Kustom Seating Unlimited, Inc., of Bellwood, Ill., the North American leader in rail transportation seating products, announced that it has engaged the services of Vergara Studio LLC (VSL), the internationally recognized industrial design firm for the rail industry.
KSU supplies custom engineered seating solutions for all major OEM's and transit authorities and has been recognized as the 2011 Supplier of the year by a major OEM. KSU was the first seating supplier to have products in service that adhered to the latest American Public Transportation Association's (APTA) Rev. 2 standard for safety and crash worthiness.
Integrating KSU's influences in seating safety, expertise in design, and excellence in manufacturing rail seating with VSL's signature designs, will define the industry with advanced and innovative seating solutions.
Cesar Vergara, principal at VSL, has served as the National Principal Design at Jacobs Engineering Group, chief designer of both Amtrak, and New Jersey Transit and senior director of Rail Transportation at Teague. Vergara brings a global view and wide range of expertiese and design influences to VSL. As a winner of a Presidential Design Award, Vergara's work has earned Amtrak five Brunel awards for excellence in public transporation. His work was featured at the Art Institute of Chicago in their exhibit "Splendid Trains and Stations" as well as the Smithsonian Institution's National Design Museum in NYC Triennal. As a very active contributor in the High speed rail community, Cesar is a frequent speaker in APTA, UIC and other trade association conferences.
VSL will collaborate in the development of a signature line of seating and other products that will compliment KSU's customer's over-all interior concepts. Gene Germaine, Director of Business Development at KSU states, "We intend to use this exclusive relationship with VSL as a way of introducing innovative seating concepts, and enhancements of current designs, to all of our customers. As we expand our product lines and services, both domestically and internationally, it is important to intergrate our creative ideas with the future design needs of our customers."
