Kelly Miller of Le Roy Collaborates with GM on Design for Electric Concept Car

2017 Dec 1

Kelly Miller, a Cedarville University industrial and innovative design senior, collaborated with GM in order to design a electric concept car. The project entailed completing an extensive academic design of a Chevrolet-branded, 2+2 battery electric concept car under the supervision of an instructional design team from General Motors Design Center in Detroit.

As one of 22 students, Miller worked with a clay sculptor, digital sculptor and the lead designer from the Chevrolet brand studio. The Detroit-based GM Design team mentored the students, providing hands-on instruction. Instructors and students worked four and a half weeks on the project at the International Center for Creativity (ICC) in Columbus, the instructional partner for Cedarville's unique industrial design program.

"Learning from someone who lives and breathes their craft was an invaluable experience," said Miller from Le Roy. "We learned so much about specific roles within groups and how to live within the task you have been given, but also how to help your teammates out. In the end, it matters what the final product is. A lot of good communication within the team moves the ideas forward; that was my major take away."

Each student completed a concept for the project, then seven teams were formed based on the best seven overall concepts. Each of the seven teams was tasked with completing an overall design vision, customer persona, concept sketches, digital renderings, two clay models, orthographic view tape drawings -- a drawing that represents a three-dimensional object in two dimensions -- and refined sketches. The students began their work on September 18, then presented their work approximately one month later.

Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 3,963 undergraduate, graduate, and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings, and leading student satisfaction ratings. For more information about Cedarville University, visit www.cedarville.edu.