The digital way

Math-based technology is transforming how automakers accomplish product development tasks.

From the 1930s through the early 1980s, designers at General Motors drew paper vehicle visions that were sculpted into full-size clay models. The process remained unchanged for years, but as the 21st century began, it looked like every bit of design work would be created in the digital world.

“When we first looked at digital tools, we were so excited,” said Anne Asensio, Executive Director of Advanced Design for GM. The old way of doing hand-drawn sketches shifted to using a stylus as pen, pencil, airbrush, and paintbrush. Yet designers still like to experience a vehicle's elements in a tactile sense, and although specific simulation tools give designers a 3-D view of eventual reality, clay models give the visual presentation-in Asensio's words-a spirit.