Second Valeo Innovation Challenge to launch

Valeo is launching the second annual Valeo Innovation Challenge, which will see engineering students from around the world competing to win the €100,000 grand prize.

The challenge offers young engineers the opportunity to create the equipment that will make cars more intelligent and intuitive by 2030. Valeo will announce the terms and conditions of the contest at the 2014 Paris Motorshow.

In teams of two to five people, engineering students can take part by presenting a relevant, innovative project in English on the contest’s website, valeoinnovationchallenge.valeo.com.

The aim of the contest is to stimulate the students’ creativity, enabling them to form multidisciplinary teams. In this way, engineering students can join forces with students in the social sciences or any other scientific discipline that they think could be useful for their innovation project.

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 to put their idea into practice and build a functioning demonstrator.

The finalists will present their projects to the Challenge jury of Valeo experts and outside partners, chaired by Valeo CEO Jacques Aschenbroich, at the 2015 Frankfurt Auto Show. The winning team will take home a €100,000 prize.

The Valeo Innovation Challenge is part of Valeo’s innovation strategy, supported by the company’s annual research and development budget of over €1 billion. Innovation drives faster growth at Valeo, a technological partner for all automakers worldwide.

In 2013, Valeo filed close to 800 patents. The company employs 10,000 researchers and aims to hire 1000 engineers and technicians each year over the next three years, including 400 in France.