senior lab associate, and Gerald Michaud, associate professor of design. For several years, GM (along with DaimlerChrysler) has sponsored special design studios at UC, working with advanced students who focus on auto interiors and exteriors as UC's industrial design program is rated among the top two in the country in past surveys of professionals. Thus, UC is one of the very few schools either company works with. In addition, UC recently opened a Rapid Prototyping Center with a 5-axis milling machine that can produce full-sized models of automobiles and other consumer products. UC is the only school in the country with a 5-axis milling machine, a gift valued at $500,000 from General Motors Design Center, General Motors Corp., and Taurus Products Incorporated.