In Black America; Ed Welburn, Auto Designer

From the University of Texas at Austin, KUT Radio, this is In Black America. As a new designer, I was in one of our advanced design studios working on some future products for Chevrolet. Then I moved on to Buick and spent a couple years there working on Buick Park Avenue and Riviera. And then spent several years in the Oldsmobile studio working on Cutlet Supremes. As well as there that I worked on the design for the pace curve for the Indianapolis 500 on. Ed Wellburn, vice president of Global Design at General Motors. On October 1, 2003, Wellburn became the sixth design leader in General Motors history. On March 1, 2005, he was named to the newly created position of GM Vice President Global Design. He has what may be the largest

design organization in the world. He is the first African-American to run a design studio of a major car company. He leads 10 design centers in eight countries and manages 1500 creative personalities. He is responsible for design development of all GM cars and trucks. After the well-publicized news of domestic automakers, financial woes, subsequent bailout and new stock offerings, the company is maintaining its commitment to design and well-burned is leading that effort. Wellburn is one of the highest-ranking African-American automobile executives in the world. As a child growing up in Philadelphia, he spent hours tracing over sketches his father had done of 1930s-Judenbirds and similar classics. At age 11, he wrote GM, regarding a future with the company as a car designer. In his current position, Wellburn brings a blend of soft-smoking corporate diplomacy and digital era innovation. I'm John L. Hanson, Jr. and welcome to another edition of In Black America. On this week's

program, all of the designers wrote to success with Ed Wellburn in Black America. The technology has allowed us to develop the designs faster and with greater accuracy and we're able to communicate instead of just showing the engineers a picture or hand them a drawing of what we're doing. We can give them the data. We can give them the information quickly and much more, much earlier. Share it with the engineers whether they're here in Detroit or in China or in Australia. We can send the information to them right away. And that collaboration with engineering early on, I think really helps us to develop a much better quality vehicle. Ed Wellburn always knew he wanted to design cars. As a kid growing up in Philadelphia, he saw his future, his father owned an auto body and repair shop. He would draw so many pictures of cars that he regularly ran

out of the conventional spaces to sketch his creations. Born on December 14th, 1950, he grew up in Philadelphia. He received a bachelor's degree in 1972 from the College of Fine Arts at Howard University in Washington, D.C. where he studied product design and sculpture. He began his GM career in 1972 as a social designer in the advanced design studios and has held various positions at Oldsmall Bill, Sadden, and Oakland. His passion for performance was evident in design of the Oldsmall Bill Arrow Tech, which established two world records of more than 250 miles an hour in 1987, driven by the legendary AJ Foyte. After his return from a city in Europe in 1998, he was named director of GM New Corporate Brand Center, a digital studio where he was responsible for developing concept and production vehicles. Wellburn is the man who designed the Cadillac Escalade, Hummer H2, and the Chevy SSR. Today, he is the vice president of Global Design at General Motors. He is the first African

American to rise to what is considered one of the most prestigious positions in the automobile industry. I've always been around cars. My father owned a body repair shop, auto body repair shop and spent a lot of my time there. So I've been interested in cars and designing cars since a very young age. Can you remember the first car you actually designed or a model car? Yes, I can, on two fronts. Number one, I've been drawing cars since I was two and a half, and my mother saved some of those drawings. I have some of them today. At age 11, just crazy back cars, drawing cars, building model cars, I wrote General Motors, and asked him for information about careers in design. And what schools to go to and all of that. And they sent me a great letter, responded to my request, and I just followed their direction.

