DETROIT (Jan. 14, 2013) – Michelin today announced the winners of the 2013 Michelin Challenge Design™, a worldwide automotive design competition that encourages better mobility solutions through innovation and advanced technology. A distinguished jury of the world’s top automotive designers and industry experts selected the work of three participants from around the globe to represent the competition’s vaunted “Top Three.”
This year’s “Top Three” finalists are:
- Jorge Biosca, Spain
- Liu Shun, China
- Song Wei Teo, Singapore
Their work, along with 12 other finalists, will be displayed at the 2013 North American International Auto Show in the Michelin Challenge Design exhibit.
This year’s Michelin Challenge Design theme “HALF! Lightweight with Passion” asked participants to explore how design contributes to and impacts the ongoing effort to develop more lightweight vehicles that achieve greater fuel efficiency. The theme resulted in more than 900 registrants representing 72 countries.
Jorge Biosca’s project, called eLink, is “a six-passenger light vehicle structure, with a highly efficient powertrain, combined with an adaptive camber control for tire rubber zone selection.” Biosca is a freelance modeler and design consultant in Valencia, Spain, with a degree in mechanical engineering from Polytechnic University of Valencia and a master’s degree in automotive design from the University CEU San Pablo, Valencia, Spain.
Liu Shun led his teammates, Gao Zhiqiang and Chen Zhilei, as they designed a concept with a body of full transparent glass and carbon fiber frame, called Dolphin, which is powered by maglev DC motors. All three are studying at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China.
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ong Wei Teo’s PolyPlus was “influenced by the use of vacuum-formed plastic packaging that protects its contents. Vacuum-formed plastics are inexpensive, light, tough and can be molded into different shapes easily.” Teo earned a degree in industrial design from Nanyang Polytechnic in Singapore and is currently in his final year studying automotive design at Coventry University, United Kingdom.
Now in its twelfth year, Michelin Challenge Design has received entries from more than 5,000 aspiring designers from more than 100 countries.
2013 Michelin Challenge Design Jury
The 2013 Michelin Challenge Design jury is made up of designers from OEM studios, independent design professionals, and design educators. Stewart Reed, Chair of the Transportation Design Department, Art Center College of Design, serves as the Jury Chairman.
Joining Reed on the 2013 jury were:
- Chris Chapman, Chief Designer, Hyundai America Technical Center
- Dave Marek, Division Director Advanced Design, Honda R&D-Americas
- Chuck Pelly, Founder, Designworks USA, The LA Design Challenge, and The Design Academy
- Rich Plavetich, General Manager, Nissan Design America
- Frank Saucedo, Director, General Motors Advanced Design Studio
- Freeman Thomas, Director, Strategic Design, Ford Motor Company
- Geoff Wardle, Director of Mobility, Industrial Design, Art Center College of Design
College for Creative Studies-Michelin Challenge Design Winners Also on Display
This fall, the 24th annual Michelin Challenge Design competition for College for Creative Studies (CCS) was held. Thirteen senior students presented their semester’s work to a panel of OEM designers, and their work will also be displayed at the 2013 NAIAS.
The CCS winners included a team project as well as first, second and third places. For the team project, students were required to develop a lightweight vehicle architecture; each team member then designed unique vehicles using the shared architecture concept. Colin Pan (China) and HyunWoo Lim were the teammates who won the team portion. Each student then designed their own projects, using their team’s architecture. Yoongkyung Hwang (Korea) won first place, with Arthur Coudert (France) placing second and Merrill Matthew (U.S.) placing third.