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DETROIT, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Classic vehicles are all the rage today and nothing looks better on these cars then a set of cool, authentic-styled steel wheels.

Firing the imaginations of today's students in the College for Creative Studies (CCS) senior transportation design class with great designs of the past, the American Iron and Steel Institute's (AISI) Wheels Task Force - with the help of OEM designers - have brought a unique challenge to the classroom in a unique steel wheel design project.

At the Jan. 19, 2008 project kick-off, Jack Preston, Center of Competence - Wheels, Chrysler LLC; Wladimir Rodrigues, applications engineer, ArvinMeritor, Inc; and Mark Trostle, design chief, small, premium and family vehicle design, Chrysler LLC, provided the CCS students with insight into the technology and background surrounding the design challenge with an intensity typically reserved for actual OEM wheel designers.

CCS students will choose from the Dodge Challenger, Chevrolet Camaro or Ford Mustang and design a steel wheel with flair and excitement and a wheel that completes the look and feel of these retro-classic cars.

This project is integrated into the normal CCS curriculum and presents the student designers with a rare opportunity to influence the growing styled steel wheel market in the automotive industry. The CCS wheels project will highlight the significant gains steel wheels deliver to automakers through styling, higher profit margins, lower warranty costs, competitive weight and ruggedness.

Completion of the students' assignment and the unveiling of their new styled steel wheel designs are slated for Feb. 23, 2008. The final designs will be judged by OEM car designers and the Wheels Task Force.

AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the preferred material of choice. AISI also plays a lead role in the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology. AISI is comprised of 31 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and 130 associate and affiliate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry. AISI's member companies represent more than 75 percent of both U.S. and North American steel capacity.

The Automotive Applications Committee (AAC) is a subcommittee of the Market Development Committee of AISI and focuses on advancing the use of steel in the highly competitive automotive market. With offices and staff located in Detroit, cooperation between the automobile and steel industries has been key to its success. This industry cooperation resulted in the formation of the Auto/Steel Partnership, a consortium of Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors Corporation and the member companies of the AAC. For more news or information, view the American Iron and Steel Institute /Automotive Applications Committee's website at http://www.autosteel.org/.

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