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Model studio for automotive design

9 November 2005

The Art and Design faculty has established Australia's first clay modelling studio for industrial design students specialising in automotive design.

From left: Industrial design fourth-year (honours) student Mr Tom Marminc with Ms Sheryl Garrett and Mr William Mattana.

The head of the faculty's Department of Design, Associate Professor Arthur de Bono, and transport design lecturer Mr Mark Richardson have facilitated the studio, which began operation in September at Monash's Caulfield campus.

The studio is being used by third-year and honours students to create three-dimensional scale models of their automotive designs.

The new studio is a result of the Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE) corporate alliance involving Monash's Engineering and Art and Design faculties, General Motors (represented in Australia by Holden Limited), Electronic Data Systems, Sun Microsystems and software provider UGS.

Mr Mike Chester, head of the clay modelling studio at General Motors, is conducting twice-weekly studio sessions as part of General Motors' commitment to the PACE agreement.

Such is the interest in the new facility that executives from General Motors' headquarters in Detroit, Michigan, visited the studio last month as part of a worldwide audit of 20 universities from which the organisation recruits graduates.

Monash was the only university in Australia visited by the GM team, which included Mr William Mattana, senior creative clay design manager, and Ms Sheryl Garrett, manager, creative resources.

Industrial design course coordinator Mr Selby Coxon said the studio was creating considerable interest in the automotive industry.

"There is a world-wide shortage of clay modellers, and the Monash studio is a way of developing this expertise in our students and adding to their skill set," Mr Coxon said.

"It is also another example of the way in which Monash is supporting and expanding educational opportunities for its students, and further underpins our commitment to the relationship with PACE."

Nine of the students working in the studio were finalists in the 2005 Wheels Automotive Design Award for Young Designer of the Year, which was won by industrial design honours student Mr Adam Ty Dean Smith.

The designs currently taking shape include cars, a school bus, an ambulance, a utility, an off-road vehicle and a three-wheeled motorcycle.

Mr Coxon said the studio could be expanded to include other areas of industrial design such as consumer goods.