Welcome to Drift. A truly multi-purpose informative source of automotive industry updates, ideas and trends.
We are captivated with automotive design. For us, it’s more than work, it’s passion. This is a place where we connect and collaborate with the automotive community, building a direct relationship with our followers and industry stakeholders. Here you can stay informed of where we see the industry going, how the consumer mindset is changing, and how our solutions can enable you to be successful in your career.
What’s New
Much is changing in the automotive industry. The conceptual autos that are displayed at shows around the world...
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is famous in the automotive world for being one of the toughest courses to...
Many of the product pictures you see in marketing brochures or across the web probably aren’t pictures at all,...
Technology advancements are often a hurry-up and wait pattern. If you consider Geoffrey Moore’s theory in Crossing the Chasm...
The history of the Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) is a strong example of how end-users drive not only demand,...
When you think about the pinnacle of automotive engineering, you think speed. There may be other measures of a...
There’s no doubt that electric vehicles (EVs) have come a long way in terms of design and practicality since...
Image Source: Wikimedia The automotive industry is one of the most primed areas to experience the technological benefits of...
You probably have some knowledge of how internal combustion engines work. They involve pistons, cams, explosions, and more, but...
In VRED 2019, a tool called Sceneplate editor has been added to simplify the workflow when working with multiple front and...
Automotive designers and engineers are continuously pushing the boundaries of what is possible within the space. One of the...
When you’re designing in VRED, it’s often necessary to add character into your design to add realism and show...
Virtual reality is fully infiltrating the design space, from electrical design to automotive. This new tool has come a...
Design programs are constantly getting streamlined so that the end user, possibly you, is able to focus on what...
Virtual reality is fully infiltrating the design space, from electrical design to automotive. This new tool has come a...
Google the term “lightweighting” and you’ll find that the first several pages include links to automotive-related sites and applications,...
Researchers from Mercedes-Benz R&D centerImage Source The automobile industry has been a driving force in many areas of industrial...
Image Source Owning a car is a distinctive accomplishment in a person’s life, but due to advances in autonomous...
As oil prices have fallen globally, the automotive market has shifted to favoring large gas guzzlers once again, but...
Chances are the car you currently own gets somewhere in the range of 20 to 30 mpg. If you’re...
![The US Automotive Industry [Infographic]](http://shortsleeveandtieclub.com/wp-content/uploads/Automotive-Industry-Info-796x1024.jpg)
Automotive engineers and the US automotive industry are essential to our economy. It’s a complex industry that stretches from...
![A Quick Guide to the Chinese Automotive Industry [Infographic]](http://shortsleeveandtieclub.com/wp-content/uploads/Chinese-Automotive-Industry.jpg)
The Chinese automotive industry is the biggest of any country in the world. As you try to grasp the...
Between 20-21 March, Autodesk hosted the Automotive Innovation Forum (AIF) at the Hilton Munich Airport Hotel, a flagship automotive...
If you don’t know Peter Spriggs then you likely haven’t been following the Autodesk Alias and VRED social media...
It’s finally here. My bags are packed, my itinerary’s set and soon I’ll be en route to Munich for...
Image Source: Wikimedia Despite the growth of electric vehicles around the world, full-sized pickups continue to rise in dominance...
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons The cloud isn’t just for backing up your phone’s photos or storing work documents, it...
Pimp Santa’s Ride (in just 5 easy steps) Santa needs your help!!! His old 2016 vehicle is simply out of date;...
Remember feeling free to dream? Or, having that spirit that seemed unbreakable, where no mountain was too high to...
Spookiest Ride Entries for 2017 are in – help us decide the winners! Autodesk Automotive challenged #VRED users to create the...
Recent hurricanes across the US were incredibly damaging and will take years to recover from. In the destruction, Hurricanes...
Spookiest Ride 2017: Do you have what it takes? Calling all ghouls, goblins and ghosts…in anticipation of Halloween on...
Christian Grajewski is a designer for the Volkswagen Future Center Europe, specializing in interiors. A job many aspiring designers...
To start, it seems like every trade journal, conference and training event has some discussion around Millennial workers. There’s...
After months of sketching, rendering, modifying, deleting, sketching, rendering, modifying and deleting, you finally have it… You were tasked...
In the automotive industry, new technology seems to flow from the top down. Groundbreaking concepts for new engines, steering...
Self-driving cars are going to change many things about our daily lives, and simulation technologies are right at the...
If you are a classic car lover or an automotive enthusiast, it’s hard to imagine cars like the Honda...
