PPG Presents CCS Students With Auto Glass Design Awards and Scholarships

Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries has presented its annual auto glass design awards and scholarships to several students at Detroit's College for Creative Studies (CCS) who've designed innovative glass designs for a concept vehicle based on the Honda Element.

PPG's Barry McGee, vice president, automotive glass, presented the PPG Design Challenge Awards 2003, to these CCS transportation design sophomores:

- First place: Shigenori Maeda, 24, Tsu, Japan, near Kyoto;
- Second place: Constantine "Angelo" Kafantaris, 19, Warren, Ohio; and
- Third place: Min-Hyung Kim, 19, Seoul, South Korea.

McGee presented the awards in the fourth annual auto glass design competition during ceremonies at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The students received specially designed glass trophies and scholarships of $1,500 for first place, $1,000 for second place and $500 for third place.

Judges for the 2003 PPG competition, all of whom were CCS alumni, were Erik Klimisch, design manager, tough truck design, Ford Motor Co.; Mark Trostle, design manager, truck exterior and interior studio, DaimlerChrysler; Mike Pevovar, design manager, HUMMER, General Motors Corp.; and Lorene Boettcher, global design and color manager, automotive coatings, PPG.

Thirteen transportation design sophomores submitted concepts. To prepare the students for the contest, PPG's Paul Eichenberg, North American marketing manager, automotive original-equipment glass, provided them with information about auto glass manufacturing, design and development. The students also heard from Amy McFarren, senior manager, automotive consulting, and Suzanne Bartsch, senior account manager, J.D. Power and Associates, who defined the design parameters.

The challenge was for the students to design the next-generation Honda Element or Element buyer's next Honda vehicle with new, unique window systems to add utility, enhance overall vehicle design or both.

Concepts were judged on how the students differentiated their vehicles and addressed the target consumer's vehicle requirements for added utility, style, comfort and convenience. Judging criteria included appropriateness of the design and creativity as well as the students' sketch work.