Hankook Tire recently welcomed four students from the University of Cincinnati’s Industrial Design program to the Hankook Technodome, the company’s newly opened R&D center in Seoul, Korea, for the company’s Design Insight Forum. The students are winners of Hankook’s Design Innovation 2016, a competition that encourages design students to create futuristic yet realistic concept tires for future mobility.
Under the theme of “Connect to the Connected World,” the students developed designs for self-driving and connected vehicles and their optimized tire systems for a future mega city. The designs focused on compact cars for ride sharing, as well as minivans and driverless taxis. The winners of Hankook’s Design Innovation 2016 from the University of Cincinnati are:
- Cameron Bresn, who designed a concept tire to introduce lateral movement with maximized cornering grip;
- Hayden Lapiska, who developed a concept tire using multiple tread sections that can expand and contract to handle different urban environments;
- Ian McGillivray, who designed a space-saving personal transit system with varied tire specs that is built into the ground to provide on-call transportation; and
- John Piper, who designed a system of autonomous and self-driving tires to function as an in-wheel drivetrain responsible for steering, braking and handling.
Each of the winners sourced their inspiration from preexisting mechanisms simplified and repurposed for the road. Each design works to tackle a different problem with an innovative solution granting the tire more responsibility than simply traveling in a forward or backward direction. Being able to change size, shape and adapt at will provides a more convenient and efficient way to travel for both public and private transport.
During the Design Insight Forum last week in Seoul, Korea, the students exhibited their work at the Hankook Technodome, participated in design lectures, met with Hankook Tire’s R&D staff and toured Seoul’s top design destinations. The winning works also will be exhibited in mock-ups and videos.
“The Design Insight Forum at the Hankook Technodome is a meaningful opportunity to experience the fine works of young designers developing future tire innovations at our new and state-of-the art R&D center,” said Seung Hwa Suh, vice chairman and CEO of Hankook Tire. “Hankook Tire expects to further create synergy with the future leaders of industrial design in collaboration with Hankook Tire’s technological leadership through the Design Insight Forum.”
The Design Innovation project is a biannual program that began in 2012. In collaboration with students at premier university design programs, the Design Innovation Program creates new product concept designs for the future of the automotive industry. The winning designs have resulted in numerous patents as well as awards at the world’s leading design awards, including IDEA, IF awards and Red Dot Design Awards. Last year, the innovative Boostrac Concept Tire, which was a part of Design Innovation 2014, won the prestigious Luminary of Red Dot Award.