In our previous post, What Makes a Car Truly Classic?, we discussed the design elements that have made a...
We often hear the word “classic” and attribute that to age. But what makes something classic is not age,...
Self-driving cars and autonomous vehicles are the next big thing in the automotive industry. All this innovation is begging...
The Chinese automotive market became the biggest in 2009. In 2015 alone, 21.2 million passenger vehicles were sold in...
Paddle shifters in some form or fashion are making their way into many newer car models. For a technology...
In previous articles you’ve likely read about the relevance and many uses of VR and AR to enhance the...
With Uber, Lyft, and other ride and car sharing platforms becoming commonplace in modern society, where does that leave...
For ages, manual transmissions were the best way to control the shifting in cars, but recent advances have made...
As oil prices have fallen globally, the automotive market has shifted to favoring large gas guzzlers once again, but...
Pimp Santas Ride Entries are in – help us decide the winners! Autodesk Automotive challenged #Alias, #Speedform and #VRED users...
In terms of media coverage, Tesla is leading the way in the electric vehicle industry, but could the Chevrolet...
The global push away from fossil fuels is growing, but what alternatives do car manufacturers have to trusty old...
Pimp Santa’s Ride (in just 5 easy steps) Santa needs your help!!! His ride is out of date and...
The Automotive Design process is among the most complex as it requires input from so many different groups, including:...
Attending industry events requires investment of both time and money, and many times failing to make a strong business...
It’s not every day that you leave a conversation with somebody feeling energized, empowered and excited for your own...
There is still time to vote! On August 8th, the top 14 entries from the top designers from 7 countries...
Go for the Gold in the 2016 VRED Render It Competition! If you’re a world-class rendering maven and are passionate about...
Often advanced surface modeling is described as a magical thing. Terms like “Class A” or “Class 1” surfaces are...
One of Steve Job’s legacies was his ability to never lose focus of his intent for the end user’s...
Read an article on www.thecoolist.com which got me thinking about the kinds of things we are seeing in cars...
Do you ever get designer’s block? Like writer’s block, you can’t seem to draw anything of value. Sketch after sketch...
You know the phrase “seeing is believing”? Marketers have always used their creative brains to illustrate and inspire, but...
The latest version of Alias was launched earlier this month and what better way to announce it than with...
Autodesk Details Automotive Roadmap and Delivers 2017 Versions of Alias and VRED Powerful forces are reshaping the world in...
As discussed in our previous article, “Lightweight Design in the Automotive Industry – the power of Simulation”, we discussed...
Lightweighting done right can mean: better fuel economy, lessened wear and tear, and improved handling. In order to achieve...
In last week’s article, we reviewed the many sources of inspiration automotive designers draw from when developing their creations. And while...
Automotive design is clearly an important factor when approaching the market. There are some fundamental similarities (ie: 4 wheels,...
The cloud is impacting virtually every industry. From enterprise data management to online mobile banking, valuable and critical data...
I had the pleasure of interviewing Ian Briggs, chief designer and co-founder of Briggs Automotive Company (BAC). I wanted...
Back in the early 1990’s when Alias-Wavefront was first making a pitch to the automotive design studios, one of...
By now … we have all heard about Google’s Autonomous (Self-driving) car. If you haven’t … look here. We...
Automotive is going electric, there’s no doubt about it. Hybrid and electric vehicles are either in conceptualization or production...
I am not a purchasing analyst, nor do I understand the emotions on why I buy certain products, that’s...
Last week I had the opportunity to try one of the many Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)...
I was first exposed to additive manufacturing through a MakerBot 3D printer. Our company was starting to make investments...
We’ve heard and seen how the Google car is in many ways the ideal defensive driver. We know that...
Last week I was in a photo studio to get pictures for my passport. While I was waiting, I...
I joined Autodesk 4 years ago when they acquired a startup that my dad and I founded. We had...
As a design firm we make cool stuff for real people. One thing that remains true is that no...
Dating back to the industrial revolution the automotive industry established the foundation for industrial design and continues to lead...
Remarkably it’s been 30 years since Back to the Future was first shown in cinemas helping to launch the...
In our previous blog A Decade of Change, we talked about the ever-changing mindset of the consumer and how...
It’s Saturday afternoon and I’m attempting to run a load of laundry for my next business trip (flight leaves...
When looking back ten years trends in the automotive industry have unmistakably shifted the way cars are bought and...
Technology evolution is driving change, especially in the automotive industry. The digital age is providing consumers with an all-access...
