Automotive design industry

Automotive design industry

                Automotive design is the profession involved in the development of the appearance, and to some extent the ergonomics, of motor vehicles or more specifically road vehicles. This most commonly refers to automobiles but also refers to motorcycles, trucks, buses, coaches, and vans. The functional design and development of a modern motor vehicle is typically done by a large team from many different disciplines included in automotive engineers. Automotive design in this context is primarily concerned with developing the visual appearance or aesthetics of the vehicle, though it is also involved in the creation of the product concept. Automotive design is practiced by designers who usually have an art background and a degree in industrial design or transportation design.

The field of automotive styling enjoys unprecedented influence within the automotive industry .Styling is recognized as an efficient means to distinguish one vehicle from another and thereby augmenting market share on the basis of superior design among otherwise very similar competing products.

Automotive styling encompasses almost every aspect of a vehicle's design - from the seats and steering wheel through to the door trims and the dashboard. Automobile designers work in multi disciplinary teams to define the interior and exterior forms, materials, textures and colors applied

in the shaping of an automobile. Typical stages of the automotive design process include.

 The annual turnover of the global auto industry is around US$ 5.09 trillion, which is equivalent to the sixth

largest economy in the world. According to Ernst and Young, by 2014, India would be among the top five

vehicle producers in the world. Today, India is the fourth-largest global market in Commercial Vehicles

and the second-largest two-wheeler producer globally. The industry provides direct and indirect employment to 1.31 crore people.

 

Design elements

         The task of the design team is usually split into three main aspects: exterior design, interior design, and color and trim design. Graphic design is also an aspect of automotive design; this is generally shared amongst the design team as the lead designer sees fit. Design focuses not only on the isolated outer shape of automobile parts, but concentrates on the combination of form and function, starting from the vehicle package.

The aesthetic value will need to correspond to ergonomic functionality and utility features as well. In particular, vehicular electronic components and parts will give more challenges to automotive designers who are required to update on the latest information and knowledge associated with emerging vehicular gadgetry, particularly dash top mobile devices, like GPS navigation, satellite radio, HD radio, mobile TV, MP3 players, video playback and smart phone interfaces. Though not all the new vehicular gadgets are to be designated as factory standard items, but some of them may be integral to determining the future course of any specific vehicular models.

Exterior design

The stylist responsible for the design of the exterior of the vehicle develops the proportions, shape, and surfaces of the vehicle. Exterior design is first done by a series of digital or manual drawings. Progressively more detailed drawings are executed and approved. Clay (industrial plasticine) and or digital models are developed from, and along with the drawings. The data from these models are then used to create a full sized mock-up of the final design (body in white). With 3 and 5 axis CNC Milling Machines, the clay model is first designed in a computer program and then "carved" using the machine and large amounts of clay. Even in times of high-class 3d software and virtual models on powerwalls the clay model is still the most important tool to evaluate the design of a car and therefore used throughout the industry.

Interior design

The stylist responsible for the design of the vehicle interior develops the proportions, shape, placement, and surfaces for the instrument panel, seats, door trim panels, headliner, pillar trims, etc. Here the emphasis is on ergonomics and the comfort of the passengers. The procedure here is the same as with exterior design (sketch, digital model and clay model).

Color and trim design

The color and trim (or color and materials) designer is responsible for the research, design, and development of all interior and exterior colors and materials used on a vehicle. These include paints, plastics, fabric designs, leather, grains, carpet, headliner, wood trim, and so on. Color, contrast, texture, and pattern must be carefully combined to give the vehicle a unique interior environment experience. Designers work closely with the exterior and interior designers.

Designers draw inspiration from other design disciplines such as: industrial design, fashion, home furnishing, architecture and sometimes Product Design . Specific research is done into global trends to design for projects two to three model years in the future. Trend boards are created from this research in order to keep track of design influences as they relate to the automotive industry. The designer then uses this information to develop themes and concepts which are then further refined and tested on the vehicle models.

Graphic design

The design team also develop graphics for items such as: badges, decals, dials, switches, kick or tread strips, liveries.

