Fourth annual World Automotive Design Competition winners announced

Christophe Charbault, a design student from the Ecole de design at the Universite de Montreal, won the first prize of US $10,000. Charbault's entry, entitled 'Virtuoo', was chosen from amongst 70 entries submitted by 97 students from 28 design schools world wide. Judge Ken Gross stated that Virtuoo received top honours because "the design was futuristic, attractive, practical and affordable. Virtuoo is a very clever melding of present and future technology." Christophe accepted the first prize of US $10,000 from competition judge Robert Cumberford.

The second place prize of US $5,000 went to Antonio Borja, from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, USA for his entry entitled 'Ford G Truck'. Judge Ken Gross felt that the Ford G-Truck is a "hip hop concept - modernized for the future. Excellent balance of styling, technology, innovation with youth appeal reflects this audiences well."

Third place went to Yoshiyuki Kashiwagi from Japan's Tokyo Zokei University for his entry 'C-H Compact'. Kashiwagi will receive US $2,500. Judge Akira Fujimoto commented that Kashiwagi's entry "clearly and effectively expresses the idea of a compact, multi-purpose vehicle with a high-level of digital technology."

The overall purpose of the competition is two-fold: raise the profile of automotive design as a career choice worldwide and assist students to launch a career in automotive design through exposure to the right people in the industry.

The Design Challenge:
Transportation design students from twenty-eight schools around the world were 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 had to be easily recognized as coming from a particular culture. The design, therefore, needed to reflect the culture of the country where the student currently studies. The car had to be conceived and presented as a vehicle intended for full-scale production (at least 100,000 units per year), ten years from now, in 2015. Additionally, the car could not cost more than the average price of cars offered for sale in the student's country of study.

The design was judged on its aesthetics, presentation, clarity, and inclusion of technical elements that have a practical application in the real-world.

The Judges:
- Robert Cumberford (Automobile and Auto&Design magazines)
- Paul Deutschman (Canadian independent designer of the Callaway car series and Porsche Spexter)
- Akira Fujimoto (Chief Editor, Car Styling magazine)
- Ken Gross (Automotive Industries and The Robb Report magazines; Chief Class Judge Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance)
- Marek Reichman (Design Director for Interior Strategy, Ford Motor Company) replaced Peter Horbury (North American Head of Design, Ford Motor Company) who has been a judge since the competition's inception in 2001.

Alias Best Presentation Award
The Alias Best Presentation Award was inaugurated in 2003 to reward the student with the best computer generated presentation. It is not necessary for the student to use Alias software in order to be a winner in this prize category. Any type of 3D imaging software can be used.

The first place winners Guillaume Daniel, Julien Lebely and Richard Pedron from Creapole won the company's top of the line AutoStudio software valued at US$72,000 for their 'Citroen' team entry.

The judges chose the entry entitled 'Evoque' because of the, "clear graphics, subtle use of color, clear presentation of idea sketches, hand-drawn and computer illustrations of final product", said Robert Cumberford. Fujimoto added, "this extremely simple expression of the Citroen is rendered fresh and modern. Without relying on excessive colors, the simple techniques are extremely effective."

The second place winner, Kenichi Munakata, from the Academy of Art University, received Alias Studio package software for his entry entitled 'El Camino'. Ken Gross praised El Camino for "creatively capturing and updating one of the most definitive designs, ensuring its lasting appeal will continue".

The third place winner were a team of students, Yan Liu and Martin Arballo from Chiba University who received the Alias DesignStudio package for their team entry entitled 'Engawa'.

In addition, to their respective software packages, all winners receive copies of Alias PortfolioWall and ImageStudio software.

Ballard Best Technology Award
Ballard Power Systems, a world leader in the commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cell technology, created the 'Best Technology' award last year to acknowledge the student that most accurately incorporates into their world design, emerging propulsion and manufacturing technologies from the country where they live or study.

The student winner receives 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.

This year's winner is Jian Yang from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China for his entry 'Hotway'. The entry was chosen because of the "high levels of emerging technology coupled with a vehicle that is at once fun and practical".

With the support of the Society of Automotive Engineers, Central Ontario Section, competition judges reviewed the entries to ascertain the validity of the engineering principles proposed by the students.

IBM Best Design School Award
Twenty-eight distinguished design schools officially entered the competition from China, France, Japan, Germany, Italy, Korea, Hong Kong, England, Wales, Spain, India, Sweden, Brazil, the USA and Canada to compete for the honour of being declared the 2005 'Best Design School'.

The judges chose Chiba University because their design school submitted the body of entries that most consistently reflected the world car design challenge as well as the character and culture of the country where the students study. As a sponsor, IBM will donate to the winning school an IBM IntelliStation A Pro workstation certified for Alias Studio software.

The design competition entries were on display within the Design Studio exhibit at the 2005 Canadian International Auto Show. The competition entries can be viewed at the CIAS website: www.autoshow.ca

The awards were presented in conjunction with the fifth annual Design Forum. Speakers included:
- Anne Asensio, Advanced Vehicle Design Chief, General Motors
- Hans-Dieter Futschik, Mercedes-Benz AG
- Ken Okuyama, Design Director, Pininfarina S.p.A.
- Marek Reichman, Design Director for Interior Strategy, Product and Design Process, Ford Motor Company
- Stephane Schwarz, Design Director, Nissan Design Europe
- Andreas Zapatinas, Chief Designer, Advanced Design Studio, Subaru

The topic of the panel discussion was 'Strangers in Strange Lands' as suggested by the panel's moderator Jean Jennings, Editor-in-Chief, Automobile magazine.

Related Stories:
2004 World Automotive Design Competition

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