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Cool new UH exhibit showcases cutting-edge student electric vehicle design
Students created models and renderings of their designs.
Students at the the University of Houston’s Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design are showing off ideas that could shape the future of transportation. The school’s Mashburg Gallery is hosting a new exhibition that shows off 16 projects designed to show interior and exterior for future electric vehicles.
Sponsored by Photon Auto, an EV company from Houston, the competition provides juniors and seniors in the college’s industrial design program with the opportunity to receive feedback from people in the automotive industry.
Attendees will see both 3D scaled models and high resolution digital renderings of the designs.
“Through our program, students in the past have designed other modes of transportation, such as bicycles and electric scooters, but we’ve never done a car,” associate professor of industrial design Mark Kimbrough said in a statement. “The timing for this project is amazing, because the electric vehicle industry is moving to Texas. This is an opportunity to position our design program and be ready for the industry.”
Judges will use criteria such as innovation, originality, and quality of execution to pick a winner. That student will receive $1,000 and an internship at Photon Auto.
Houston’s Photon Auto aims to help shape the future of automobiles. Its name stems from the company’s use of LIDAR systems that will identify objects in the road and aid advanced craft protection. Ultimately, it plans to develop luxury vehicles with more than 500 miles of range.
Other sponsors include TexPower EV Technologies Inc, a company that develops battery technology, and IQP Inc. (Integrated Quantum Photonics), a company that develops sensors for use in electric vehicles. Working together, they show how Houston could become part of America’s automotive future.
“The city is rapidly transitioning to a hub of innovation in electric vehicle technologies, including car design, batteries and photonics, Photon Auto CEO John Houghtaling said. “I’m very pleased see to how young designers diligently incorporated the ideas of luxury, comfortable and safe autonomous riding which Photon Auto envisions in our coming electric vehicles.”
