Tim Fagan , BID / 99

When Tim Fagan started designing aircraft interiors at Bombardier Aerospace the summer after he graduated from Carleton’s industrial design program, he never would have imagined his job would expand to include designing an Olympic icon.

As senior designer in the aircraft interiors, R&D and product development groups within the Business Aircraft division, Fagan had varied experience, but it was a new challenge when he was approached to design the 2010 Olympic torch for the Vancouver Games.

“This was a once in a lifetime chance,” says Fagan. “There’s no blueprint on how to do something like this. You try to hone in on the million ideas coming into your head. You want to make sure you do it justice and that you’ve considered all the aspects.”

Fagan’s design team and their ID colleagues from Bombardier Transportation worked work secretly on the Olympic torch in late 2007. The final design of the torch, designed and manufactured by Bombardier, features a curved, modern look inspired by the Canadian winter landscape. Its robust technology was developed to weather the rugged and varied journey of the torch relay during the Canadian winter.

“One of the Carleton School of Industrial Design’s strengths is its well-rounded, problem-solving approach to design. I was definitely able to use this broad skill set of the artistic and the engineering sides, and how they all fit together, and apply it to this project.”