Ever since he was a child, Amir Zaid has been passionate about cars. Later on he studied graphic design and made a career of it. This was in the late 1990s, when the internet was just beginning to take off. Today, in 2010, Zaid combines his love for cars and his designing skills in none other than the Israeli Defense Forces.

"Already at age four I knew the names of every car in the street," he told the IDF Spokesperson Unit. "They made me curious. I liked them, I missed them. But because there's no place for a career in vehicles in Israel, I had to be practical. I settled here, and cars were pushed aside."

At the age of 31, in the midst of a successful career in graphic design, Zaid decided it was time to go back to his old love, the car. He found Scuola Politecnica di Design, a school for designing cars in Milan. A year later, Zaid and his wife moved to Italy where he started his studies."

"It was an experience like no other in every way," described Zaid. "First of all, it was a culture market. The studies, as exciting as they were, were all in Italian. You quickly realize how new immigrants feel. It doesn't matter how intelligent you are, you are lost and you stutter in a world that doesn't understand you. And you don't always understand it either. To this day", he admits, "I don't know what I learned in some of the courses."

A year later, Zaid finished his studies and stayed in Italy for another five years. First, he was an unpaid intern in the Idea design studio, and then he worked at the Pininfarina antique design house (one of the most influential in the history of the vehicle responsible for almost every model of the Ferari which came out). He then worked for car giant Fiat, where he designed anything from cars to tractors.

In 2009 the economic recession hit Europe hard, and Zaid was no different. "Car makers were caught in the desperation of the situation. It was like being on reality TV," he described. "We started out as eight designers, and then we were six, and then four. At the end we got the email that said the program is being frozen. We thought a lot about where to go from here. My wife, Noa, was pregnant. In the end we decided to return to Israel.

"While still in Italy, I understood that if I come back, I would work in the defense industry," added Zaid. "I wanted to keep designing vehicles, to do what I'm good at in Israel, too. And, what can you do, real budgets here lie in defense."

Upon his return to Israel, Zaid indeed joined the defense industry. He began designing things such as attack vehicles, control rooms and other objects. One of his most important projects is the "Solitaire" vehicle. A surveying robot, the "Solitaire" is built on the existing model of the Argo vehicle and allows for great movement in difficult terrains, use of communication systems and filming abilities including advanced optics such as night vision and heat-activated vision. This vehicle is a result of collaboration between Zaid and Tamid Porat, who is considered a guru in the field of security design.

"Working on the Solitaire was an exciting experience," said Zaid. "It was one of those times you feel - I hit something here. I designed something right. In the end, despite all the differences, there are a lot of similarities between work on sports cars and work on security objects. In both cases the product has to be comfortable to operate and designed in a way that conveys the right message."

Today, as he combines his love for cars and his talent for design, Amir Zaid explains that with a security vehicle, everything has to work right away, and that sharpness and simplicity are key. However, he added, "design is critical. A lot of people don't understand the importance of the right design, especially in this country. It's easy to think we live in a reality where there are more pressing matters than aesthetics. But if the vehicle doesn't give a sense of strength, if you look at it and don't get right away that its purpose is security, something is missing. Conveying the right message creates the basis for right action."

He says that designing is not easy, but whenever he is able to create an exact design, he feels that he has made something crucial. "It gives you the fuel to keep going," he said.

via israelnn.com