Development process

Includes the following steps:

• Concept sketching
• Clay modeling
• Class A surfaces
• Scale model creation
• Prototype development
• Computer-aided design
• Computer modeling
• Power train engineering
• Manufacturing process design

Typical stages of the automotive design process include :

Vehicle specification The multi-disciplinary team

establishes parameters and decision points                                                           

First concept sketches Designs are presented on

theme boards & mood boards

Selection of concept sketches The design team shortlists 

favorite sketches

Management review of CAD models are produced for

concept sketches marketing research purposes

2D market research Concepts are shown &

discussed for feedback

Presentation of reworked  Taking feedback into account

Concepts concepts are reworked

& presented again

Approval for detailed  Full-size clay models are

engineering produced. These are often

made using CAD data

and hand-finished

3D market research Full-size exterior & interior

concept models are shown

to public. One

concept is selected,

informed by public opinion

Final approval of 3D model Final approval is given to

one model which is then

fully resolved as a three-

dimensional clay model

Feasibility development  The full-size clay model is

scanned & a new 3D digital

model produced. Other

engineering disciplines are

then responsible for

the feasibility of the final

design in terms of operation &

manufacture

Final approval of the design

History of automobile design in the U.S.

        In the United States, automotive design reached a turning point in 1924 when the American national automobile market began reaching saturation. To maintain unit sales, General Motors head Alfred P. Sloan Jr. suggested annual model-year design changes to convince car owners that they needed to buy a new replacement each year, an idea borrowed from the bicycle industry (though Sloan usually gets the credit, or blame).^[1] Critics called his strategy planned obsolescence. Sloan preferred the term "dynamic obsolescence". This strategy had far-reaching effects on the auto business, the field of product design, and eventually the American economy. The smaller players could not maintain the pace and expense of yearly re-styling. Henry Ford did not like the model-year change because he clung to an engineer's notions of simplicity, economics of scale, and design integrity. GM surpassed Ford's sales in 1931 and became the dominant company in the industry thereafter. The frequent design changes also made it necessary to use a body-on-frame rather than the lighter, but less flexible, monocoque design used by most European automakers.

In the 1930s Chrysler's innovation with aerodynamics made them launch Chrysler Airflow in 1934, which was quite revolutionary and radical. But lower acceptance of the car forced Chrysler to re-sdesign its later models of 'Airflow' made the industry take note of risks involved in taking major design advancements in short cycles.

One very well known American auto stylist is Harley Earl,^[2] who brought the tailfin and other aeronautical design references to auto design in the 1950s. He is joined among legendary designers by Gordon Buehrig, responsible for the Auburn 851 and iconic Cord 810 and 812 (hence also the Hupmobile Skylark and the Graham Hollywood). Another notable designer who had a markedly different style was Chrysler group's designer Virgil Exner, an early pioneer of cab forward (a.k.a.Forward look) design in mid-1950s later adapted by rest of the industry. He is also credited with introducing the pointed tail fins in the 1956 Plymouth Belvedere later adapted by all other Detroit studios. Personal injury litigation had a dramatic effect on the design and appearance of the car in the 20th century. Raymond Loewy was responsible for a number of Studebaker vehicles, including the Starlight (including the iconic bulletnose). Richard A. Teague, who spent most of his career with the American Motor Company, originated the concept of using interchangeable body panels so as to create a wide array of different vehicles using the same stampings starting with the AMC Cavalier.^[4] He was responsible for such unique automotive designs as the Pacer, Gremlin, Matador coupe, Jeep Cherokee, and the complete interior of the Eagle Premier.

In the 1960s Ford's first generation Ford Mustang and Thunderbird marked another era leading into new market segments from Detroit. The Ford Mustang achieved record sales in its first year of production and established the pony car segment.

History of automobile design in Europe

        Europe is the continent where the first Automobile was invented, eventually replacing the Horse Drawn Coaches. Till World War I most of the manufacturers were concerned with mechanical reliability rather than its external appearance. Later, luxury and aesthetics became a demand and also an effective marketing tool. Designs from each nation with its own strong cultural identity, reflected in their exterior and interior designs. World War II slowed the progress, but after early-1950s, Italian designers set the trend and remained the driving force until the early part of the 1980s.

France

               In France notable designs came from Bugatti and Avions Voisin. Of the mass selling cars Citroën, launched their vehicles with innovative designs and engineering and mostly aided by the Styling of Flaminio Bertoni as evident from Citroën DS. After World War II with the disappearance of the French coach building industry, with the exception of Citroën, others stuck to following British and other popular trends till they gained financial stability. From the 1980s, manufactures like Renault cultivated their own strong design identities with designers like Patrick Le Quement demanding more freedom from engineering departments. Peugeot, which was dependent on Pininfarina since early post-war period, later established its own brand identity from 1980s onwards. Its other company Citroën still retains it distinctive French innovations in its designs. Today French designs are known for their innovativeness and forward looking.

