PARIS – Timed to coincide with the IAA 2013 Motor show taking place in Frankfurt this week, Valeo has announced the launch of the Valeo Innovation Challenge, a global contest open to engineering students around the world.
Through the challenge, Valeo is offering young engineers worldwide the opportunity to play an active part in automotive innovation by imagining products or systems that will make cars more intelligent and intuitive by 2030. Participating students will be asked to develop bold, revolutionary solutions for tomorrow’s society.
In teams of two to five members, the students will be required to present an innovative, game-changing project in English for the first round of the challenge. The 20 shortlisted teams will then be asked to create a model in the format of their choice (physical mock-up, application or other). Each team will be given 5,000 euros to put their idea into practice and build a functioning demonstrator. The three finalist teams will present their projects to the Challenge jury of Valeo experts and external partners, chaired by Valeo CEO Jacques Aschenbroich, at the 2014 Paris Motor Show. The winning team will take home a 100,000 euro prize.
With this Innovation Challenge, Valeo said it is demonstrating once again that R&D is a priority for the group. Innovation and the reduction of CO2 emissions are two of Valeo’s main strategic growth paths, guiding teams who are innovating each day to invent the automobiles of tomorrow. Valeo says it is strategically committed to acting as a global partner for automakers, capable of delivering widely affordable, innovative solutions.
In 2012, Valeo was featured for the first time in Thomson Reuters’ Top 100 Global Innovators ranking, reflecting the group’s commitment to innovation. Most of Valeo’s research and development programs are focused on the design of technologies that reduce vehicle CO2 emissions. The company ranks among the leading patent filers in France and dedicates nearly 10 percent of its original equipment sales to innovation. With close to 9,000 researchers in 20 research centers and 35 development centers around the world, Valeo has developed an array of products and technologies that represent more than 30 percent of its order intake.
The company says it plans to hire some 1,000 engineers and technicians a year over the next three years, including 400 in France.
