Cadillac CUE merges luxury design with intuitive technology and delivers personalized, connected driving for buyers of the upcoming Cadillac XTS and ATS luxury sedans and the SRX luxury crossover. Matt Highstrom is part of the team that designed the Cadillac User Experience (CUE) and he says this industry-leading interface reduces complexity through customized information, natural voice commands, fewer buttons and larger icons. Click the video to see Matt’s tour through some of the highlights of Cadillac CUE.

What's with the storage compartment behind the main system touch screen? Check out the video to find out.

The vibrant LCD multi-touch screen has large icons similar to multi-touch smartphones but also features haptic touch response and proximity sensing to dim the display when not in use.

At the 2012 North American International Auto Show, Chevrolet unveiled two concept cars that were developed with input from next-generation auto buyers. More than 9,000 people under the age of 30 years old were surveyed. Their thoughts and desires were incorporated in the Code 130R and the Tru 140S concepts. Check out the video to get more views of what the cars look like and to find out what Chevrolet is aiming to achieve with these vehicles.

For a more in-depth look at the Tru 140S concept and its designer, check out our previous story.

The CODE 130R concept represents "functional muscle" and is designed as RWD coupe

The TRU 140S concept represents an "affordable exotic" and is designed as a FWD coupe.

GM North America President Mark Reuss (l to r), Chevrolet Senior Manager Global Marketing Strategy John McFarland and Lead Designer Nick David with the Chevrolet Tru 140S concept.

The racing teams from Team Penske, Panther Racing, KV Racing Technology and Andretti Autosport have all signed up to run the new engine, starting next year in the IZOD IndyCar Series.  Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe praised the engine after running some tests late last month.  For the past two seasons, Will Power has finished second in the IndyCar championship standings, but he was the first to get behind the wheel of the new Chevy racer. Check out the video below to see him taking a few laps, and hear what he had to say about the new engine.

Andretti Autosport driver Ryan Hunter-Reay and team with the Chevrolet-powered 2012 IndyCar at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

But, let’s get back to what it means to you. This racing engine has a twin-turbocharged, direct-injected V-6 engine that runs on renewable E85 ethanol fuel. Jim Campbell, GM vice president of performance vehicles, said, “The rule set for Indy: small displacement engines, V6s, direct injection, turbocharging and the use of biofuels E85. Those are all the things we’re going to use in the production series to make our cars more fuel efficient, still have performance and lower greenhouse gas emissions.” What’s not to love?

Racing has long been a proving ground for automotive technology. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built as a place where auto companies in the early 20^th century could test their vehicles. The learnings from the track continue today. Many of the developments in aerodynamics, brakes, ride control and safety were first developed for racing applications and later moved into production vehicles. Campbell said, “What we learn on the track does transfer to production. We have engineers who work on the racing side, and then they connect right with the production side.”

Keep your eyes on that new IndyCar engine. Some aspects of it will probably be in your car soon.

More than five dozen Volt owners showed up on the Thursday afternoon prior to the official Dream Cruise, and took their electric-powered cars for a spin on Woodward. They came from near and far, and they weren’t concerned about driving beyond the limits of the Volt’s electrical charge, because – unlike all other electric vehicles – the Volt has an onboard gasoline engine that powers a motor/generator to keep the car rolling until you reach your destination.

Jim and Michelle Corning talking about driving their Volt from Arizona to Michigan

Someone commented to Volt owner Michelle Corning from Flagstaff, Ariz. that it was kind of “crazy” to try to drive an electric car from Arizona to Michigan. Her response? “This has a range of 40 miles electric, but it has a pretty spiffy 1.4 liter engine. We get great gas mileage, and we still enjoy and have fun with it, so it wasn’t crazy at all.”

Michelle and her husband Jim are both engineers, and they had some business to take care of in Colorado on the way to the Volt homecoming. Michelle said, “We went to Colorado first and Jim actually drove that portion. And then from there, we came up through Indianapolis. So it was like driving any other vehicle that we drive across country. No difference.”

Michael Motto came from Catawissa, Penn. to attend the homecoming. Mike has ridden his Harley motorcycle in parades before, and experienced the camaraderie of people who have the same vehicle, but the Volt Homecoming offered the additional feature of being able to talk to the people who built it. Mike said, “I like the part of having the people that actually built the car, and were part of the car, here. I was standing by my car, and the guy from powertrain came by and said “Is this your car?” And I said yes, and we just started talking about it. That was really neat.”