Great Britain

Great Britain was Europe's leading manufacturer of automobiles until the late-1960s. During that era there were more British-based automakers than in the rest of Europe combined. The British automobile industry catered to all segments ranging from compact, budget, sports, utility, and luxury-type cars. Car design in Britain was markedly different from other European designs largely because British designers were not influenced by other European art or design movements, as well as the British clay modelers used a different sweep set.

British cars until World War II were sold in most of the British colonies. Innovations in vehicle packaging and chassis engineering combined with global familiarity with British designs meant vehicles were acceptable to public tastes at that time. British skilled resources like panel beaters, die machinists, and clay modelers were also available also partly due their involvement with motorsport industry.

Still during the 1960s British manufacturers sought professional help from the Italians, Giovanni Michelotti, Ercole Spada and Pininfarina.Notable British contributions to automobile designs were Morris Mini by Alec Issigonis, Several Jaguar Cars by Sir William Lyons, Aston Martin DB Series, and several cars from Triumph and MG. Ford Europe based in Great Britain is notable for Ford Sierra, a creation of Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz, and Patrick le Quément.Other well known British designers were William Towns for Aston Martin designs and David Bache, for his Land Rover and Range Rover vehicles.

Germany

Germany is often considered the birthplace of industrial design with Bauhaus School of Design. However, the Nazi regime closed down the design school. Ferdinand Porsche and his family played a significant role in German design. Mercedes Benz passenger cars were also in luxury segment and played more importance to aesthetics. After the 1980s German design evolved into a distinctive Teutonic style often to complement their high engineered cars suited to Autobahns. But the early German design clues of present day owes some part to Italian designers like Giovanni Michelotti, Ercole Spada, Bruno Sacco and Giorgetto Giugiaro. During Mid and late 20th century one of the most influential coach builder/designer in Germany was Karmann.

German designs started gaining popularity after the 1980s, notable after the formation of Audi. Volkswagen, which was dependent on Marcello Gandini and Giorgetto Giugiaro and Karmann, later formed the contemporary design language along with Audi. BMW's foray into sports sedan marked a new trend in automobile design as it called for a sporty-looking everyday sedan with Giovanni Michelotti, later enhanced by Ercole Spada right into the 1980s, and Klaus Luthe till mid-1990s. The American born designer Chris Bangle hired by BMW in late-1990s to re-define the brand and he used new single press technology for compound curves adding controversial styling elements in his designs.

The Porsche family contribution were instrumental in the evolution of Porsche cars, while the Italian designer Bruno Sacco helped create various Mercedes Models from the 1960s till the 1990s.

Italy

In Italy, where art is often considered a serious profession since Renaissance period, companies like Fiat and Alfa Romeo played a major role in car design. Many coach builders were dependent on these two major manufacturers. Italian manufacturers had a large presence in Motorsports leading to several sport car manufacturers like Ferrari, Lancia, Lamborghini, Maserati, etc. During late-1950s the elegant Italian designs gained global popularity coinciding with the modern fashion and architecture at that time around the world. Various design and technical schools in Turin turned out designers in large scale. By the late-1960s almost all Italian coach builders transformed into design studios catering to automakers around the world. The trend continued in the 1990s when the Japanese and Korean manufacturers sourced designs from these styling studios.One example is Pininfarina.

The most famous Italian designers whose designs services were sought globally are Giovanni Michelotti, Ercole Spada, Bruno Sacco, Marcello Gandini and Giorgetto Giugiaro.All the following designers helped create the design foundations for most of the European brands in the post-world war II period, whose influence is still seen in present times.

Sweden (Scandinavian)

Sweden has Volvo and Saab and the Scandinavian landscape required that cars had to be sturdy and withstand Nordic climate conditions. The Scandinavian design elements are known for their minimalism and simplicity. One of the early original Scandinavian designs was the Saab 92001 by Sixten Sason and Gunnar Ljungström.

Czechoslovakia

               Prior to World War and until early 1990s, Czechoslovakia had strong presence in the automotive industry with manufacturers like Skoda, Jawa, Tatra, CZ, and Zetor. Czech automobiles were generally known for their originality in mechanical simplicity and designs were remarkably Bohemian as evident from Tatra cars and Jawa motorcycles. During the Communist regime, design started falling back and ultimately the domestic automakers ended up as subsidiaries of EU-based companies.

