Meet Jelani Aliyu, the Nigerian guy who designed the Chevy Volt

Jelani Aliyu, hails from Sokoto
State, Nigeria and is General Motors Lead Exterior
Designer and the designer of the Chevy Volt.
General Motors is one of the world’s largest
automobile maker. The car has been described as
an American Revolution and one of the hottest
concepts in the design line.
Jelani was born in 1966 in Kaduna, to Alhaji Aliya
Haidara and Sharifiya Hauwa’u Aliyu. The fifth of
seven children, theirs is a very close-knit family.
For him, it was an amazing experience growing
up in Sokoto, surrounded by the rich culture of
the people and the state and enjoying excellent
access to the latest and international information.
Jelani Aliyu
From 1971 to 1978, he attended Capital School,
Sokoto, an excellent school and this served as a
very productive educational experience for him. In
1978, he gained admission into Federal
Government College, Sokoto, from where he
graduated in 1983 with an award as the best in
Technical Drawing.
Jelani was privileged to meet and make many
good friends from all parts of the country and
beyond during this time. He had tremendous
encouragement and mentoring from his family
and friends and his creative art develop the ed.
He drew a lot, designed his own cars, and even
built scale models of them, complete with
exteriors and interiors.
After FGC, he got admission into the Ahmadu
Bello University, Zaria to study Architecture, but
soon discovered that curriculum did not support
his future vision and plans.
After considering other institutions in Nigeria and
their academic programmes, he concluded that
only one of them had the study criteria that
would support his future goals. The institution in
which he chose to pursue his education was one
he felt offered the best creative programmes and
had experience that would give him the best
foundation required to study Automobile Design
abroad. That institution was the Birnin Kebbi
Polytechnic.
He was there from 1986 to 1988 and earned an
associate degree in Architecture, with an award
as Best All-Round Student. While there, he did
some in depth research into home design and
construction, looking into materials and structures
that would be most compatible with our
environment and climate; buildings that would
stay cool in a hot environment with little, or no
artificial electrical air conditioning. Upon
graduation from the polytechnic, Jelani worked for
a while at the Ministry of Works, Sokoto.
In 1990, Aliyu moved to Detroit, Michigan to enroll
at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit
under a Sokoto Schorlarship board sponsorship.
Having always wanted to study Automobile
Design, this was a dream come true and an
absolutely fascinating experience. The course was
very practical and emphasis was put on creativity
and the development of new designs to provide
solutions . He received his degree in automobile
design in 1994.
In 1994 he began his career with the design staff
of General Motors. He worked on the Buick
Rendezvous and was the lead exterior designer of
the Pontiac G6. He also worked on the Astra with
General Motors’ Opel Division.
With his brilliant work on the design of the
Chevrolet Volt, which was unveiled in 2007, Jelani
Aliyu is considered by many to be the super star
of the General Motors renaissance.

Source: African Globe