NASCAR champions Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson joined the Volt owners for the event. They both own Chevrolet Volts and said they enjoy driving it. Gordon said, “When you step on the accelerator and it takes off and it puts you back in the seat, it’s a great feeling.”

From engineers to Harley riders to NASCAR champs, the Chevrolet Volt appeals to people on a lot of different levels, and based on a recent Consumer Reports survey, they would definitely buy the Volt again.

Nothing definite has been announced for the future, but it won’t be surprising to have the quiet performance of the electric motor rolling alongside the throaty rumble of the V8 engine at the Woodward Dream Cruise in the years ahead.

President and owner Mike Schwabl drives a Chevrolet Volt because he feels that it reflects his values and those of his company. He said, “Our agency here is very green focused, so this is part of our commitment to being green.” But it’s not just about the environment. It’s about creativity and technology and community.

Mike said, “At Dixon Schwabl, our whole thing is about delivering the ‘wow’ for our clients and this car delivers the ‘wow’ every day.” The technology is part of the ’wow.’

“The amount of technology in this car is unbelievable,” Mike said. “And I do like the little report at the end of the day when you turn the car off. You get home and it tells you how much electricity you used, how far you went, how much gas you used – if any at all.” Mike admits that the displays in the Volt impact how he drives. He told us, “I live 20½ miles from work, and so you know you start with a 40 mile charge and my personal best is just to get to the office and still have 27 miles left of electricity. I’ve done that twice, so I’m trying to outdo that.”

Mike shows us his Volt keepsake book.

He sees the creativity in the way the Volt solved the issue of range-a potential anxiety for customers – by providing a gasoline backup in the event the driver has to go further than the charge in the lithium-ion battery.

Mike also appreciates the personal service he’s received since he decided to buy a Volt. He said, “General Motors is doing a great job. I have my own representative in Michigan who calls me monthly. Before the car arrived, he was calling me weekly, but once the car got here, he checks in with me every month to see how I’m doing.”

A present from GM also made him feel special. “I got this nice little package in the mail from General Motors. A little keepsake book about the history of the Volt and how it came about,” he said. “They’re really doing a great job in customer satisfaction. It’s unlike any other vehicle experience I’ve ever had. They sent me a little (video) camera so I can keep my Volt memories alive as I travel around.”

The lobby at Dixon Schwabl has a mural on one wall painted in a design reminiscent of cubism, and several large words are incorporated there: Spirit, Innovation, Pizzazz and Vision. A place with innovation, pizzazz and vision. It seems like a place you’d expect to find a Chevrolet Volt. Happy driving, Mike. Let us know if you get to the office with more than 27 miles of charge left.

She recently earned her master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology and began working at the GM Fuel Cell Lab this summer. She suspected she’d end up doing something automotive-related with her career because, “I always worked on cars with my dad when I was younger. I’d always been exposed to that hands-on aspect.” While developing more efficient ways to split molecules isn’t exactly the same as getting grease under her fingernails, it does keep her actively involved in the cutting-edge of the transportation industry.

Jackie shows us a very thin fuel cell membrane made from polymer film. It helps create electricity that powers vehicles.

Jackie walked us through a couple of the test labs at the Fuel Cell facility and talked about some of the different types of testing that goes on there. GM has already put more than 2 million miles on its hydrogen-fueled vehicles during Project Driveway, but that doesn’t mean the technology is perfected. Jackie said, “There’s always room for material improvements, system improvements, component improvements. This entire facility is driven towards improving and producing that fuel cell vehicle.” She’s excited to be part of the team creating the next generation of personal transportation.

When we asked her if the products and technologies being tested in her lab were evolutionary or revolutionary she said, “It’s a combination of evolutionary and hopefully revolutionary. Every new idea has the potential to become revolutionary, but until it goes through a gamut of testing there’s no way to really know, which is why the test infrastructure is so important to this facility.”