Were you surprised that they actually wrote you back? Actually not, I just kind of expected that. And yeah, they did respond with a great letter, great information. We do that today. Any young person who writes us, we will send them the appropriate information. Did they steal you towards Howard University, or are you going to go there anyway? They steered me to a school of fine arts that had a program of concentration in design, and Howard University has got that. Tell us about the course, load, and the experience at Howard University in their design program. Well, it was a great time to be at Howard. It was kind of a golden period in the school of fine arts. School of fine arts is divided into three areas. Art, music, and drama. At the same time, I was there. Donald Bird was one of the instructors. Felicia Rashad was

a student there. Debbie Allen was there. Roberta Flack, Donnie Hathaway. So it was this very rich, creative environment. And within the art department, I was a student of Ed Love and of Lois Jones, and I had double major in both product design and sculpture. I feel though automobiles are very sculptural objects. At least the best ones are. And the half of background in sculpture would be of real advantage. As the chief of design for General Motors, what are your duties and responsibilities? Well, I am responsible for the design of all General Motors products here in North America for all of our brands, both interior and exterior. And then we have design studios around the world. We have a total of 11 studios around the world. And I chair our global council.

We have design studios in Europe and in Asia, Pacific, and in South America as well. And you have 600 and some designers globally. Yes, it is over 600. And it's just great to visit the studios and have design reviews with them whether it's in Brazil or in China or Korea or wherever. Okay, how do you design a car by committee? You keep the committee small. That really helps. And it isn't designed by committee as you might think. It is a small group of leaders in the company who have a real passion for our products that make those very tough decisions. And it's easier for them to make that decision when we as a design team give them some great choices. If we're working on design of an

all new Cadillac, if we present, if we have, we develop multiple great design themes. Instead to show them one design, show them two or three designs, great designs. And it's a lot easier to go forward with a great product for a production. Now you came to General Motors in 1972 as an associate designer in the advanced design studio. What were you involved with in that capacity? When I have worked in a variety of studios, I think essentially all of them. But as a new designer, I was in one of our advanced design studios working on some future products for Chevrolet. Then I moved on to Buick and spent a couple years there working on Buick, Park Avenue's and Riviera's, and then spent several years in the Oldsmobile studio working

on Cutlet Supremes. As well as there that I worked on the design for the pace car for the Indianapolis 500 on. Tell us about that experience. It was great because when you design a pace car, it all moves very quick. It's a fast moving project. It had the opportunity to spend time down to speedway. And I've worked on four pace cars now. So I've spent quite a bit of time around IndyCar racing in some of the teams. So yeah, it's a fun assignment to have. When you get an idea for a design, are you working from a historical perspective on some of the vehicles or, and then some of the designs are just totally out there and you're coming up with something new, different and exciting? Well, it depends on the project. It depends on the assignment. And I think we have some

very powerful brands. And the build on that heritage of the brand is, I think, very important. But to do it in a very contemporary way, very modern way. Don't want to relive some of the old things. You may want to do that, but do it in a very fresh, new way. The SSR builds on the heritage of Chevy trucks from the 1940s and 50s. But it's done in a cool performance or in a modern way. I just use an example. And the new Corvette that we just introduced, the C6 Corvette, the sixth generation, builds on that great history of the Corvette. You can see elements of the design of the 63 Corvette stingray in it. And that really builds some equity. It builds, it has strong roots when you can do something

like that. How has the technology and material used in today's automobiles influenced the way you all go about designing cars? The technology has allowed us to develop the design faster. And with greater accuracy and we're able to communicate instead of just showing the engineers a picture or hand them a drawing of what we're doing. We can give them the data. We can give them the information quickly and much more, much earlier. Share it with the engineers whether they're here in Detroit or in China or in Australia. We can send the information to them right away. And that collaboration with engineering early on, I think really helps us to develop a much better quality vehicle. I know you're stronger at designing a higher quality one. I understand. I know the computer has assisted you all in being able to do 3D imaging and what have you.

But do you still get your hands dirty with the clay and what have you? We still have the clay and we're going to still have the clay. There's an off-line we can do in virtual reality and we have virtual reality labs around the world. But to take that information, that computer information and mill out a clay model and then have sculptors continue to refine it. Get that real passion in the design. It's very important. Have you been able to put your finger on what that particular gift you have and other designers have that minds I guess in coming up with these creations? It's just all about passion for design. I know there have been a number of people who have interviewed me. They like to hear the story about me designing cars at a young age and writing GM. But I think it's a common story that most of us designers have had. It's a passion for design for cars from a very early age.

