Automotive Students Get Up Close with New 2015 F-150 Alongside Ford’s Design Engineer

Ford ergonomics engineer, Cary Diehl, speaks 2015 F-150 design with Calgary SAIT automotive students.

Over 100 automotive students at SAIT Polytechinic in Calgary came out to learn more about the all-new Ford F-150 and hear Cary Diehl speak, the ergonomics engineer responsible for the F-150’s comfort design, functional design, and user-friendly systems.

Cary gave an overview of the Ford F-150 and his role designing the vehicle as an ergonomics engineer, before opening it up to questions from the students and staff. Following the presentation, the SAIT students had an opportunity to get up close and personal with the truck, getting behind the wheel and looking underneath the hood.

While a chat with Ford’s design head is enlightening no doubt, we’re sure these students would have loved to also chat with tornado-chaser Ricky Forbes about this custom 2015 Ford F-150.

SAIT’s Automotive Service Technology program provides students with the foundation for a successful career in automotive services technology and management, with an impressive 100 percent employment rate for graduates of the program, and Ford supports SAIT through the Ford Automotive Student Service Educational Training program, which offers students the opportunity to alternate between hands-on-learning at SAIT and on-the-job training at a Ford dealership.

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Students of SAIT’s Automotive Service Technology program interact with Ford’s new 2015 F-150

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Ford Motor Company ergonomics engineer Cary Diehl discusses design of the 2015 F-150 with SAIT’s Automotive Service Technology program students

The 2015 Ford F-150: an entirely new truck

  • An all-new, fully boxed ladder frame with more high-strength steel than ever to make the truck stronger yet lighter.
  • For the first time, high-strength, military-grade aluminum alloys are used throughout the F-150 body. These alloys, already used in aerospace, commercial transportation, and other industries, make the new truck’s body lighter, stronger, and more resistant to dents.
  • It is up to 700 pounds lighter, helping it tow and haul more, accelerate and stop faster, and operate more efficiently.

Ten major changes to the 2015 F-150

The engineers at Ford focused on ten features to make the new F-150 the most user-friendly, efficient rendition yet, taking Canada’s best-selling pickup and making it better. 

These ten features include a tailgate step large enough to fit a full-size work boot, raised tactile keypad buttons for keyless entry, and finger indents on the back of the steering wheel. Customer research conducted by Ford human factor engineers led the team to cluster the control buttons together for ease of use; customer feedback also drove the decision to keep the instrument cluster free of entertainment information. There are 10 features of the all-new 2015 Ford F-150 pickup that were designed to satisfy customers without them ever even noticing.

  1. Hard buttons on the keypad
  2. Beltline armrest on front doors
  3. Sculpted, finger relief inside door handle for easy hold
  4. Buttons clustered for ease of use
  5. Steering wheel feel
  6. MyView productivity screen customization
  7. Entertainment information exclusively in centre stack
  8. Four-spoke steering wheel
  9. Grooves in the tailgate handle
  10. Large box step
2015 Ford F-150
2015 F-150. Photo: Ford
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Author:
Amee Reehal
Amee Reehalhttps://www.ameereehal.com/
Shooting cars and bikes professionally since film was a thing, for over 20 years, Amee has collaborated with the major automakers and agencies, and his work has been published in various global outlets including MotorTrend, GlobeDrive, SuperStreet, Chicago Tribune, PerformanceBMW, and others. He’s an automotive writer and founder/managing editor of TractionLife.com, focusing on digital marketing & SEO for the past ten years (backed by a marketing degree, go figure). Find him travelling, spending time with his kids and family. Or golfing, poorly.