At graduation Jackie received a number of offers, and accepted the position with GM. She said, “One of the things that really drew me to GM and drew me to this position and research facility is that, even through the tougher economic times that they went through, they really stayed true to their research and continued to contribute to all their research efforts; because as a company, they really do believe in this technology and they really want to see this technology take off and succeed.”

With smart, dedicated people like Jacqueline Sergi working on fuel cell technology, you can bet that it is going to succeed.

Check out the video below to get a look inside the labs that Jackie manages and hear how she feels her job reflects her humanitarian values.

Nick heads up the OnStar team that looks at new services, new business opportunities and new relationships that might deliver more value to OnStar subscribers. He’s proud that OnStar helps drivers with everything from crash notification to turn-by-turn directions to remote door unlocks. With safety always in mind, Nick looks for ways to create a fun and helpful in-vehicle experience and is always working to come up with new services.

He can tell you that on average people lock their keys in their car about once every eight years. But with 6 million customers, that means that — on average — OnStar unlocks more than 65,000 doors every month. To make the service even better, Nick and his team came up with a smartphone app that allows owners to remotely unlock and lock their doors, start the car and receive the latest vehicle diagnostics (compatible with most 2011 model year GM vehicles and some 2010 models).

While OnStar has been around for 15 years, Nick says the team certainly isn’t running out of ideas. He says, “There’s actually a lot of ideas we looked at for years, and for a variety of reasons, they just weren’t ready for prime time.” Nick and the OnStar team are constantly working on ways to provide more to the customer through existing and new services. “We have plenty of room for new services and frankly with all of the new buzzwords like “cloud computing” and all of the new capabilities that various higher speed bandwidth technologies can offer, really brings down the cost hurdle to introduce some of these things in the future. So there’s a lot of great stuff coming.” Of course, a good magician never reveals his secrets, so Nick isn’t tipping off what’s coming from OnStar.

Nick has been doing magic since he was “a little guy.” He says close-up magic with cards and coins is his favorite style. He likes to be in touch with his audience and deliver a performance that surprises and delights them. That’s very similar to the way he approaches his work. Nick says, “We engage deeply with our customers. We observe customer experiences.” Delivering an outstanding customer service is always the goal.

He’s not letting us see exactly what is in his OnStar bag of tricks, but he assures us he has something up his sleeve. “We’re sitting on a secret stash of ideas that may come to fruition at some point.” The anticipation is part of the fun.

One of those mentors – Philip Lundberg — was a FIRST Robotics student in Kokomo, Indiana not too long ago. He showcased his engineering skills at FIRST Robotics tournaments right around the turn of the century and his school was national champs in 1998.

This is the national championship team from Kokomo. Phil is 2nd from the right in the second row.

His FIRST Robotics work was so good, he tried to patent it. “When I was a senior in high school I filed (a patent pending) for a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) that I designed for my robotics team.” Because of financial considerations he dropped his patent application. His work won him a scholarship to Kettering University in Flint, Michigan.

While at Kettering he worked as a co-op student with GM and handled assignments including test engineer, development engineer, manufacturing engineer and analysis engineer. After finishing his Masters degree, he started working for GM full time in November 2007 and is now in the Advanced Engineering area, developing transmissions. We can’t get specific about what he’s working on, but we can tell you it’s future technology aimed at meeting and exceeding upcoming fuel economy and emissions standards.

He’s still waiting for his first patent, but right now he has almost three dozen patents pending based on his work for GM. He says, “Since I have started work here full time 3½  years ago, I have obtained 34 patent pendings.  I’m still waiting on the patent office to issue a single patent. Right now, it can take 4 years for them to review a patent.” Most of Philip’s patent applications revolve around hydraulic controls for automatic transmissions, but he also has others related to valve designs, clutch position sensors and other items. And he’s only in his 20s.

Phil with Team 51 at FIRST Robotics national championship in Atlanta in 2010.

But he’s used to hanging out with people who are even younger because of his involvement with FIRST Robotics. He says he spends a few hours every week mentoring the students on general engineering disciplines . “During build season I’m with them (the high school students) basically every single day for a few hours and all day on Saturdays.” Why does he do it? “It’s fun and it’s a way of giving back to the community.”

He was a student who was inspired by engineers. Now he’s hoping to inspire other students to become our future technology and science leaders.

