At Georgia Tech, design doesn’t stay in the studio; it moves, hums, and sometimes roars to life. This year’s Georgia Tech Auto Show transformed campus into a living exhibition of design, engineering, and community. 

From rare collector cars to student-built vehicles and hands-on family experiences, the event offered more than a display, it created moments of connection between people and the objects they design, build, and love. 

To capture that experience, we asked Olivia Chan, Industrial Design student and President of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) at Georgia Tech, to share the five things that stood out most to her. Her answers reveal something deeper than a list...they show how designers see the world.

For Olivia, the most impactful part of the Auto Show wasn’t a car at all. “The first great thing… is the kids zone,” she said. “It’s encouraging families to get out and kind of inspiring younger kids to get into the world of design and building in general.” 

Set against the backdrop of high-performance vehicles and cutting-edge design, the Kids Zone grounded the event in something essential: curiosity. With hands-on activities like the Home Depot workshop kits, children weren’t just observing, they were actively creating. 

“You’ve got to start designing early,” Olivia added. Throughout the day, she helped families assemble projects, watching as kids engaged with materials, tools, and ideas for the first time. “I’ve been here all day helping out with it, and I’ve seen how much the kids enjoy it,” she said. 

“It also gives the parents a little break.” In many ways, the Kids Zone captured the spirit of the College of Design itself: a place where learning is hands-on, accessible, and rooted in real-world impact.

Not far from the Kids Zone, a different kind of excitement drew a crowd. Under the bridge sat one of the most iconic cars in automotive history: the Ferrari F40. “There’s only 1,300 of these cars,” Olivia said, in astonishment. 

For many attendees, it was a rare chance to see a legend up close. 

For Olivia, it was also a reminder of how design and scarcity intersect—how objects gain meaning not just from form, but from context, history, and rarity. 

While some visitors gravitated toward horsepower and exterior styling, Olivia found herself drawn inward. “I’m more of a car interior person,” she explained. One vehicle in particular stood out...not just for how it looked, but for how it felt. “It has a really pretty interior… the color, the materials—it’s got a really interesting shape of cars you don’t see very often on the road today.” 

For an Industrial Design student, these details aren’t just aesthetic—they’re educational. “As a designer, it makes my brain buzz,” she said. “You learn about these kinds of shapes and the history of design… and when you see it in person, it’s like, ‘Oh—this is that time period.’” That moment of recognition—when theory becomes tangible—is at the core of design education. “It’s really exciting to see it in person,” she added.

For Olivia, one of the most meaningful moments came from something closer to home: student work.

“It’s really cool because it’s students,” she said. “It’s great that we’ve got people from the Atlanta area bringing their cars… but it’s also great that students can enter their own vehicle.” One standout was a Georgia Tech student-built car, an example of what happens when design, engineering, and ambition come together. 

At Georgia Tech, that level of innovation is powered by student-led teams like Georgia Tech Motorsports (GTMS) and HyTech Racing, which design, build, and race formula-style and electric vehicles out of the Student Competition Center.

“They made that entire thing, which is mind-boggling to me as someone who does prototyping,” she said. In that moment, the Auto Show became a place where students aren’t just learning about design, they’re contributing to it.

Beyond individual highlights, the sheer scale of the Auto Show made an impression. “The fact that we have 141 cars here is kind of mind-boggling,” Olivia said.

Spread across campus, the lineup ranged from vintage classics to modern luxury vehicles, motorcycles, and experimental builds. Each one brought a different perspective on design whether it be different eras, different materials or different priorities. Together, they created a dynamic, open-air gallery where attendees could move between past, present, and future in just a few steps.

What made the Auto Show truly memorable wasn’t just the cars, it was the people. Throughout the day, conversations unfolded organically between students, faculty, and car enthusiasts. Familiar faces appeared in unexpected places, professors and students were spotted closely studying vehicles and engaging outside the classroom or studio space. 

Moments of levity added to the experience as well. Buzz, Georgia Tech’s beloved mascot, made his rounds across the show—posing in front of the Ramblin' Reck, hopping onto a motorcycle, and even stepping inside a Rivian, drawing crowds and cameras along the way.

The day culminated with a keynote from SangYup Lee, Vice President of Design at Hyundai, introduced by Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera. Bringing a global design leader into the heart of campus underscored the broader significance of the Auto Show—not just as a local event, but as part of a larger conversation about the future of mobility, design, and innovation.