A Brief History of Design

As a formal discipline, Instructional Systems Design has been a long time in the making. The early contributions of thinkers such as Aristotle, Socrates and Plato regarding the cognitive basis of learning and memory was later expanded by the 13th century philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas who discussed the perception of teachings in terms of free will. Four hundred years later, John Locke advanced Aristotle's notion of human's initial state of mental blankness by proposing that almost all reason and knowledge must be gained from experience. Then, at the turn of the 20th century John Dewey presented several tenets of the philosophy of education which promoted the idea that learning occurs best when married with doing, rather than rote regurgitation of facts.

As the 1920's approached, a behaviorist approach to educational psychology became increasingly predominant. Thorndike's theory of connectionism represents the original stimulus-response (S-R) model of behavioral psychology, and was expanded on some twenty years later by Hull in his exposition of drive reduction – a motivational model of behavior which emphasizes learner's wants, attention, and activities. With the Industrial Revolution came an increased attention to productivity, and educational behaviorists during the 1920's such as Sidney Pressey applied mechanized technology to increase the efficiency of the learning process. Though their initial incarnation did not see much use after the Depression, many of the lessons learned research into these teaching machines regarding the delivery of standardized instruction contributed to the instructional media research & development movement of World War II.

The advent of the Second World War presented a tremendous instructional dilemma: the rapid training of hundreds of thousands of military personnel. Ralph Tyler's work a decade before WWII indicated that objectives were most useful to instructional developers if written in terms of desired learner behaviors. Armed with this knowledge and the experience of creating standardize methods of instructional delivery using teaching machines, military researchers developed a bevy of training films and other mediated materials for instructional purposes. In part, the United States' heavy investment in training and R&D was credited with the country's victory in the war. With the economic boom that followed, federal dollars followed researcher's desire to better flesh out the underpinnings of learning, cognition, and instruction.

The 1950's are characterized by a shift away from the uninformed application of instructional technology to the formulation of theoretical models of learning. The publication of B. F. Skinner's The Science of Learning and the Art of Teaching in 1954 canonized the basic behaviorist principles of S-R, feedback, and reinforcement. As the key element of his theory of operant conditioning, the reinforcement of desired learner responses was also incorporated into Skinner's implementations of programmed instruction. Considered by many the progenitor of contemporary instructional design, programmed instruction emphasizes the formulation of behavioral objectives, breaking instructional content into small units and rewarding correct responses early and often.

Another substantial instructional theorist of the 1950's was Benjamin Bloom. His 1956 taxonomy of intellectual behaviors provided instructors a means by which to decide how to impart instructional content to learners most effectively. Advocating a mastery approach to learning, Bloom endorsed instructional techniques that varied both instruction and time according to learner requirements. While this approach provided instructional developers a means by which to match subject matter and instructional methods, Bloom's taxonomy was not in and of itself capable of satisfying the desire of large organizations to relate resources and processes to the performances of individuals. To achieve this researchers in the military's Air Research and Development Command borrowed from Ludwig von Bertalanffy's General Systems Theory of biological interactions to integrate the operations of a wide range of departments, such as training, intelligence, and staffing. Combined with the Bloom's Taxonomy, the systems approach to instructional and organizational development allowed planners and policy-makers to match the content and delivery of instruction in a fashion which considered both super- and sub-systems (the organization as a whole, as well as groups and individuals within the organization). These advances of Skinner, Bloom and von Bertalanffy were usually employed to develop instruction in what was only assumed to be an effective an efficient manner. The formalization of a standardized design process still had yet to be devised.

Again it was a crisis that spurred the next evolution of instructional technology – a shift away from an emphasis in the development of instructional programs to one which focused on the design of entire curriculum. Again the crisis was a war, but this time the war was a political one. In 1957 the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite and began the "space race". America was taken by surprise and the government was forced to reevaluate the education system and its shortcomings. Science and math programs were the first to be targeted, and the government employed experts in these fields to bring the content up to date.

In 1962 Robert Glaser synthesized the work of previous researchers and introduced the concept of "instructional design", submitting a model which links learner analysis to the design and development of instruction. Interestingly, Glaser's contribution to the current field of instructional systems is not so much in the advancement of his model, but in work concerning Individually Prescribed Instruction (IPI), an approach whereby the results of a learner's placement test are used to plan learner-specific instruction.

At the same time Glaser was developing his theories of instructional design and IPI, Robert Mager published his treatise on the construction of performance objectives. Mager suggested that an objective should describe in measurable terms who an objective targets, the behavior they will have exhibited, the conditions or limitations under which they must carry out this behavior, and the criteria against which their behavior will be gauged.