Dave with two members of his FIRST Robotics team in 1997

Dave got involved with FIRST Robotics Competition back in 1997. He mentored the students on Team #67 which includes the Huron Valley (Michigan) school district. FIRST was launched in 1992 by inventor Dean Kamen who wanted to get more students interested in careers in science and technology. Dave was among the first GM engineers to step up and volunteer his time to help the students. Now 15 years into his commitment he’s still doing it and you can hear the pride in his voice as he says, “We’ve had a number of students go on to engineering careers up to Michigan Tech, Kettering (University,) University of Michigan and a number of them now are GM engineers.”

While the students on his team know Dave for his mentoring, the parents and students from hundreds of other schools know Dave from his Master of Ceremonies (MC) duties at many of the competitions.  Dean Kamen saw Dave’s performance at a local FIRST Lego League event and asked him to do the same job for the FIRST Robotics Competition. So he spends most matches with a microphone his hand, standing in the middle of the field, extolling the virtues of each of the teams that has put in the time and effort to build a robot. He even gets to MC the international finals and he admits that role gives him the best seat in the house when it comes to watching the competition.

Dave sprints during team introductions

While he is on the field announcing, he misses the teamwork and camaraderie that happens off the field during a FIRST Robotics Competition match. He says, “There’s great action on the field, but it’s almost even better what you see taking place in the pits, because that’s where you’ll see students and mentors working together. If a team’s in trouble, they can go to the team next to them and start sharing ideas, parts, whatever.” He says it’s not an “in your face” sport, but a combination of cooperation and competition. It is what FIRST and Dave call “Coopertition^TM.”

In 2002 Dave Verbrugge won the Woodie Flowers Award. This award is annually given to one mentor who leads, inspires and empowers their team. Winners demonstrate effective communication in the art & science of engineering and design.  The award is named after FIRST National Advisor and MIT professor Dr Woodie Flowers for his tremendous skill in that area as well as his Gracious Professionalism ^TM.  It’s a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. Even if Dave doesn’t come across as a typical engineer, GM is proud that he is developing the right values and skills in our next generation.

The Volt was named MotorTrend Car Of The Year, Automobile magazine Automobile of the Year and Green Car of the Year. Scott says, “This is the moment that all of us on the Volt team (and at GM) have been waiting for. Internally, we’ve seen how much of a game changer this car really is; but to win these awards reassures us that others see it too.”

Scott saw first-hand reaction from more than the media. The General Motors Vehicle Advocate Program brought Volts to several Silicon Valley companies to allow their high-tech workers a chance to be the first to drive the revolutionary automobile. And Scott was one of the product specialists on the scene to answer any questions from the employees of HP, Cisco, Google and Oracle. To Scott’s delight he heard plenty of words of praise. He says, “The first thing they want to do is compare it to their Prius in how it performs. And everybody’s review is that it’s so much better and it exceeds their expectations so much that they just get out and they’re so happy about it.” One driver was even heard to say, “This car is awesome! It makes my Prius look like a little girl.”

Scott admits, “There are a couple of skeptics out here but I think … it’s good to have some skeptics too because it keeps you grounded.” The doubters keep him working diligently in the lab. He says, “We’re always striving for continuous improvement.” Knowing the Volt is breaking through in the tough California market is also energizing. “It’s very rewarding to come out here and know that all the hard work is actually paying off and seeing the people in California getting excited about the Chevy Volt.”

Scott says the trip to the west coast was an important breakthrough. “Silicon Valley California — it doesn’t get much techier than that. There are a lot of people out here that are very in tune with a lot of the technology that we put into the Chevy Volt. And the one thing that I like to stress to them is that it’s so much more than just the battery. It’s an entire system. And they can really appreciate how the entire system comes together and functions as one whole unit to ultimately make the EREV (extended range electric vehicle) vehicle work and drive down the road.”

Scott is one of several 20-somethings working as part of the Volt team. He says their youth helps push the project farther faster. “We are a little naïve, but that comes with enthusiasm. We want to try and do all the crazy things. No idea is a bad idea, so sky’s the limit in the lab where we work and we really do have the capability and the facilities to do so many different crazy things and we can’t dream up a test that we can’t do there.”

Click on the video and take a look at Scott in the lab and see him interacting with the Silicon Valley employees who got a chance to drive the Volt.