Sustainable Cars and the Future of Manufacturing: How concern for the environment and the revolution in 3D-Printing could change automotive design forever

OVERVIEW

Movement is Life itself. Stop moving as a society and we die. Today, about 1 billion people move around by automobile.  By 2050, the number of drivers and cars may reach 2.5 billion. Can the world handle so many gas cars roaming the planet? Some believe this will cause catastrophic ecological collapse.

Jim Kor and a seasoned team of designers believe now is the time to act on ecological decay. They created a car engineered for global sustainability. They call it URBEE (Urban Electric). They believe that steering automotive technology away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy is vital to our very survival as an emerging global civilization.

THE PROMISE OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

When 3D Printing is used to make production parts, it is called Additive Manufacturing. The URBEE team views this emerging technology as crucial to the design and development of a global environmental car for this Century. Only Additive Manufacturing allows the full adoption and integration of the folowing design tools and mindsets:

1. Computerised Simulation - which allows for design refinement and optimization

2. High Performance Computing - which allows designers to find solutions that are way off the beaten path, and yet prove to be better

3. Biomimicry - which allows Learning from Nature and opens the door for the creation of truly sustainable designs within our built environment.

Only Additive Manufacturing has the ability to build the incredibly complicated designs that the above design tools and mindsets will create. This is the power of this emerging technology, as our global civilization steers towards sustainability.

THE PRESENTATION

Hear Jim Kor describe the philosophy behind the URBEE project and why he, as a designer, finds 3D Printing so interesting and compelling as a manufacturing process. Jim will describe the creation of the first prototype Urbee, which has been called the first 3D printed car in the world (its body was 3D printed). Also, it is very likely the 'greenest' practical, two-person car yet envisioned, on Earth. Jim will also lay out the Team's plans to design, build, and demonstrate a second car, called URBEE 2. This all-new car, already begun, will have more than 50% of its parts 3D printed. These parts will be designed from the onset specifically for Additive Manufacturing. URBEE 2 will demonstrate the benefits of this new way of manufacturing in our drive towards sustainability.

Jim uses Powerpoint and the presentation is very visual, shown in a darkened room and paced at a rate of about 6 seconds per slide. Jim's presentations integrate the benefits of watching a movie with those of listening to a speech. For those audience members interested to know more about the URBEE project or Additive Manufacturing, Jim points them towards the URBEE website ( www.URBEE.net ) and invites anyone to email him in order to receive several reports, which elaborate on the content of the presentation. The Powerpoint itself will also be made available through Dropbox.

SPEAKER: JIM KOR

Jim Kor is an Engineer with a lifetime of experience designing machinery for mass production. He combines vision with empathy, and believes that the ultimate goal of Design is to serve the public good. He designs only worthwhile products that carefully work in harmony with the natural landscape.

He lives in Winnipeg, in the middle of Canada, with his wife, two sons, a dog, and three cats.