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Design Students Sculpt Buicks of 2030, Win Scholarships

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Buicks of 2030

Recently, Buick teamed up with BASF to host a competition open to students at Detroit’ College for Creative Studies (CCS). Competing students were asked to design the Buicks of 2030, starting from a completely blank canvas.

Over a dozen design students entered the competition, in which always longed-for scholarships were up for grabs. At the end of the process, each student had a 3D, to-scale Buick model that was to be representative of the brand 16 years from now. These Buicks of 2030 had to address the needs that we will have down the road: rising city populations, new developing countries, nanotechnology, and new advanced materials to make cars more efficient.

“The solutions these concepts offer are as unique as the future car designers at CCS who created them,” said Andrew Smith, executive director of Buick global design. “For Buick, this project is an invitation for new insights and interpretation of our brand and the future portfolio of products we will offer.”


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After the designers had completed their projects, a team of Buick engineers (hailing from exterior, interior, and color and trim studies) and BASF coatings and performance materials experts, spent some time with each of the models. Ultimately, the jurors selected winners for four different awards, totaling up to $7,000 in scholarships.

Namsuk Lee, 28, is from Seoul, Korea, and managed to pick up two awards: Best Overall Concept ($3,000 scholarship) and Best Interior ($1,500 scholarship).

Namsuk Lee - Buicks of 2030

Namsuk Lee shows off early sketches for his winning Buick Vision Sedan concept.

Namsuk Lee - Buicks of 2030

Sam Kenny, 22, is from Greensboro, North Carolina, and won a $1,500 scholarship for Best Exterior Design.

Sam Kenny - Buicks of 2030

Sam Kenny and his Neo Classical Buick concept

Justin Salmon, 19, is from Boca Raton, Florida, and took home a $1,000 scholarship for the Most Innovative Use of Materials.

Justin Salmon - Buicks of 2030

Justin Salmon explains his concept.

The jury also commended JinYoung Yoon’s urban coupe, as well as Soohan Cho’s dynamic concept.

JinYoung Yoon - Buicks of 2030

JinYoung Yoon and his Urbain concept

Buicks of 2030

Left to Right: Instructor Kunihisa Ito; Andrew Smith, Buick global design director; Bregt Ectors, Buick strategic design manager; and 2030 Buick Urbain concept designer, JinYoon Young

Soohan Cho - Buicks of 2030

Soohan Cho and the Buick Y Concept

The competition called on the students to use not only their knowledge of design and their skills in sketching and modeling, but also to use their critical thinking, analytical, and presentation skills, as they studied future trend research data and presented their prototypes to the experts.

“Professional car design is a very competitive business and your work is always measured against your peers and by the market success it generates,” Smith commented. “Buick design that conveys youthful energy and fresh thinking is essential to the future of this modern, international luxury brand.”


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