Valeo announce Innovation Challenge shortlist
Valeo has announced the names of the 20 international student teams shortlisted for its renowned 2015 Valeo Innovation Challenge.
The UK students from Imperial College London now have until 17 July to create a working prototype of the automotive innovation project: to design a product or system which will create smarter more intuitive cars by 2030.
The student designs will then face an 11-strong international judging panel chaired by Valeo CEO Jacques Aschenbroich, to decide the winner of the cash prize.
The Valeo Innovation Challenge, now in its second year, is a global contest open to engineering students around the world, and along with the winners’ cash prize, second and third-place teams will receive €10,000 each.
Valeo has given the 20 shortlisted teams a development fund of €5,000 to each team, to help build their prototypes, each of which are a closely guarded secret until judging takes place.
Along with the UK team, students from all over the world have been shortlisted, representing a total of 12 countries on four continents: China, Egypt, Germany, India, Malaysia, Poland, Russia, Spain, Turkey, the United States and Uzbekistan.
The six finalist teams will then be selected and invited to present their projects to the jury in Paris on Tuesday, September 1, 2015. The top three teams will be announced on Tuesday, September 29, 2015.
The Valeo Innovation Challenge was set up to champion innovation, and support investment in future automotive technologies. Valeo invests more than 11% of original equipment sales annually to such investment, all focused around finding solutions to help lower carbon emissions and promote intuitive driving. The Innovation Challenge is part of its long term commitment to encourage engineers of the future to do the same.
Last year, in the first time the competition was held, Brazilian students from Team Sadec, from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais won the 1st prize for a project designed to reinvent the mechanical transmission system by coupling the pump and hydraulic motor, in a bid to improve fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions.
