Design Contest: 2005 World Automotive Design Competition announced

The World Automotive Design Competition, sponsored by Alias and hosted by the Canadian International Auto Show, is back with more participating design schools and an impressive list of prizes.

Design students from twenty-six schools around the world have been invited to design a World Car that visually identifies its cultural origins and, at the same time, has appeal, and can be sold throughout the world, in at least five countries on three continents. The vehicle should be easily recognized as coming from a particular culture. The design therefore needs to reflect the culture of the country where the student currently studies.

The car should be conceived and presented as a vehicle intended for full-scale production ten year's from now, in 2015. Additionally, the car should not cost more than the average price of cars offered for sale in the student's country of study. The design will be judged on its aesthetics, presentation, clarity, and inclusion of technical elements that have a practical application in the real-world. Design students will each be competing for over US$145,000 in prizes.

The student that is declared the overall first place winner will be flown in to Toronto, Canada, to personally receive the grand cash prize of US$10,000 on Thursday, February 17, 2005. The second place overall winner will receive US$5,000 while the student that places third will receive US$2,500. In addition, Toronto-based Alias, an industry leader in 3D graphics technology, will offer three prizes from its Alias StudioTools product family to the winners of the Best Presentation Award.

The first place winner will receive the company's top of the line Alias AutoStudio software valued at US$65,000. The second place winner will receive Alias Studio software, valued at US$25,000, while the third place winner will receive Alias DesignStudio software valued at US$7,500. All three winners will each also receive a copy of Alias ImageStudio, PortfolioWall and SketchBook Pro software valued at $4,700.

"We are proud supporters of the World Automotive Design Competition that is an opportunity for young designers to test their skills and compete on a global basis," said Doug Walker, president of Alias. "From the quality of the work we have seen in this competition, I am looking forward to seeing the results of their work in the next few years."

Ballard Power Systems, the world leader in the commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cell technology, created the 'Best New Technology' award last year to acknowledge the student that most accurately depicts, and incorporates into their world design, emerging propulsion and manufacturing technologies from the country where they live or study. The student winner will receive an all expenses paid trip to one of Ballard's facilities as well as Ballard's fuel cell education package on CD, currently being offered to universities worldwide

The World Automotive Design Competition is open to design students through their respective schools. Many hold internal competitions and then pick the 'top five' as entries in the WADC. To reward design schools for their time spent coaching potential winners, IBM sponsors the 'Best Design School Award' and donates to the winning school an IBM IntelliStation A Pro workstation certified for Alias Studio software.

Judges in the automotive design competition represent an impressive array of critics, historians, academics, design media, and active production and concept car designers. Jury members are in alphabetical order :

- Robert Cumberford (Automobile and Auto & Design magazines; honorary judge - 50th Anniversary Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance)
- Paul Deutschman (Canadian independent designer of the Callaway car series and Porsche Spexter
- Akira Fujimoto, (Chief Editor, Car Styling magazine; judge of the Louis Vuitton Classic Concours d'Elegance)
- Ken Gross (Automotive Industries and The Robb Report magazines; Chief Class Judge - Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance)
- Peter Horbury (Chief of North American Design, Ford Motor Company)

The twenty-six design schools are, in alphabetical order:
- Academy of Art University, School of Industrial Design, San Franciso, USA
- Chiba University, Product and Transportation Design, Chiba, Japan
- College for Creative Studies, Detroit, USA
- Coventry School of Art and Design, Coventry, Great Britain
- Creapole, Paris, France
Curtin University of Technology, Department of Design, Perth, Australia
- FH Potsdam, University of Applied Sciences, FB Design, Potsdam, Germany
- HongKong Polytechnic University, School of Design, SAR China
- Humber College, Toronto, Canada
- Istituto Europeo di Design, Barcelona, Spain
- Istituto Europeo di Design, Torino, Italy
- L'?cole de design industriel, Universit? de Montr?al, Montreal, Canada
- Musashino Art University, College of Art and Design, Tokyo, Japan
- National Institute of Design, Ahmedebad, India
- Northumbria University, School of Design, Newcastle, UK
- Pratt Institute of Design, Brooklyn, USA
- Seoul National University of Technology, Seoul, Korea
- Strate College Designers, Paris, France
- Swansea Institute, School of Industrial Design, Swansea, Wales
- Tokyo Communication Arts(TCA) , Tokyo, Japan
- Tokyo Zokei University, Tokyo, Japan
- Tsinghua University, Academy of Arts and Design, Beijing, China
Umea Institute of Design, Umea, Sweden
- Universidade Luterana do Brasil (ULBRA), Canoas, South America
- University of Technology Sydney, Industrial Design, Sydney, Australia
- University of Tsukuba, Art and Design, Tukuba, Japan

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