With the number of cars in the world predicted to double to 1.7billion by 2030, the notion of having ecological-friendly vehicles on the road has never been so important. Automakers are pushing the boundaries to develop green vehicles that are both innovative and aesthetically appealing. Bill Mitchell, the world's leading guru of how city life has changed in the age of wireless communication, is now working with some of the brightest minds in academia to conceptualise a sustainable urban transport system of tomorrow.
As the Alexander Dreyfoos Professor of Architecture and Media Arts and Sciences at MIT, Bill is no stranger to urban concepts and designs. He and his team of students at the MIT Media Lab Smart Cities Group are the brains behind many revolutionary automobiles including the GreenWheel electric bicycle, the RoboScooter electric scooter, and the CityCar electric automobile.
With a passion and foresight for design and our better future, Bill has signed up to lead one of the Design2050 Studios, an initiative that engages design gurus and thought leaders around the world to develop propositions to tackle some of the pressing challenges we face today through design. Based on the concept of "Reinventing the Automobile2050", Bill is determined that a new kind of electric charging infrastructure can be developed into our cities to compliment the green vehicles of the future. In his own words, "This system would create synergy between electric vehicles and a smart electric grid, which allows maximum efficiency in urban mobility and fundamentally reduce carbon emissions."
Catch Bill presenting his visionary Design2050 ideas for the first time at the 50th anniversary Icsid World Design Congress from 23 to 25 November in Singapore. Other Design2050 Studio Leaders to speak at the congress include Stefano Marzano, who will explore aspects of health and well-being throughout a person's full life cycle - from pre- conception to the passage of death, and Toshiko Mori, whose studio will develop new methodologies that resituate design as a greater analytic tool to organize previously segregated disciplines for governmental and non-governmental agencies.