Student drive wins car design award

By Kellie Godena
GREG Pitts is making his mark on the world.
The former Launching Place Primary and Pembroke Secondary student has designed a car of the future.
Mr Pitts, 24, was part of a Deakin University team which won a competition run by Ford in September to design a revolutionary vehicle for today that embodied the attributes of the Ford Model T – the car that changed the 20th century.
Only six schools and universities from around the world were selected to compete in the Ford Global Challenge which celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Ford Model T.
A Core Design team of seven students, including Mr Pitts, put in long hours to create the winning design.
Several other students and professors from Deakin University also helped with the project.
Mr Pitts, the chief stylist, said the win was great, although he didn’t think it would happen.
“It was a surprise in a lot of ways,” he said, “especially being up against some of the best design teams in the world.”
The schools were given only four months to complete their models and designs, which Mr Pitts said was “a tight schedule.”
However, he thought that this would be an interesting and “challenging project” to participate in.
“It was something a bit out of the ordinary,” he said.
The competition was judged by five members of the Ford Motor Company and the team won $25,000 worth of scholarships for Deakin University.
Greg Pitts graduated from Deakin University’s Geelong Campus in 2007 with a Bachelor of Architecture and is now studying for his master’s degree.
He will be studying for a PhD next year.