Getting Their Hands dirty

May 2006

Monash is now home to Australia's only tertiary clay modelling studio dedicated to automotive design.

Report: Melissa Marino
Photography: Melissa Di Ciero

You may have seen the television advertisement -- a young, bespectacled man and woman in white lab coats, brimming with repressed passion, as they knead a lump of clay to the strains of 'Unchained Melody'.

Scraping into shape: The metamorphosis from clay to car begins.

In the tongue-in-cheek reprisal of the famous clay modelling scene from the movie Ghost, the pair rapidly produce a clay model of a car as the voice-over tells us: "German engineering just got sexier".

The car advertisement tips its hat to one of the lesser known but essential elements of car design -- clay modelling -- but Monash University clay modelling lecturer and Ford senior designer Mr Mark Richardson finds the advertisement rather exasperating. 'It's not how clay modelling happens -- it's not that easy."

Clay modelling is difficult to master, even laborious, and professionals can take months to finish a model of a vehicle.

At Monash, fourth-year industrial design students take all year to perfect their automotive clay models from concept to finished product.

The university is home to Australia's only tertiary clay modelling studio dedicated to automotive design. The studio is now in its second year of operation, and students say it is a bonus to have access to the facility where they are taught by Mr Richardson and Mr Mike Chester, Chief Modeller with General Motors Holden in Melbourne.

"You couldn't really ask for much more," says Mr Mark Salerno, a fourth-year student who will be designing and modelling a sports car for his final project. "It gives you every advantage, especially within Australia."

The Monash studio has been made possible through a partnership with General Motors, which helped establish it last year and donated a clay oven, computers, software and automotive clay. It is part of the worldwide Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE) program that supports and develops young engineers and designers. PACE is a corporate alliance involving Holden Limited, Electronic Data Systems, Sun Microsystems and software provider UGS.

Mr Richardson is currently undertaking a PhD in designing a renewable energy vehicle at Monash. He chose Monash, he says, because it is more dedicated to transport design as part of industrial design than many other universities.

He says clay modelling skills are important for aspiring automotive designers keen to enter an industry that still relies on traditional craftsmanship, despite advances in 3D design software.

"There's something about having an actual 'property' in front of you that you can run your hands over," he says. "There's a certain tactility about the actual model that you just can't get by looking at a computer screen."

Centimetre perfect: Student Mr Michael Tang checks the model's scale.

While having the facility at Monash certainly helps students who want to work as specialist clay modellers to gain an advantage, it also provides aspiring designers with an understanding of the process, Mr Richardson says.

"As a designer, it is easier to give direction to a modeller if you are familiar with the clay modelling process. Having a good understanding of surface will also increase the likelihood of getting a job in the automotive industry."

It is a philosophy that is already proving itself, with six of last year's nine Monash industrial design graduates who studied automotive clay modelling now employed by Holden or Ford.

One of those graduates is Adam Ty Dean Smith, who works at Ford. Mr Smith has won several design awards and says the clay modelling component of the course gave him a head start in the industry.

"If I had not done that year at Monash, I would be starting work now and only seeing clay for the first time," he says. "Having experience beyond just drawing and computer skills definitely helps, because you are closer to more professional ways of designing."

Meanwhile, Mr Salerno, whose grandfather and father sold Ferraris, is hoping the course will help pave the way for his dream job in the industry.

"I've been in these things (Ferraris) since I was a young boy and always wondered who designed them -- and then I realised someone actually got to do that for a job," the 22-year-old says.

"It sounded pretty cool to me."