There are approximately eight Explorer posts on campus that help spawn future designers, engineers and skilled trade workers. Some of these posts include auto body paint and engineering, engine dynamometers, rapid prototype, auto design, and maintenance, to name a few. The Explorer Post program is the young-adult division of the Boy Scouts of America, although participants are not required to be Boy Scouts.
The Design Center Explorer Post is a six-month program that runs from October 12, 2006, through March 2007. Thirty-three students will be exposed to design, sketching techniques and mentors, who will provide students with the proper tools and guidance to develop their natural skills. Additionally, these students will have an opportunity to interact with students from the Design Center Pre-Production Operations (PPO) Painting and Trim Explorer’s post and their HHR rebuild that will be on display at the March 2007 Detroit Autorama.
“All of the staff at GM Design Center and the UAW are proud to support the Explorer program and help the youth in our community as they pursue their career goals,” says Kirk Bennion, design manager and Explorer post mentor. “In the automotive design post, we teach students the fundamentals of how to draw a car and show them basic proportions. Students will learn sketching techniques, perspective, shading, color effects and an Alias studio paint program.”
Sheryl Garrett, program organizer, has included top students from the GM and College for Creative Studies (CCS) partnership, which offered a mentor program last year to Detroit Public Schools. This program was designed to increase awareness of opportunities in Industrial Design and is one venue to inspire interest in the automotive design field.
