Who's Where: Wulin Gaowa appointed design director of GM China Advanced Design

Wulin Gaowa has been appointed to fill a newly-created role as GM China Advanced Design's first Design Director. She will start her new role with immediate effect.

Gaowa, who was most recently the Advanced Design Director of Exterior Design and Interior at the Beijing Automotive Technology Center, will be based at GM China's Advanced Technical Center in Shanghai, due to open later this month. She will be reporting directly to Bryan Nesbitt, GM International Operations vice president, Design.

"As China exerts a greater influence on global automotive design, the work of Wulin and her team will be critical for helping GM remain a trendsetter locally and around the world," Ed Welburn, Global Vice President of GM Design, said of Gaowa's appointment,

The GM China Advanced Studio will be supporting GM's global design organization, focusing particularly on China's domestic needs. Facilities at the studio include a digital visualization center and indoor and outdoor viewing/exhibition areas. It will also be the hub of GM's research into Chinese automotive and design trends to advise on future GM projects.

Gaowa, who was named one of the 10 Best Young Designers of China 2010 by the China Industrial Design Association, started her automotive design career in 2000 with DaimlerChrysler. She has previously held design positions at Mercedes-Benz Technology Center at Sindelfingen, Germany, and Italdesign Giugiaro in Moncarieri, Italy.

Gaowa's impressive résumé also boasts time spent as a lecturer in transportation design at the Design College of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in China's capital. Gaowa has a bachelor's degree in industrial design from the Central Academy of Arts and Design in Beijing and a master's degree in transportation design from Fachhochschule Pforzheim in Germany.

By Rufus Thompson