This year, 1,412 students from around the world will participate in the Valeo Innovation Challenge, with large contingents from every continent.
A total of 969 teams of engineering students from 55 countries and representing 455 universities have submitted their projects, with the goal of winning the 100,000 Euros first prize.
Valeo is an independent industrial group fully focused on the design, production and sale of components, integrated systems and modules for the automotive industry.
Some 60 Valeo experts and a number of independent scientists will review each of the submitted projects to select the 20 teams that will continue on to the next stage of the contest.
The 20 short-listed teams will be announced on April 15, 2014. Valeo will grant each of them 5,000 Euros to create a functioning prototype.
Final Six
The six teams that submit the most innovative projects will be chosen on September 16, 2014. They will be invited to Paris a month later to present their projects to a jury chaired by Jacques Aschenbroich, Valeo Chief Executive Officer, and comprised of members of the group’s senior management team, as well as eminent figures from the worlds of science and design.
The jury will designate the winning team, which will receive 100,000 Euros. The second and third-place teams will each receive 10,000 Euros.
The goal
The goal of the Valeo Innovation Challenge is to invite students to imagine equipment that, between now and 2030, will make cars more intelligent and intuitive, say Valeo officials. Students taking part in the Challenge are asked “to develop bold, revolutionary solutions for the cars of the future.”
With the Innovation Challenge, Valeo is demonstrating once again that innovation and R&D are top priorities for the group, the officials note. Innovation guides the teams who are working each day to invent the automobiles of tomorrow.
