Coventry University launches National Transport Design Centre

Coventry University’s new National Transport Design Centre (NTDC) is now officially open for business. The large facility has been built to allow both students and the university’s industry partners to devise and develop new designs more effectively.

The NTDC, which took 20 months to conceive and build, forms a key facility for the University’s existing Centre for Mobility and Transport and will provide a vital resource to meet urgent demand for creative roles such as digital and clay modellers.

State-of-the-art features of the £7m NTDC include:

• a 6m x 3m interactive Powerwall which allows users to explore detailed design and engineering concepts in virtual reality;
• advanced clay milling facilities for creating full-sized physical models of vehicles;
• a projection mapping system which can cast digital images onto 3D objects below, helping designers to assess how multiple options would appear on full-scale models.

Jaguar’s director of design, Ian Callum, who was involved in the building’s creation, launched the facility with a speech emphasising that “the main objective of transport design is to make people’s lives better and more enjoyable. Don’t just focus on your element, but be very aware of all the elements of transportation and how people move all around the world.”

Callum’s involvement with the NTDC and Coventry University is set to continue, as he has been awarded a visiting Professorship by Professor John Latham, Vice-Chancellor at Coventry University. Callum highlighted the importance of working with younger people because these freer-thinking designers can bring fresh approaches to all elements of transport design.

“It’s very important that those in the industry work with students. We can bring experience, and their clearer minds work in a different way that can often lead to moments of brilliance.”

CDN also grabbed a quick interview with Callum, during which he told us that his involvement with the building’s creation included showing the NTDC designers what Jaguar Land Rover have and do at their own facility, in order to inform their decisions about how to equip the new design centre.

Looking at the bigger picture, he was keen to stress that he believes people won’t give up their freedom to drive themselves easily, reckoning that a time when ‘Level 5’ autonomous vehicles (AVs) are the default choice is still around 25 years away. This is because of the emotional connection many people have or crave with their cars – which is also the reason he’s keen to keep physical controls in car interiors, as opposed to a Tesla-style bank of touchscreens, which he considers “too soulless” and generic.

The design centre launch, held in conjunction with Coventry University’s annual degree show with an audience of over 150 industry professionals, was marked by the unveiling of a mural – entitled ‘Movement’ – created by Callum himself. The 17m x 10m work of art, he explained, highlights the importance of considering all elements of transport design. Inspired by the ‘flow’ of an object through air, it represents the movement of a vehicle carrying people.

Racing driver and former model Jodie Kidd also spoke at the launch.

In a later address to the assembled audience, Callum further emphasised that AVs must somehow be able to capture people’s imaginations and make them feel attached to a particular brand, rather than just using them like faceless public transport.

Perhaps the ideas conceived and developed within this new facility will help us move towards solving these issues.