Nicholas DiNapoli

1937 - 2021

Nicholas DiNapoli
June 27, 1937 - November 8, 2021
Santa Barbara, California - Nick died peacefully at home in Santa Barbara of heart failure with his wife Meg by his side. He is survived by a daughter Stella Acuna, a son Nick DiNapoli, Jr., and three grandchildren. Nick's passion in life was striving to find beauty in design. After earning a B.A. in art from the California College of the Arts and an M.A. from Stanford in industrial design, he came to Santa Barbara 60 years ago with General Motors Research and worked on the lunar rover program. He and his boss then left GM and started Minicars, Inc., designing safety cars for the US Dept. of Transportation. At the same time Nick designed the DiNapoli automobile.
Moving on, Nick and a friend started Browne Technology, designing and building an air boat. He next accepted a position as Chief Engineer at Pneu Devices/Howden Corporation, designing high tech military components. Always an artist, Nick later joined Powell Skateboards as head of the Art Department, designing skateboards, T-shirts and trade show exhibits.
Along the way, he worked with the SB MTD on the design of the SB downtown shuttle buses. And he worked with private clients on many projects, including designing several monorail systems around the U.S. Finally, he worked on the initial design of the Maritime Museum and envisioned all of their original exhibits.
Nick capped his career as a lecturer at UCSB, teaching design in the Mechanical Engineering Dept. where he inspired students with his vision and talent.