The winning entries of the 30th annual Michelin Challenge Design Competition for the College for Creative Studies (CCS) were honored recently at the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education in Detroit, Michigan. The winning transportation design students received scholarships as part of a $35,000 donation from Michelin to support the school’s Transportation Design program.
Ten students from the CCS Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) entered this year’s challenge, which centered around forecasting mobility in the year 2050 by defining a visual landscape of a thriving and sustainable global community.
Using the book 50 Cars that Changed the World as a reference, CCS students were asked to create new vehicles that will operate in integrated system networks for personal or public travel across local or global landscapes for the year 2050. The most significant criteria for each of the vehicle concepts will be the social impact they will introduce as described through an imagined future context where people are fully connected and society has harnessed the power of artificial intelligence safely and responsibly.
The distinguished panel of judges for this year’s event were Robert Bauer, design studio manager, Nissan Design America; Brandon Faurote, head of Chrysler design, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles; and Craig Metros, design director, North American Truck, SUV and Commercial Vehicles, Ford Motor Company.
Michelin – CCS Winners
- First Place – Jonghwi Lee of Seoul, South Korea for Kotatsu
- Second Place – Jay Jeon of Seoul, South Korea for Seoul Break
- Third Place – Andrew Nymeyer of Hudsonville, Michigan, USA for Blockchain Mobility
“Defining the future of mobility and the impact of how new mobility systems will change the visual landscape of a thriving and sustainable community are important discussions to be having," said Ben Ebel, chairman, Michelin Challenge Design program. “Just as the automobiles of the 20th century were at the forefront of radical change in the creation of suburbs, interstates and landscapes of grids and parcels, how will the next generation of vehicles impact landscapes and the movement of people, goods or services? Seeing the ideas and creativity from prospective future designers here at CCS gives us valuable insights into the future of mobility and we congratulate the winners on their innovative designs.”
The Michelin Challenge is the longest running design competition at CCS.
Global Challenge
The next global Michelin Challenge Design theme “Inspiring Mobility: Start With Why”, is open to all and invites participants to inspire users by successfully identifying one of the following emotional needs – joy, trust, security or freedom; and to design a mobility solution that will invoke that emotion for users in one of the following megacities: Berlin, Mumbai, New York, Sao Paulo, or Shanghal in 2035. Entrants can now register at www.michelinchallengedesign.com.