A former design student at Coventry University has won a UK 1,500 prize for the most innovative use of glazing in automotive design.
Dale Grewer, aged 25, who is due to take up a post in the design d…
A former design student at Coventry University has won a UK 1,500 prize for the most innovative use of glazing in automotive design. Dale Grewer, aged 25, who is due to take up a post in the design department of Land Rover, is the winner of the Pilkington Automotive Award. He graduated in transport design and had work experience with Lotus. His entry created interest among the judges with its radical departure from the Rolls-Royce image of the last 50 years, but it still keeps the distinctive radiator. Grewer, whose design was selected from an international group of students, said: “My vision of a Rolls-Royce for the 21st century is influenced by the individuality-built Rolls-Royces of the 1930s”. Dr Alan Woodward, global technology manager for shaping at Pilkington Automotive and one of the judges, commented: “Dale has displayed a true creativity in vehicle design with a real understanding of how to manipulate the experiment with glass.” Jaguar“s principal designer, Keith Helfet, said the sidelights contributed to the flowing style of the vehicle, which demonstrated the important role glazing played in the overall design of a vehicle. Grewer had entered a city car concept “for use in busy driving environments like Paris” which had one-way vision when surrounded by harassed commuters. An innovative city car, inspired by a baseball helmet, has won the Pilkington Automotive best student project award for Mr Byung-Gyu Choi, aged 26, from South Korea, a student on the London-based Royal College of Art Vehicle Design course. The award, worth UK 1,500, is presented to the student whose design best explores the limits of vehicle design, marrying the requirements of industry with the challenges of style. Choi“s luxury city car was influenced by the themes of protection and sporting activity associated with the baseball helmet.