This summer, eighteen young, aspiring designers and engineers, took over a General Motors design studio as part of GM Design's Annual Summer Internship Program, one of the most sought after internships in the country for up-and-coming designers to create gasoline-free concept cars.
Divided into six teams, the interns included a designer, sculptor, color and trim designer, engineer, and graphic artists. Six concept cars for Chevrolet were created utilizing GM's electric and fuel cell propulsion system known as E-Flex--the same propulsion system as the Chevrolet Volt. Aside from being gas-free, these concepts meet the needs of consumers in emerging markets such as China, Russia, and India.
GM Design's Annual Summer Internship Program attracts students from colleges and universities around the world who compete for this coveted opportunity. Eighteen of the best and brightest were chosen, including Brenda Sanchez (pictured) from Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.
"It was a wonderful experience since GM is one of the most important automotive companies of USA and the world. The challenge was to develop a completely new concept for the Chevrolet brand for the Russian market," says Sanchez.
A graduate of ITESM (Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, better known as "Monterrey's Tec" in Monterrey, Mexico). Rodriguez shares that aside from the challenge of conveying her ideas in a second language, she also experienced other firsts as a designer.
"I used to model on Alias software instead of working with clay, because at my University we don't have those classes. During the GM internship it was my first contact with clay as well as my first involvement with cars and transport design," she asserts.
Growing up in Mexico, Sanchez says she wanted to defy expectations. She took a different path than her brothers, who all studied engineering. Instead, she chose design. "I knew design was for me and knew that this was the career for me. I love the idea that I can design whatever I can imagine," she says.
Working with a team of designers from four different parts of the world impressed Sanchez. Each designer had their own idea of how things should be done, and brought their own diverse cultural backgrounds to the project, she says. Each member also had to practice their listening skills and leave their egos at door in order to come up with the best design.
For it's part, GM offered the interns many tools such as professional mentors, like Maggie Eko, Visualization Operations Lead, Creative Digital Imaging, General Motors Design Center.
"Brenda Sanchez was a pleasure to work with. She played a key roll (sculptor) in her team's project development. Brenda learned very quickly and helped her team successfully achieve their goals," says Eko.
Back in Mexico, Sanchez continues to pursue her professional path in design.
Photo Caption:
Clockwise: GM design intern Brenda Sanchez.
Engineering intern Drayton Bryant, of Tuskegee University, ALA, with the "jian" during the 2008 GM/PACE Summer Internship Final Presentation in the Design Dome at the GM Tech Center in Warren, MI.
GM Design's Summer interns revealed their final concept models based on the Autonomy Skateboard chassis at the GM Design Dome in Warren, Bo Yeun Park.
Michael Burton of General Motors Design (left to right) talks with interns Joshua Reed and Neil Watson Thursdayat the GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan. Reed is one of eighteen aspiring designers invited to be part of GM Design's Annual Internship Program, one of the most sought-after design internships for aspiring car designers. Reed is a student at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan.
Sanchez with the "AUX" during the 2008 GM/PACE Summer Internship Final
Presentation in the Design Dome at the GM Tech Center in Warren, MI.
