Valeo Innovation Challenge Announces Finalists

Valeo announced the seven teams selected by its experts to present their projects to a jury in Paris on Thursday, October 16, 2014, with the chance of winning the €100,000 first prize.

The shortlisted teams represent six countries from four continents: Australia, Germany, the United States, Brazil, Canada and India.

Nearly 1,000 teams from 55 countries signed up for a chance to propose and develop daring solutions that will revolutionize the automobile of 2030.

Many original, varied and innovative projects, including some of outstanding quality, were examined by Valeo experts. The technical solutions proposed by the contestants are illustrative of each country’s prevailing societal concerns. For example, the Indian engineering students are focusing on road safety, while the European students, like their North American peers, are more concerned about reducing carbon emissions and creating a smart, connected and autonomous vehicle. Across the board, they are working to make the car of 2030 a cleaner, safer and more enjoyable ride.

The seven finalist teams are:

For Australia the UTS Unleashed team from the University of Technology Sydney

For Brazil the Sadec team from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

For Canada the Three VeMAColleagues from the University of Waterloo

For Canada the UOttawa team from the University of Ottawa

For Germany, the AEM team from the Karlsruher Institut für Technologie

For India, the Falcons team from the Vellore Institute of Technology

For USA, the CU ICAR team from Clemson University

Each team will present their project to the Challenge jury on October 16 in conjunction with the 2014 Paris Motor Show.

Jacques Aschenbroich, Valeo chief executive officer and Guillaume Devauchelle, vice-president Group Innovation and Scientific Development, will announce the winners at a press conference attended by the students on Friday, October 17 at 9:00 a.m. at the Maison de La Recherche in Paris.

The jury, which is comprised of Valeo executives and outside partners, will be chaired by Mr.

Aschenbroich. The winning team will take home a €100,000 prize and the second- and thirdplace teams will each receive €10,000.