As early as 1962 when he published "Military Training and Principles of Learning" Robert Gagné demonstrated a concern for the different levels of learning. His differentiation of psychomotor skills, verbal information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, and attitudes provides a companion to Bloom's six cognitive domains of learning. Later, Gagné extended his thinking to include nine instructional events that detail the conditions necessary for learning to occur. These events have long since been used for the basis for the design of instruction and the selection of appropriate media.

The mediation of instruction entered the computer age in the 1960's when Patrick Suppes conducted his initial investigations into computer-assisted instruction (CAI) at Stanford University. Developed through a systematic analysis of curriculum, Suppes' CAI provided learner feedback, branching, and response tracking – aspects were later incorporated into the PLATO system in the 1970's and continue guide the development of today's instructional software.

By the late 1960's America was again in crisis. Not only was the country involved in another war, but the nation's schools were unable to elicit the achievement from learners it anticipated. Grant Venn argued that since only 19% of first graders complete a bachelor or arts degree, that the current educational system is only serving the advantaged minority of schoolchildren. To counter this trend Robert Morgan proposed to conduct an experiment with an "organic curriculum" which would to incorporate into the educational system the best instructional practices identified through research. Accepted in 1967 the proposal by the US Office of Education, the project was dubbed "Educational Systems for the 1970's", or ES'70. Morgan engaged an array of experts in the field of learning, cognition, and instructional design to contribute to the project and carried out multiple experiments in a variety of settings. Of these was Leslie Briggs, who had demonstrated that an instructionally designed course could yield up to 2:1 increase over conventionally designed courses in terms of achievement, reduction in variance, and reduction of time-to-completion – this effect was four times that of the control group which received no training. In 1970, Morgan partnered with the Florida Research and Development Advisory Board to conduct a nation-wide educational reform project in South Korea. Faced with the task of increasing the achievement of learners while at the same time reducing the cost of schooling from $41.27 per student per year Morgan applied some of the same techniques as had been piloted in the ES'70 project and achieved striking results: an increase in student achievement, a more efficient organization of instructors and course content, an increased teacher to student ratio, a reduction in salary cost, and a reduction in yearly per student cost by $9.80.

Around this time Roger Kaufman developed a problem-solving framework for educational strategic planning which provided practitioners a means by which to demonstrate value-added not only for the learner, but the school system and society as a whole. This framework provided the basis for the Organizational Elements Model (OEM), a needs assessment model which specifies results to be achieved at societal, organizational, and individual performance levels. By rigorously defining needs as gaps in results Kaufman emphasized that performance improvement interventions can not demonstrate return-on-investment unless those interventions were derived from the requirements of these three primary clients and beneficiaries of organizational action. This approach to needs assessment and strategic planning has since been used across the world as the foundation for planning, evaluation, and continuous improvement in military, business, and educational settings.

A variety of models for instructional system design proliferated the late 1970's and early 80's: Gagné and Briggs, Branson, Dick and Carey, and Atkins, to name a few. One possible reason for this phenomenon deals with the establishment of formal education and training departments within both public and private organizations. Faced with the computerized technologies of the times, these organizations require a means by which to quickly develop appropriate methods by which to educate internal employees in the new business practices ushered into existence by the Information Age. Another explanation is that businesses, especially consulting organizations, are becoming increasingly required to demonstrate value-added not only to their organization, but to the clients they serve. The evaluation and continuous improvement components of contemporary models of ISD make far strides from the early develop-and-implement models of the middle of the century in this aspect.

In the 1990's a dual focus on technology and performance improvement has developed. For example, in his 1988 essay "Why the Schools Can't Improve: The Upper Limit Hypothesis" Robert Branson offers an argument for systemic school reform, suggesting that schools are operating at near peak efficiency and must be redesigned from the top down using technological interventions. Later in that year Branson was contracted by the Florida Department of Education (DOE) to analyze it's various programs and plan a system-wide technology-based educational reform initiative for Florida called Schoolyear 2000. Over the next several years Branson's team developed and piloted multiple computerized instructional technologies, as well as models of the interaction between the internal operations of the school system and the experiences and knowledge of students, parents, and teachers.

