The faculty advisor of Lawrence Technological University (LTU)’s IDSA Student Chapter is taking part in the Center Stage Discussion on Oct. 5, 2017 at the WardsAuto UX Conference in Nuvi, MI.
Keith Nagara, IDSA, is director of LTU’s transportation and industrial design programs. The topic: as vehicles advance to higher levels of autonomy, merging advanced driver assist systems with the human machine interface to create a holistic user experience is proving to be challenging; participants will compare and contrast philosophies and designs based on the most-recent JD Power research and explores new paths for UX designers and safety engineers to follow in the future.
“My presentation at this conference will touch on the user experience as it relates to car ownership, starting from 1900 with coach building to car ownership of how it has evolved over the years, to how it’s migrating today with ride sharing and where transportation is headed into the future concerning world population along with urbanization,” Nagara tells IDSA.
In addition, Nagara’s students from ID and transportation design and some from the IDSA Student Chapter at LTU, are participating in a WardsAuto competition. They previewed their projects to WardsAuto in September. Their concepts cover everything from knowledge sharing to safety enhancements, with a strong emphasis on qualities of life that are important to millennials and the “iGeneration.”
Among the students presenting at the conference is Anushka Ghatia, who also is interning with Honda. Another instructor heads up the LTU is Emilio Feliciano, a LTU transportation design alum who was featured at the Consumer Electronics Show as the lead UX designer of the FCA Portal Concept.
“The students are in the early stages of their conceptual and design work,” says Drew Winter, director of content for WardsAuto, “but already we’re seeing some amazing ideas being fleshed out. It’s always exciting for us to see the next generation of designers and engineers give their takes on where the auto industry is headed, and we can’t wait until we see their finished designs.”
The final work of the LTU students will be judged by a panel of automotive designers and engineers in December with winners announced on WardsAuto.com.