Nearly 5,000 students in the running to win the 2017 Valeo Innovation Challenge

TROY, Mich. - Feb. 20, 2017 - PRLog -- Enthusiasm for the Valeo Innovation Challenge is as strong as ever in the contest's fourth year, with a new participation record. Nearly 5,000 students from around the world have signed up to participate. In all, 1,628 teams (21% more than the previous edition) hailing from 80 countries and 748 universities have submitted their application in one of the two available categories. Some of the world's most prestigious universities are represented, including MIT, Berkeley, HEC, Supelec Tokyo University, British Columbia.

70% of teams are competing in the "technological innovation" category and 30% in the "idea for new ways of using cars" category.

This year's challenge comes with the option of including a teacher on the competing team. As a result, 162 teachers have registered to team up with their students.

Teams in each category will be competing to win a grand prize of €100,000 or a second-place prize of €10,000. In addition, the winning team in the "technological innovation" category will, for the first time ever, be given the opportunity to join a Valeo-partnered start-up accelerator to develop their project.

The contest's continued success shows that students are passionate about the task at hand, which is to "come up with an innovation or idea that will make cars smarter, cleaner, more fun and more intuitive by 2030."

Starting today, 70 Valeo experts scattered across the Group's R&D centers worldwide – as well as a number of independent scientists – will examine each of the projects in order to select 24 teams that will advance to the next round. The 24 short-listed teams will be announced on March 24, 2017, after which Valeo will grant them each €5,000 to develop their idea by building a functional prototype, application or other solution. The teams will have until July 13 to develop their project. Eight finalist teams will be selected on September 13 and the winners will be announced on October 27.

For more information: https://valeoinnovationchallenge.valeo.com/

Timetable:

March 24, 2017  24 semi-finalist teams announced
March 24, 2017 – July 13, 2017  Teams given €5,000 to develop their project
September 13, 2017  Eight finalist teams announced
October 26, 2017  Projects presented to the jury
October 27, 2017  Winners announced

Valeo is an automotive supplier, partner to all automakers worldwide. As a technology company, Valeo proposes innovative products and systems that contribute to the reduction of CO₂ emissions and to the development of intuitive driving. In 2016, the Group generated sales of 16.5 billion euros and invested over 11% of its original equipment sales in Research and Development. Valeo has 155 plants, 20 research centers, 38 development centers and 15 distribution platforms, and employs 91,800 people in 32 countries worldwide. Valeo is listed on the Paris stock exchange and is a member of the CAC 40 index.