Developments in performance improvement outside ISD during the 1990's such as Quality Management (QM), Organizational Engineering, and Change Management have required that instructional designers look outside their profession to demonstrate the utility of their practice. Introduced earlier by Deming, QM has swept public and private organizations alike in the 90's. Whereas initially thought of in terms of "quality control" or "zero defects", quality practices have evolved into tools for organizational continuous improvement. Similarly, instructional designers in the 90's often work alongside authorities in the field of organizational engineering. Characterized by a concern for an organization's culture and interaction between groups, organizational engineering seeks to improve organizations through the identification of relationships between an organization's vision, mission, goals, methods and personnel. Similarly, change management has become a business in and of itself, with leaders such as Darly Conner and Joel Barker pioneering methods for and models of organizational change.

The advent of new media, such as the Internet and hypermedia, has brought about not only technological innovations, but also coupled these with new ways of approaching learning and instruction. As opposed to the behavioralist perspective that emphasizes learning objectives, the constructivist approach holds that learners construct their understanding of reality from interpretations of their experiences. Theorists such as Thomas Duffy and Seymour Papert suggest that constructivism provides a model whereby socio-cultural and cognitive issues regarding the design of learning environments can be supported by computer tools. This philosophy has been applied to such computerized technologies as online help systems and programming language LOGO.

In the future, instructional designers are likely to choose one of two paths: specialist or generalist. In the prior path, designers will focus on one aspect of learning or instruction and act as consultants or subject matter experts, whether internal or external to the organization. The other approach is one more aligned with managerial activities. Since the field is becoming too broad for most designers to work with authority in all matters, this option allows practitioners to oversee the development of instructional projects, rather than narrow their efforts exclusively on assessment, analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation or continuous improvement.

Fundamentals of Transportation/Introduction

 

Transportation inputs and outputs

Transportation moves people and goods from one place to another using a variety of vehicles across different infrastructure systems. It does this using not only technology (namely vehicles, energy, and infrastructure), but also people’s time and effort; producing not only the desired outputs of passenger trips and freight shipments, but also adverse outcomes such as air pollution, noise, congestion, crashes, injuries, and fatalities.

Figure 1 illustrates the inputs, outputs, and outcomes of transportation. In the upper left are traditional inputs (infrastructure (including pavements, bridges, etc.), labor required to produce transportation, land consumed by infrastructure, energy inputs, and vehicles). Infrastructure is the traditional preserve of civil engineering, while vehicles are anchored in mechanical engineering. Energy, to the extent it is powering existing vehicles is a mechanical engineering question, but the design of systems to reduce or minimize energy consumption require thinking beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries.

On the top of the figure are Information, Operations, and Management, and Travelers’ Time and Effort. Transportation systems serve people, and are created by people, both the system owners and operators, who run, manage, and maintain the system and travelers who use it. Travelers’ time depends both on freeflow time, which is a product of the infrastructure design and on delay due to congestion, which is an interaction of system capacity and its use. On the upper right side of the figure are the adverse outcomes of transportation, in particular its negative externalities:

• by polluting, systems consume health and increase morbidity and mortality;
• by being dangerous, they consume safety and produce injuries and fatalities;
• by being loud they consume quiet and produce noise (decreasing quality of life and property values); and
• by emitting carbon and other pollutants, they harm the environment.

All of these factors are increasingly being recognized as costs of transportation, but the most notable are the environmental effects, particularly with concerns about global climate change. The bottom of the figure shows the outputs of transportation. Transportation is central to economic activity and to people’s lives, it enables them to engage in work, attend school, shop for food and other goods, and participate in all of the activities that comprise human existence. More transportation, by increasing accessibility to more destinations, enables people to better meet their personal objectives, but entails higher costs both individually and socially. While the “transportation problem” is often posed in terms of congestion, that delay is but one cost of a system that has many costs and even more benefits. Further, by changing accessibility, transportation gives shape to the development of land.

Modalism and Intermodalism

Transportation is often divided into infrastructure modes: e.g. highway, rail, water, pipeline and air. These can be further divided. Highways include different vehicle types: cars, buses, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians. Transportation can be further separated into freight and passenger, and urban and inter-city. Passenger transportation is divided in public (or mass) transit (bus, rail, commercial air) and private transportation (car, taxi, general aviation).

These modes of course intersect and interconnect. At-grade crossings of railroads and highways, inter-modal transfer facilities (ports, airports, terminals, stations).

Different combinations of modes are often used on the same trip. I may walk to my car, drive to a parking lot, walk to a shuttle bus, ride the shuttle bus to a stop near my building, and walk into the building where I take an elevator.

