15th Annual Michelin-CSS Competition

The 15 Senior Transportation Design students participating have come from every corner of the globe to study at the College for Creative Studies, and the results of the past few years of hard work were outstanding.

As in recent years, students faced a pair of challenges. The first was to design an advanced, far-future wheel/tire combination based on Michelin’s pioneering PAX run-flat system for a particular vehicle application. The second part of the competition involved the design of the vehicle on which their wheel/tire would be mounted. A further, overriding requirement was that the students would all need to incorporate the influence of some national culture and design language into their products. This year China, with it’s thousands of years of history as an innovator in art, design, and other inventions, was selected

Bryon Fitzpatrick, CCS Transportation Dept Chair, led the class, while Steve Lash provided liaison and information from Michelin. Students were briefed on the PAX system at the beginning of the project as well as being asked to research Chinese design and culture. From here they crafted their designs on both paper and in the computer, in both two and three dimensions using Alias StudioPaint and AutoStudio software. The bounds of creativity were the only limits placed on the students and the end results showed in a wide variety of thoughtful and outrageous solutions, with some concepts showing masterful attention to detail. Not only was there skill shown in the designs but also in the execution of the sketches and renderings, research into Chinese culture, as well as the overall presentation.

Winners - Vehicle Concept
1st: Nick Renner
2nd: Yuri Ranum
3rd: Jeff Hammoud

Winners - Tire/Wheel Assembly design
1st: Jeff Hammoud
2nd: Nick Renner
3rd: Sung-Yeah Song

Nick Renner’s display of work centered around the Chinese philosophies about bamboo and painting, their beauty and their more technical qualities. Bamboo was the inspiration for the design of the wheel and especially the spokes. These, like bamboo, appear deceptively simple, utilizing lightly tapered forms from center to rim. But the parts are hollow for lightness and their overlapping segments add strength and a subtle design accent. The most intriguing aspect of them is the visual integration of the spokes cross-section into the tire design by seemingly punching through it’s surface. The rest of the tire design replicates the simple grace of Chinese paintings. Also of note are the design of the brakes which have been integrated into the center of the wheel for reasons of packaging efficiency, improvement of vehicle dynamics and minimizing brake on the wheel. Nick’s vehicle design is of a futuristic two-seat, sporty off-roader which mimics the tires use of bamboo and Chinese paintings for it’s design. The basic body forms are simple and elegant with that added detailing of bamboo-like structures that add interest and strength.

Jeff Hammoud’s designs contrasted sharply with Nick’s by utilizing very intricate forms inspired by Chinese symbols, pagoda architecture, dragons and the human spine. Again, the spokes on the wheel receive much of the design focus. These are based on the human spine for both form and function. The form reference is obvious but the function is unique interpretation of utilizing the spokes as part of the overall suspension system. The spokes also draw some of their visual interest from a dragon, with a scale-like appearance and “claws” that hook into the wheel at the rim. The overall detailing is exquisite and ornate.The tires have a tread pattern made up of the Chinese symbols for longevity and joy, which seems appropriate for a tire for a sports vehicle. Jeff’s vehicle design seems inspired by Dodge’s Tomohawk with it’s four narrowly spaced wheels and ability to lean, but the shapes are sleeker and the overall feel is less brutal and mechanical.

Yuri Ranum’s vehicle design was an intriguing mix of high-performance sportbike and Dean Kaman’s Segway personal transport device. The forms were angular and blocky, but the device had presence and you could imagine turning on a dime, literally, with it’s one wheel configuration and gyroscopic balancing.