The Advanced Design Studio on General Motors' massive technology campus in  Warren, MI, feels like a Silicon Valley software startup from the halcyon days. Three six-meter "power walls" snake across one section of the room, displaying far-larger-than-life, 3-D projections of vehicles in progress, for everyone to examine and dissect.

In a dimly lit corner of the room, engineers, designers, digital sculptors and software programmers sit side by side, their faces illuminated only by the light from their computer screens. Alan Rhodes, vehicle model manager of the studio, addresses the Smart Board, a 127-centimeter flat-panel computer display synchronized with the power wall. With the tip of his index finger, he maneuvers 3-D sketches of upcoming GM vehicles around the screen, alternating between views of the Chevy SSR (Super Sport Roadster)-a retro-styled convertible pickup truck unlike anything GM has ever built-the Pontiac Solstice concept car and a new Hummer called the H2.

Designing and displaying vehicle models in software is a relatively new capability for GM, the world's largest manufacturer of cars and trucks. Just a few years ago, all sketches were created by hand and stapled to a display board for review. Clay or hard Styrofoam models had to be sculpted for each new design.

Now, with all 14 GM engineering centers digitally synchronized via a corporate intranet and all using standard computer-aided-design software and 3-D simulation tools, designers in Holden, Australia, Russelsheim, Germany, and North Hollywood, CA, can collaborate around the clock. Most important, the new technology allows GM's senior management to review fully realized designs in a far timelier manner than ever before.