“I really didn’t know that much about how to sculpt cars, but growing up in the Motor City, looking at the cars and being from the Detroit area definitely helped,” the Lake Orion native said.

The silver concept car is not a typical automobile one would find in a dealer’s lot — it’s shaped like an egg and consists of one front seat and three back seats to go along with the futuristic theme GM provided.

“The clay was totally different at GM because they used oil-based while I always work with water-based at school.” Hoffman said. “We used more tools to make the cars than we were used to, but they were great.”

One of the harder parts of the project was matching up the wheel wells to look identical. Plans would constantly change, which required her response.

“That’s difficult – making all the surfaces the right depth, height and width,” she said. “It all had to be corrected numerous times.”

As a junior, Hoffman sat back and watched two GM managers rattle off a presentation at MSU about working as a designer for their company. After they left, she pondered the idea of working for GM during the summer months. She said she had to give it a shot.

Hoffman, a Woodward Dream Cruise and sculpting fan, gathered her resume, cover letter and portfolio. She also set up some of her artwork for them to see when they returned to campus for the second time.

About a month later, GM called Hoffman offering her a position to sculpt a new concept car for Chevrolet with dynamic form. It was meant to be a fun project with the ability for interns to learn.

“Chevrolet is GM’s global flagship brand, and it’s extremely important that the brand evolves and remains relevant to future generations,” said Ed Welburn, vice president of GM Global Design. “This group of talented Gen-Y designers offer a fresh lens for us to examine the Chevrolet brand.”

A typical workday for Hoffman included interpreting the designer’s drawings into a 3-D form and constantly making updates when mentors provided advice toward their progress. She worked not only alongside a basic designer, but also a color and trim designer, an engineer and a graphic artist as well – all of whom were interns.

As she worked eight-hour days, five days a week, including unpaid overtime, Marguerite Eko, sculpting manager at GM, would stand back and watch with a smile.

“She is a very hard worker, and she is a delight to work with,” Eko said. “She’s very talented, and this was a huge experience for her. She had a professional mentor who helped her with her first car ever.

“She can take the tools and experiences back to MSU and maybe her artwork will grow and progress.”