{"id":23974,"date":"2023-02-20T08:09:24","date_gmt":"2023-02-20T13:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/industrial-design\/2023\/02\/20\/in-the-drivers-seat\/"},"modified":"2024-11-04T14:06:15","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T19:06:15","slug":"in-the-drivers-seat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/industrial-design\/2023\/02\/20\/in-the-drivers-seat\/","title":{"rendered":"In the Driver\u2019s Seat"},"content":{"rendered":"
The future may have seemed like a distant mirage to Sean Coleman in the spring of 2010, but I knew how he\u2019d get there. Whatever path he chose, he\u2019d be at the wheel.<\/p>\n
I met the young industrial design graduate student a few days after he took first place in a major automotive design competition, the Shell Eco-Marathon Autodesk Real World Challenge. Winning the contest meant more than just a line on his r\u00e9sum\u00e9 or a few sketches for his portfolio.<\/p>\n
As part of the contest, Shell agreed to build the winning concept car, which would be unveiled at the three-day Eco-Marathon event in Houston in front of thousands of car enthusiasts and members of the media. As the car\u2019s designer, Coleman won an all-expenses-paid trip to the event, and the opportunity to get behind the wheel of his little red eco-sports car.<\/p>\n
The project was a labor of love \u2014 and of hard work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe design went through about 25 ideations,\u201d Coleman told me. \u201cAt first it looked like a snake or viper. I liked it but thought it might be a little much for some people, so I modified it.\u201d<\/p>\n
After he returned from the whirlwind event, Coleman was all smiles. Not only did he take Houston Mayor Annise Parker for a drive in the concept car; as I wrote in an article describing his adventures, \u201che palled around with oil company execs, donned a NASCAR racing outfit (borrowed from Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick) and took in the Duke-Baylor game in the Elite Eight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, Coleman can trace his career success in a straight line back to the skills he learned in the NC State College of Design and the connections he made at the Shell Eco-Marathon. Not surprisingly, he\u2019s working as a digital surface modeler for the Ford Motor Company and, before that, was a digital sculptor for Volvo Trucks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Eco-Marathon was definitely an absolute blast,\u201d Coleman says. \u201cDriving the car was a truly surreal experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another highlight \u2014 and one that was to pay dividends in the years ahead \u2014 was Coleman\u2019s determination to make full use of the event\u2019s networking opportunities.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was talking to the Autodesk representatives, and I said, \u2018You guys wouldn’t have any internships by chance, would you?\u2019 And wouldn\u2019t you know it, they said yes,\u201d Coleman recounts.<\/p>\n
As a result, he spent the summer at the company\u2019s headquarters in San Francisco, where he lunched with CEO Carl Bass and built connections with seasoned designers, software developers and other creative professionals. His familiarity with the company and its software helped him land various opportunities teaching Autodesk Alias at NC State and in the automotive industry.<\/p>\n
Ironically, Coleman says he hadn\u2019t thought much about automotive design before entering the Eco-Marathon contest in 2010.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always thought automotive design was interesting, but because NC State didn’t have a major auto design program, I didn’t find myself gravitating to it as much,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I still thought it was awesome and still wanted to do some cool car projects.\u201d<\/p>\n
What NC State lacked in auto design courses, it made up for in the person of Bong Il Jin, an industrial design professor who spent a decade as an auto designer in South Korea, including four years as chief designer at Daewoo Motor Co.<\/p>\n