Are there any basic subjects one should look at if they're contemplating on becoming a designer? Say an elementary junior higher high school. I think so. Art courses are very good. It's just a perfect foundation. Not just design, but art. I think some of the most valuable courses I had coming up and at Howard University would have been some of the lifestyle drawing courses. It's just drawing, figure drawing. If you can draw a person that is very fluid and has great motion, I think it goes a long way helping you to draw a car that's got great motion and is fluid and looks muscular and has some strength in it. So courses like that are valuable and understanding computer skills are extremely important. So are writing skills. Sometimes to sell a design, it takes more than a pretty sketch. You've got to be able to communicate with others whether

it's written or spoken. Everyone wants a car to look well, but I also understand that they're a safety concerns. How do you all go through that process of yes, we want this flashy, aerodynamic vehicle, but it has also needs to be safe for the consumer. Yes, it does. Safety is the absolute highest priority with us in the development of our designs. It really requires early involvement with or collaboration with engineering and clear understanding of all the parameters, safety parameters of the vehicle. And we as designers don't consider that an obstacle at all. I mean, we consider the challenge at times, but it really I think it's an exciting challenge. Has it ever come to a point where you all have designed something and the engineers say,

well, this is not going to work where it's designed? Yeah, we've had that, but not as much today as we used to, because we're working with engineering from the very beginning of the process. We're working together in collaboration, so it's not like we do a design and hand it to them. We're working together. How difficult is it the approval process once a design has taken shape and you had said grace over it and you move it on to the powers that be at JN? Well, the largest, probably the largest step in the approval process is the approval to actually do the program. Okay. Now once you've got over that, then I think because of the way we operate, things move quite smoothly in the development of the vehicle. We bring leadership in on a very regular

basis to see the development of the design and have an understanding of how it's progressing. GM is a worldwide corporation. Is there any difference in the vehicles design and manufactured here in North America versus those that are in Asia, Europe, or other parts of the world? Well, it's a very global company and we have designed studios around the world and it's good to have studios close to the customer, close to the market. They have a real understanding of what the customers needs are. But we're really, as a global organization, growing to the point where there's more collaboration, more working together, more sharing of components. There are areas of the vehicle that the customer doesn't care what they look like, the actual framework or the platform that the vehicle's built on. So if you can make that comment

around the world, then the savings are tremendous. The customer would rather you take that money and spend it on interior features and materials and things like that. I'm glad you mentioned interior features. In the process of design, do you work inside out or outside in or front to back or whatever? We have to work the two together. If you design the exterior first and then try to shoe horn and interior and the results might not be quite right and you may have to start all over just to get the space working right. So we kind of work from course to fine, mapping at the interior space and the exterior dimensions, working pretty rough both inside and at. And then we just gradually refine all of that. When you were told that you were going to become GM's design leader, where were your reaction? I'm still reacting to it today. I don't know, excitement. I realized the challenge is

very incredible. The stakes are very high. I mean, this is one of the most competitive periods in the auto industry. But I accept the challenges of it and really enjoy what I do. Is it any added pressures being the first African-American to run a design studio for a major auto maker? Do you think about it? I think about it. I do think about it. And there certainly has been a lot of attention brought to me because of it. I'm sure. But I really enjoyed the team of people that I work with, not only here in Detroit, but around the world. They've welcomed me in. We have great dialogue. We have this great spirit and energy around the work that we're doing.

