2004 World Automotive Design Competition announced

Nov 7, 2003 - Last year’s successful 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 array of prizes worth over US$130,000.

Transportation design students from nineteen schools around the world have been invited to take a popular vehicle that has been manufactured and well-loved in their own country and project it to the year 2015. Each student’s design should reflect the character, values and functions that made the original vehicle an enduring part of the local culture; emphasizing, in particular, the values that gave it its national identity.

The 2015 design needs to predict the needs of the local market, and, at the same time, reflect emerging propulsion and manufacturing technologies of the country where the students’ live or study. Students from China, France, Japan, England, Wales, Italy, Spain, Korea, India, Sweden, the USA and Canada are competing for the top prizes.

The student declared the overall first place winner will be flown to Toronto, Canada, to receive the grand cash prize of US$10,000 on February 12, 2004. The second place overall winner will receive $5,000 while the student that places third will receive $2,500.

The Alias Best Presentation Award was inaugurated in 2003 to reward the student with the best computer generated presentation. Alias sponsorship is related to its StudioTools design software which is used by virtually every major automotive manufacturer in the world. This year, in celebration of the company’s 20th anniversary, Alias has expanded the award to include first, second, and third place prizes.

“Alias believes that investing in students, helping them to expand their skills and knowledge, is critical in maintaining the automotive design industry’s high standard of excellence,” said Thomas Heermann, Product Manager, Design Products, Alias. “We are eager supporters of the World Automotive Design Competition, a pivotal forum for developing the finest talents of future automotive designers.”

The first place winner of the Alias Best Presentation Award will receive the company’s top of the line AutoStudio software plus their PortfolioWall and Alias ImageStudio packages. The second place winner will receive Studio, as well as PortfolioWall and Alias ImageStudio, while the third place winner will receive DesignStudio software along with PortfolioWall and Alias ImageStudio.

The “Best Design School Award” will again be presented this year. Initiated in 2002 by the Canadian International AutoShow, this prize is given to the school with the body of entries that most consistently reflects the character and culture of the city where the students live and study. Last year’s winner was Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Strate College in Paris, France, was the 2002 winner.

Judges in the automotive design competition include critics, historians, academics, design media, and active automotive designers. Jury members are:

- 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 (Executive Director of Design, Premier Automotive Group - Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo)
- Tom Matano (Director, Industrial Design Department, Academy of Art College, San Francisco, and former VP - Design, Mazda Motor Corporation)

Judges will assess the entries when they attend the North American International Auto Show in Detroit from January 4-6, 2004. The names of the winners will be announced at the fourth annual Design Forum, sponsored by Alias and hosted by the Canadian International Auto Show on February 12, 2004 in Toronto, Canada.

The nineteen design schools are: Art Center College of Design (Pasadena, USA), College for Creative Studies (Detroit, USA), Coventry School of Art and Design (Coventry, Great Britain), Créapole (Paris, France), Hong Ik University (Seoul, Korea), Humber College (Toronto, Canada), Istituto Europeo di Design (Torino, Italy), Istituto Europeo di Design (Barcelona, Spain), Musashino Art University (Tokyo, Japan), National Institute of Design (Ahmedebad, India), Northumbria University (Newcastle, UK), School of Industrial Design, Swansea Institute (Swansea, Wales), Seoul National University of Technology (Seoul, Korea), Strate College Designers (Paris, France), Tokyo Zokei University, (Tokyo, Japan), Tsinghua University (Beijing, China), Umea Institute of Design (Umea, Sweden), Université de Montréal (Montreal, Canada), and the University of Tsukuba (Tsukuba, Japan).

Canadian International Auto Show and Design Competition website: www.autoshow.ca