ASME Automotive Design Article Jeff Teague Automotive Designer

ASME Automotive Design Article Jeff Teague Automotive Designer ASME Automotive Design Article Jeff Teague Automotive Designer Jeff Teague, an automotive designer and the son of the renowned industrial designer Richard A. Teague, has been around car designs his whole life. That can be attributed to his father, who became a higher-up in styling for Packard and Chrysler in the 1950s. Now, having designed for Volkswagen, Mitsubishi, and many others himself, Teague doesnt long for the vehicles of his fathers days. In many ways, he cant even recognize them.Major changes happen every 10 to 12 years, Teague says. Now were looking at environmental cars and trying to match electric cars with designs that make sense. Everyday cars that can go 100 miles a gallon.Dont overlook it, it might be just eight years away.Jeff Teague.But is Teague overlooking what cars used to mean in comparison to today? Maybe youd be glad it wasnt your fathers Oldsmobile, but would you feel the same way about most of t he other makes? After all, American graffito helped revive the classic car shows for a reasonbecause people instantly remembered how individual so many vehicles were. Its hard to imagine the same kind of nostalgia for some of todays cars.Teague will admit some had their merit. I was just speaking at the Packard International Club and I was pretty impressed by the old Packard Caribbeans, he says. I dont think today we could reproduce those cars. The complexity of all the materials could you imagine gluing these cars together with a 5,000-pound body, the wheelbase, the width of a big, fat sedan?Jeff Teagues sketch of the AMX 3.Advances in Design SoftwareWeve looked to the past but what does the future hold? Well, you can build a house how you want it, why not a car?It takes half the time it once did to get a car off the ground, Teague says. So whats speeding up this process? Its definitely the software, says Teague, who primarily uses Alias. I am now learning Solidworks and also Rhino ceros. They are great programs that make design and engineering that much faster.According to Teague, the entertainment of designing cars could really become a reality for a fast concept sketch to CAD. It takes me about a week to 10 days to get good surface data. The other advantage is for reverse engineering, he says.Teague is really impressed by the complexity of the Old Packard Carribean. Peoples personal taste will be so much more important. Look at the Smart Car, the different panels you can get. Interiors will be designed like your living roomhow you want it. Even three-wheel design is becoming big because you dont need to worry about the DOT Department of Transportation specs.Teague is particularly impressed by the buckypaper super-lightweight builds using nanotechnology. Its different materialwide as paper but 500 times stronger than steel, he says. Imagine what kind of power you can get with thatAs long as theyre in the early stages, electric cars and the batteries still ha ve to be seen as a problem due to weight, a problem about which Teague remains optimistic. But its just a matter of time, he says. Green vehicles will be 100% green and will run on plastic. But when continues to be the question, he laughs.Eric Butterman is an independent writer.The entertainment of designing cars could really become a reality for a fast concept sketch to CAD.Jeff Teague, automotive designer