And it's just an absolute wonderful experience. I do feel like I have the best job in the auto industry. I know you have your own expectations and goals and objectives. What do you want to attempt to achieve while you're in this position? Wow. Yeah, but if I told you that, I'd be given away the secrets to success of general motors. Well, from a design, seriously, I probably the biggest thing I can do is to create an environment that designers, sculptors, and engineers just love to work in. If you can create that great environment, and that's not just a physical environment, but it's a place where you work, a place where designers feel, though, they're free to express their

ideas that they're able to work in collaboration with engineers and just a very creative environment in that respect. That's the biggest thing I can do as well as develop this global network of studios because when you've got that really rolling, I mean, all 11 of those studios working in collaboration, it is a tool that is so powerful that General Motors has. What is the future direction of design at GM? Well, it is bold, striking designs, but it's also that the, I think, real advantage we have is with the number of brands that we have that we're able to really cover the market, really deploy those brands, and cover the market in a way that other companies can't do that. And so we're able to have a very diverse portfolio of products that will appeal

to a ever more diverse marketplace. How is GM as a corporation to work for? You've been there a good while now. I've been there for 32 years, and really enjoy. I feel as though this is what's exciting time in industry right now. It's a very good time to be a General Motors. It's got a leadership team that, I mean, they are, in fact, a real team, and they have a passion for the product, passion for design, are very supportive of design, and they recognize how important design and the product is for the future of the company. One of the things that I am now an officer to company, and when I'm in those board meetings, I am so impressed. It's one of the first reactions I had in my first meeting, and I continue

to have that reaction with every time we meet is how much of a team it is from the very highest level of the company. Historically, Cadillac has been the brand of General Motors. When you thought about General Motors, you thought about Cadillac. How much of an emphasis if there is one with keeping that status among its corporate brand? If you think of the entire portfolio of General Motors as being like a pyramid, Cadillac would be at the top. It is the premium vehicle, and it is a global vehicle. We've got a whole network of brand new showrooms that are opening in Europe. Just fantastic. Cadillac is going to China in a big way. It's very important. There's been a lot of work creating a very

clear, crisp vision for the Cadillac brand, and it is in place that vision. It's because of that clear vision. We've been able to develop and get into production all these great new Cadillacs, one after another, in the CTS, the Escalate, the XLR, the SRX. Do that very quick, and now we've got the new STS coming out that we've been able to move quickly because it's a clear vision. Is there a particular reason why SUVs just took off like wildfire? Is it the new station wagon of the 21st century? It's kind of the new family car. Both SUVs and the vehicles like I knew Chevy and GMC, the short, short box crew cab built down it. Built in Texas has, I think, become the new

family vehicle. It just seems to be very comfortable. Do all the things that our customers are looking for. We've got a variety, ranging from Chevrolet to GMC to Cadillac that allows us to develop very different executions of it. The Escalate has become a real fashion statement. Something I mean, you're celebrity's buying two at a time. Just that. I'm quite sure every design that you all come up with is going to be the best thing since sliced bread. Have you been surprised that the expectations of a particular design have gone beyond what you expected? There are those vehicles that are surprised, but when you've lived with the development

all the way through and you see the buzz that's kind of created, you first sense that here in our design building, when the studio that was working on the Chevy Equinox, when they were working on that design and we had to claim model was coming together and the word got out around the building that there was something really hot down there in the Chevy Studio. That was when I first started to notice the buzz with the Equinox. Here it is in the market today and that buzz is continues with it. Do you all give yourself a timeline on design so is it open-ended? We try to, you know, the designer, he does a hot sketch, he can't wait to see them production. We would like for it to happen very quick, but we do realize that it takes time to develop the design and to develop the design with quality and a vehicle that we're all going to be proud of when it's on the street and it's built with quality and we're able to keep the

price within line. Ed Wilburn, Vice President, Global Design at General Motors. If you have questions, comments or suggestions ask your future in Black America programs, email us at lowercase.jhansen.html at kut.org. Also, let us know what radio station you heard us over. The views and opinions expressed on this program are not necessarily those of this station or of the University of Texas at Austin. You can get previous programs online at kut.org. Until we have the opportunity again for technical-produced David Alvarez, I'm John L. Hansen Jr. Thank you for joining us today. Please join us again next week. CD copies of this program are available and may be purchased by writing in Black America CDs, KUT Radio, one university station, Austin, Texas, 78712. That's in Black America CDs, KUT Radio, one university station, Austin, Texas, 78712. This has been a production

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