I will never forget Bill’s influence on me as a designer and as a person. As an 18 year old right out of high school who wanted to be a car designer, Bill’s encouragement and kind soul were so helpful to me as a freshman student at CCS. It set my college career off. Bill would always speak to me about the simplicity of design and tell me that the proportions of the vehicle could make it timeless; using less lines on a design was better. He would have me do sketches with as few lines as possible to understand and practice this concept. I had the privilege of being Bill’s student for transportation design two of my four years at CCS. Bill was a Chrysler and Mopar guy and would tell us stories about his past and the automotive industry. I think partly because of this is why I wanted to so badly be hired by the former Chrysler Corporation upon my graduation. Bill was also a car guy and absolute gear head. I remember when I was his student, although he was a humble and unassuming man, he drove a red Dodge Daytona to CCS that he had done various engine and performance modifications to in order to make it faster. We would often talk in class on Monday about automotive racing that took place over the weekend and the effect of aerodynamics on race cars. Bill was an inspiration to me as a person, designer and educator. He is an automotive legend in my eyes.
Mark Trostle
Vice President of Ram Truck and Mopar Design, Stellantis.
About Mark: Vice President of Ram Truck and Mopar Design, Stellantis Mr. Trostle is responsible for all exterior design activities for the Ram Truck and Mopar brands.
Prior to his appointment, Trostle served as Head of Performance, Passenger Car and Utility Vehicle exterior design leading the exterior design development of the vehicles such as the Gen 5 Dodge Viper, Dodge Charger Hellcat, Dodge Challenger Hellcat and Dodge Challenger SRT Demon. Mr. Trostle holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in transportation design from the College for Creative Studies, School of Art and Design in Detroit (1992).