GM FYI Blog

Snowboarders, a twin, a gouache artist, oh my! Go-carters, oil painters and vegans, oh me! Car nuts, car racers, musicians, oh wow!

This is just a sampling of the diversity of GM’s 2006 Design Interns — seven art and design students from schools around the country who have spent their summer at GM’s Design Center. And they’ve had quite a project to tackle: design a futuristic car based on the AUTOnomy hydrogen fuel-cell powered platform for drivers in 2030.

The annual summer intern program is designed to challenge the students with real-world projects that enhance their design skills and help them master the latest design technologies.

The interns’ plans for futuristic vehicles include a model that looks forward by looking back using the Motorama era for inspiration, one that parents can program to ferry children to their activities throughout the day, one that serves as a multi-purpose oasis from the cares of the world (easy to do, since the vehicles drive themselves in 2030), another that allows “drivers” to immerse themselves in electronic media and yet another that allows them to escape completely from it.

This year’s group has extensive and varied design experiences, including work on projects for Sea Ray boats, Hot Wheels, Boeing, NASA, Fisher Price, Honda, Sony, DaimlerChrysler, Caravaggio Corvettes and Audi.

Ken Parkinson (executive director, GM Design), Larry Burns,(vice president, Advanced Technology), other GM design executives and a host of members of the media, reviewed each intern’s concept during a special presentation at the Design Center today, Aug. 17.