Transportation is usually considered to be between buildings (or from one address to another), although many of the same concepts apply within buildings. The operations of an elevator and bus have a lot in common, as do a forklift in a warehouse and a crane at a port.

Motivation

Transportation engineering is usually taken by undergraduate Civil Engineering students. Not all aim to become transportation professionals, though some do. Loosely, students in this course may consider themselves in one of two categories: Students who intend to specialize in transportation (or are considering it), and students who don't. The remainder of civil engineering often divides into two groups: "Wet" and "Dry". Wets include those studying water resources, hydrology, and environmental engineering, Drys are those involved in structures and geotechnical engineering.

Transportation students

Transportation students have an obvious motivation in the course above and beyond the fact that it is required for graduation. Transportation Engineering is a pre-requisite to further study of Highway Design, Traffic Engineering, Transportation Policy and Planning, and Transportation Materials. It is our hope, that by the end of the semester, many of you will consider yourselves Transportation Students. However not all will.

"Wet Students"

I am studying Environmental Engineering or Water Resources, why should I care about Transportation Engineering?

Transportation systems have major environmental impacts (air, land, water), both in their construction and utilization. By understanding how transportation systems are designed and operate, those impacts can be measured, managed, and mitigated.

"Dry Students"

I am studying Structures or Geomechanics, why should I care about Transportation Engineering?

Transportation systems are huge structures of themselves, with very specialized needs and constraints. Only by understanding the systems can the structures (bridges, footings, pavements) be properly designed. Vehicle traffic is the dynamic structural load on these structures.

Citizens and Taxpayers

Everyone participates in society and uses transportation systems. Almost everyone complains about transportation systems. In developed countries you seldom hear similar levels of complaints about water quality or bridges falling down. Why do transportation systems engender such complaints, why do they fail on a daily basis? Are transportation engineers just incompetent? Or is something more fundamental going on?

By understanding the systems as citizens, you can work toward their improvement. Or at least you can entertain your friends at parties.

Goal

It is often said that the goal of Transportation Engineering is "The Safe and Efficient Movement of People and Goods."

But that goal (safe and efficient movement of people and goods) doesn’t answer:

Who, What, When, Where, How, Why?

Fundamentals of Transportation/Design

In order to have a fully functional transportation system, the links that connect the various origins and destinations need to be designed to a level of quality that allows the safe and efficient movement of all vehicles that use them. This level of quality is reflective to the accurate installment of a geometric design. Such a design needs to take various elements into consideration, including number of lanes, lane width, median type, length of acceleration and deceleration lanes, curve radii, and many more. The detailed work of design has made lifelong careers for many engineers in the past. Today, despite advances in computer software, the basic fundamental understanding of building a highway still needs to be understood to guarantee that intuitive roads continue to be built in the future.

Highway design itself is made up of a spectrum of considerations. Some of the main points are discussed below. Details can be found in their respective sections.

Sight Distance

Sight Distance is the distance a driver can see from his or her vehicle. This becomes important when determining design speed, as it would be unsafe to allow a driver to drive faster and not be able to stop in time for a potential, unforeseen hazard. Sight distance is applied to two main categories:

• Stopping Sight Distance (SSD)

• Passing Sight Distance (PSD)

Grade

Grade is the slope, either upward or downward, of a road. This is especially critical because the terrain on which a road is built is seldom flat, thus requiring inherent "hills" to be present on the road to keep costs down from digging canyons or tunnels. However, too steep of a grade would make it difficult for vehicles to travel along that route. Since a road is built to provide a service to travelers, it is undesirable to have an impassable road.

An appropriate grade is dependent on the engine power in the vehicles that are expected to use the road. This breaks down into a force balance equation, where engine power is countered by various resistances. These include:

• Aerodynamic Resistance

• Rolling Resistance

• Grade Resistance

Horizontal Curves

Horizontal Curves are semicircular curves designed on the horizontal plane to allow roads to weave around obstacles, such as towns, mountains, or lakes. They allow a smooth transition to occur between two nonparallel roads instead of a sharp, pointed turn. When designing horizontal curves, designers must consider the intended design speed, as centripetal force is required to ensure that vehicles can successfully negotiate the curve. Such elements to consider for design include:

• Curve Radius

• Superelevation

Vertical Curves

Vertical Curves are placed to allow the road to follow the terrain, whether it be hills or valleys. Vertical curves are primarily designed as parabolas, using the general form of the parabolic equation with coefficients corresponding to known elements for the road in question. Designers can design a road by adjusting these elements and minimizing costs. These elements include:

• Inbound and Outbound Grades

• Curve Length

• Rate of curvature

Cross Sections

Roadway cross sections are important in design primarily for drainage. If roads were flat and level, water would congregate on the surface, reduce the coefficient of friction, and become a safety concern. Therefore, designers implement a "crown" cross section, which has a high elevation along the road's centerline and then tapers off as it leads to the shoulders. This slope is generally very small and unnoticeable by drivers, but succeeds in allowing the water to run into the ditches or storm sewers.

