An Eye For Design

By David Hunt

When NC State grad student Sean Coleman designed a concept car for a class project, little did he know his computer-generated sketches would roll off the screen and onto the track. The industrial design student’s eco-friendly car will be built from the ground up and displayed trackside at the 2010 Shell Eco-Marathon Americas (SEMA) event in Houston in March. Coleman, who won SEMA’s Urban Concept Car Competition, will attend the annual event that showcases fuel-efficient futuristic vehicles designed by high school and college students from across the country.

"The design went through about 25 ideations," says Coleman, using the design vocabulary for rough drafts. "At 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."

read more