UC welcomes auto industry pros

Transportation designers for General Motors and Pininfarina visit DAAP’s Myron E. Ullman, Jr. School of Design

by Jac Kern
513-556-1823
Videos by Andrew Higley/UC Creative Services

Aug. 7, 2017

The University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning recently hosted campus visits with some of the leading transportation designers in the industry. Representing General Motors and Italian car design firm Pininfarina, the professionals met with students in DAAP’s nationally ranked Myron E. Ullman, Jr. School of Design.

The visit was something of a homecoming for GM creative designers Dave Heyne and Miranda Steinhauser, who graduated from DAAP’s Industrial Design program in 2010 and 2014, respectively. They returned to the School of Design to discuss current GM projects and future co-op and post-graduate employment opportunities for students.

Heyne noted how his current employer is starting to take notice of DAAP.

“Coming from the context of a full university, where you interact with people who are not design people, where you get a little bit more critical thinking skills — those things stand out to somebody looking at a portfolio,” he said. “GM is actually starting to take a lot of interest in DAAP in particular because it is creating that sort of well-rounded dream designer that they’re looking for.”

Steinhauser reflected on the experiences she gained in her co-ops and the classroom.

“Going through school here, it focused me on different aspects of design like product design, fashion,” she said. “My co-op experience along with all my classes gave me a different perspective on those things than I think most schools of the car design realm would probably do.”

Italian influence

In a different campus visit, luxury car designer Maurizio Corbi traveled from Italy to observe DAAP’s transportation design program. A senior designer for Pininfarina, Corbi is known for designing iconic vehicles, including the Ferrari F50, F355 and 550 and California supercars. Corbi exhibited some of his photorealistic illustrations, lectured on the future of sports car design and offered a pair of automotive design master classes.

Corbi was impressed by the school’s use cutting-edge elements like virtual reality and new modeling techniques. “I’m surprised because I saw a lot of technologies present in the school,” Corbi said. “It’s incredible.”

“A lot of times we hear what’s happening in the industry and the techniques that the masters use,” said UC industrial design student Julian Gregory, “but now we actually get to see a master do his work and learn from him.” 

LINKS:
Apply to UC.
Learn more about DAAP, the School of Design and the renown Industrial Design program.
Read about the transportation design students’ work with autonomous vehicles.
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