Earthwork

Earthwork plays into highway design as primarily a budgetary concern. The movement of earth, regardless if it is to a site, away from a site, or around a site, is an expensive venture. Designers often make roadway designs with a minimal amount of necessary earthwork to keep project costs down. However, knowing how to minimize dirt movement requires an understanding of the process.

Pavement Design

Pavement design generally is not considered part of geometric design, but is still an important part of the design process. In order to facilitate efficient traffic flow, the road beneath the vehicles' tires needs to sturdy, stable, and smooth. Pavement engineers are responsible for determining appropriate pavement depths necessary to allow traffic to pass on a certain road. Inadequate engineering would result in cracking, formation of potholes, and total degradation of the roadway surface.

Off shoring Car Design to India

Automotive industry is not new to off shoring. The practice began a decade ago when the need of sourcing auto parts and components was encompassing the automotive value chain. One of the most urgent needs for the growth of auto industry is off shoring automotive designs.

Car designing is the one of the most vital stage of car manufacturing that sees a huge potential for off shoring to India. Off shoring car design simply means taking car designing process to another country.

India is a well-positioned and established country that has proven its offshoring capabilities and is almost ready to exploit. With such a huge and emerging market in India, most of the car manufacturers in US and Europe are outsourcing their car design requirements. The key reason behind outsourcing is the intense competition between countries with respect to growing pressures in all spheres of the designing arena.

Why India

Overseas market are facing a tough time with growing pressures because of the downward volume pressure, aggressive competition, low capacity utilization, high labour cost, and long product lifecycles. India is one such country that has proved its worth as one of the best offshoring destination because of the following reasons:

• Reduced Cost: In India, the cost of labour and production is much lower as compared to that in Europe and US. Even the cost of equipment and raw materials is less in India.
• Shorter Time for Production: Indian professionals are talented and skilled in their profession. They are believed to deliver work in minimum time period because of 24*7 hours work capabilities.
• More Profit Margins: obviously, if the required work is done at a comparatively cheap price, the profit margins will be high. This high profit margin gives a golden opportunity to OEMs and auto ancillaries to sustain their investment and have better gains.

Offshoring Process

OEMs and auto ancillaries from across the world contact service providers in India to start their offshore operation. These manufacturers even establish their centers in India to offshore their activities and are involved in high-end design services. After the operation request reaches the supplier, the Indian based center and employees get the work done with the best of their knowledge and expertise in minimum time period. They then hand over the car design template to the auto manufacturers and after approval from them, these undergo the cycle of production.

Some of the OEMs also contact a third party to get their operations done with minimum cost involved. This takes them to pay extra for the third party involved in between the offshoring process.

Design Services Offshored

The design services offshored to India are most probably mechanical in nature. Some of the most common services offshored are data, validation, and manufacturing. It also comprises casting design, fixture design, tool design, electronic designs, vibration analysis, detailing, meshing, customization, and even placement of interior car accessories.

Electronics design services also includes embedded systems and top-notch accessories that have gradually establish a strong market in the Indian car industry. Some of the car manufacturers also offshore IT services that are associated with car designing. Such kind of services includes software and technical systems required for advanced in-car technologies that are driven by computers. These include navigation system, driver’s control, cruise control, airbags, and anti-lock braking system.

Prominent Design Institutes in India

One of the great advantages of offshoring car designing to India is a number of good design institutes that roll out skilled, talented and expert car designers. These designers graduate with unmatched performance and high-end technical know-how. Some of the most prominent design institutes comprise National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, IIT in Delhi, Raffles Design International in Mumbai, D J Academy of Design in Coimbatore, IILM School of Design in Delhi, Institute of Design in Pune, and Creative-i College of Arts in Pune.

Apart from these there are many more reputed and recognized designing institutes in the country. One of the famous car designer, Dilip Chabbria, from India, is one of the most renowned and popular names in the car designing industry. Many overseas markets have approached this great designer to design cars for them.