Dark purple concept car created by CCS Transportation Design senior Andrew Hicks Yellow rectangle Andrew Hicks, Class of '22 Prototype of a silver vehicle-like product Yellow rectangle Student Name, Class of '22 Yellow rectangle Student Name, Class of '22
group of students in the transportation design room

Dunning Automotive Design Precollege Summer Scholarship

Full Scholarships Available for Automotive Design Summer Program

CCS and the Margaret Dunning Foundation are excited to offer 15 high school students an opportunity to attend the College’s Precollege Automotive Design summer program at no cost. The College’s Automotive Design Course is taught by CCS faculty and works closely with designers and sculptors at GM, Ford and Stellantis.

Dunning Fellows

Fifteen Dunning Fellows will be selected from all submissions by an esteemed panel of CCS faculty and Industry-Leading Designers. Each Fellow will receive a scholarship to attend the College for Creative Studies Precollege Summer Experience “Dunning Automotive Design” program and earn three college credits (Valued up to $4,395). The award includes three weeks of faculty-led automotive-design studio class, three transferable college credits, materials, housing, food, and activities, and a $500 travel allowance for transportation from the Fellow’s hometown to Detroit, MI.*

The CCS Precollege Summer Experience (PCSE) brings high school students from around the country and the world to the CCS campus to live, learn and study with CCS faculty.

Dunning Fellows will take an advanced version of the PCSE “Transportation Design” course.

Who May Enter

  • Must be a legal U.S. resident attending a high school in the United States
  • Currently enrolled in grades 9 through 11

Submission Process

  • Create an account on SlideRoom
  • Submit 1-3 original drawings (suggested – front view, side view and 3/4 view) of any vehicle. Attach three .pdf or .jpg of your drawings
  • Drawings may be hand-drawn or created digitally.
  • Submission form closes at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on March 1, 2024

View Our Drawing Tutorial

Timing & Deadlines

  •  October 1, 2023
    Contest start date. Begin submissions.
  • March 1, 2024
    Entries due
  • May 1, 2024
    Winners announced via email and text
  • May 15, 2024
    Winners must accept award and submit Precollege Summer Experience commitment form
  • June 1, 2024
    Winners confirm travel arrangements with CCS
  • July 7 – July 27, 2024
    CCS Precollege Summer Experience

Previous Dunning Scholars’ Experience

Hear from previous Dunning Scholars and how this opportunity impacted their college and career path.

Past Judges for the Dunning Fellows Competition

Michael Simcoe

Michael Simcoe

Vice President, Global Design

General Motors

Ralph Gilles

Ralph Gilles

Head of Design

Stellantis Automobile Company

Paul Snyder

Paul Snyder

Paul & Helen Farago Chair of Transportation Design

College for Creative Studies

Adam Robinowitz

Adam Robinowitz

Chief Designer

Toyota Design Network

Judges & Judging

The Judges will evaluate each Finalist’s entry according to the following weighted criteria, each weighted at 25%:

  1. Aesthetics
  2. Originality
  3. Sketching & Rendering
  4. Concept and Presentation

Fifteen Finalists with the highest overall scores from the Judges will be deemed potential winners pending verification of eligibility and compliance with these guidelines, as determined by CCS at its sole discretion. After certification, fifteen Dunning Fellows will be named and invited to attend the CCS Precollege Summer Experience.

General Rules
  • The decisions of the judges shall be final and binding in all matters pertaining to the Competition
  • Entry must not contain material that violates or infringes another’s rights, including but not limited to, privacy, publicity or intellectual property rights, or that constitutes copyright infringement
  • Entry must be the original work of Entrant
  • You retain your rights to your sketches; however, by entering the contest, you grant the College for Creative Studies (CCS) a fully paid, royalty-free, world-wide, perpetual, non-exclusive license to publicly display, distribute, reproduce and create derivative works of the entries, in whole or in part, in any media now existing or later developed, for any CCS purpose, including, but not limited to, advertising and promotion of the CCS Dunning Fellows  and Scholars program, and its website, exhibition, and commercial products, including but not limited to College for Creative Studies publications.

Margaret Dunning Foundation

Dunning Foundation Logo with antique carThe Margaret Dunning Foundation was founded by Ms. Dunning in 1997. She was born in 1910 in Redford Township, Michigan, and moved with her mother to Plymouth, Michigan in the 1920s. During her lifetime, Ms. Dunning was a successful business woman, philanthropist, and civic booster. She was a major supporter of many Plymouth nonprofits, including the Plymouth District Library and the Plymouth Historical Society. In addition to her personal philanthropy, Ms. Dunning was a classic car enthusiast and was a regular participant in the Woodward Dream Cruise with her 1930 Packard 740 Roadster.

Ms. Dunning died in 2013 at the age of 104. Her estate provided additional funding for the Margaret Dunning Foundation, which continues to support her charitable interests and legacy.