Automotive Design Internship

Winner of Best Innovation and overall 2015 Student Designer of the Year

Internship CCS
Age 21
Home city Shanghai
School Tongji University

Car Design News What has been the most interesting part of your experience?

Li Yimeng Because I rarely travel, the most interesting part of the placement for me was the ten-day research trip. We travelled more than 3200-kilometres and experienced a proper American road trip. This also included a lot of firsts for me: the first time I've been to a beach, the first time riding a horse, the first time fishing and many more. More importantly, I felt for the first time America's unique passion for cars.

CDN What have you learnt as a designer during your placement at the CCS?

LY Relaxation helps me to design, and different life experiences help to stimulate different feelings that may ultimately be reflected in the finished design work. The research trip helped me to relax without restraint, and also helped me to experience lots of new things. I gained a lot of inspiration, and there are great stories behind the design that was created after this journey.

What advice would you give to people considering the Car Design Awards China?

LY Car Design Awards China gathers together students from around the country to compete, and provides a good opportunity for each contestant to prove their ability. Therefore regardless of the result, this is a contest worth entering.

Tell us a fun story about your experience

LY We gathered at Professor Kuni’s house in the last weekend. I went fishing for the first time and when I caught my first fish I was so excited I didn’t realise that the lake was just behind me and fell into the water.

Has this been a positive experience and why?

LY Of course, it has been a very rewarding experience. Apart from experiencing the unique American automotive culture and learning design techniques, I think the most important part is that this experience made me want to be better. I saw lots of outstanding student design work at CCS, and also cooperated with professional designers from Japan during this one-month placement. Living in such an environment made me long for more excitement in future.